Is Censorship Justifiable?
Whether control over media content is justifiable or is it a violation of freedom of speech.
Supporters of this argument point out that laws are necessary to regulate what is published in the media. However, other people disagree, claiming that it goes against the concept of human rights to control the press.
Censorship is seen as acceptable and is fairly welcomed in movies and video games rated 'G' for General Audiences.
Media content that can psychologically cause distress is censored and removed from such movies.
The next rating, 'PG' for Parental Guidance advised suggests some uncensored content but mostly appropriate. These ratings are essential to control cursing, indecency, pornography, or other forms of violence including blood and gore. Estimates show that by the age of 18, American children will have seen around 16,000 real and fictional murders, and 200,000 acts if violence on TV. This may lead to children becoming desensitised, they may lose empathy towards others and they may try to adopt similar acts as they see them. Censorship is justified to protect children’s innocence and to preserve their fresh outlook of the world.
Additionally, censorship laws are implemented to hide official secrets such as those of the military.
This is a way to protect governments and their national security. In Pakistan, PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) is responsible to facilitate and regulate media. Under the constitution, PEMRA is authorised to ensure the media does not publish content that is deemed in need of being censored because of 'reasonable restrictions’. A Pakistani journalist reported anonymously to BBC, telling how even live programmes are shown with a 10-second delay and unfavourable content is muted and the show is cut to advertisements. This is to ensure certain government secrets are kept hidden.
Similarly, wartime censorship is justified to boost the morale of citizens at the Home Front.
During the First World War, the war that was expected to be 'over by Christmas’ lasted for four years. This war would have been lost earlier if certain things were not kept hidden from the people in order to keep them motivated. This was also the case in the Second World War, newspapers were censored to hide death tolls, photographs of bombed streets in London were censored to show less destruction. Policemen and civilians were added into these pictures that were posted in the newspapers to show people that the government had the damage under control.
On the other hand, censorship is not justified in some cases also.
Scientific censorship is a way of breeding ignorance and preventing people from acquiring knowledge. It has been witnessed in history when the Catholic Church banned the books and ideas of Galileo. He was punished severely for his theory of the Earth orbiting around the Sun which went against the Church’s rulings of the Earth being in the center and the Sun revolving around it. This type of thinking is to prevent citizens from thinking ‘outside the box’.
Many scientists nowadays have to self-censor their works also. Even in democratic countries like the United States of America, scientists writing on climate change has decreased by 40% in 2017 compared with 2016. This could be because they are having trouble acquiring funding on such topics, possibly because it stirs up trouble with the government from environmental activists. This type of censorship is not justified as scientists are withholding and being forced to to not publish information on controversial topics, keeping the common man 'out of the loop’.
Moreover, censorship is often widely seen as a violation of human rights.
Infringing on freedom of speech of journalists, freedom of media for the media producers, and freedom to information for the average citizen.
Another limitation of censorship going to the extreme is in China. Beginning in 1989 to censor and hide the details about a historical march for democratic reform in Tiananmen Square, China’s censorship has gotten to the point where children’s cartoon 'Winne the Pooh' has also been banned in 2017 because people were sharing memes matching the lovable bear to Chinese President, Xi Jinping. This type of censorship is not justified, citizens and journalists, everyone would be fearful of each word they say which would lead to an overall suffocating environment.
In conclusion, some forms of censorship is acceptable and justified.
This includes censors in children’s movies and games. However, when censorship is taken to an extreme fanatic level that it begins to breach the human right for freedom of speech, then it is not justified and should not be encouraged either.
