Censorship is the process of examining and suppressing unnecessary parts. This can be adopted by anyone in society. In modern society, censorship is debated about its benefit and its disadvantages. In addition, some critics perceived that freedom of speech and free flow of ideas are compromised due to censorship. However, I strongly disagree. Censorship can prevent people from mimicking dangerous acts. Also, censorship can maintain racial stability in a country. Most importantly, censorship can filter the right information to be released for the public. Hence, without censorship, the world would be very dreadful.
Some critics state that information disseminated by the government to the public is limited and is an act of controlling the people. Information such as policies that government wants to implement is not released. Similarly, the agenda and motive behind every government policies are not explicitly explained and are not fully disseminated to the public. Hence the public does not understand society well enough. In North Korea, the information about its nuclear power and its usage is not explicitly explained to the public. This results in the public being afraid of the presence of nuclear power. Similarly, foreign countries are afraid to approach North Korea or maybe suspicious about North Korea’s motive behind such a move. This might result in a war aroused by suspicion. Hence, censorship is deemed detrimental and should be removed. However, some level of a world with censorship is still necessary so that the government can function properly as if all information about the government is given to the citizens, it might be pre-mature and unjustified which makes governing a country more difficult.
In reality, censorship is important in filtering out unnecessary information and provides the right information to the public. The term “right” may be a point of contention as it is not a perceived view of the government which fits their political motive. The term “right” means that the form of information disseminated to the public is justified and real. For example, in the context of a recent earthquake in Fukushima, the death toll mentions by the media has many variations with some saying a death toll of 20,000 in the region. This unsettles people and breaks the optimism of the people. Hence, in this sort of media coverage, the government could prevent the death toll and the disaster situation to be released till everything is confirmed. This will then bring ease to people’s mind. Hence, a world without censorship will be dreadful.
Some critics state that freedom of speech and expressions are compromised when there is censorship. Freedom of speech and expressions are parts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are seen as we can convey our messages more freely either in a speech or an expression of art. However, censorship limits these freedoms. Through censorship, freedom of speech is limited especially if it touches on racial issues, political uprising issues and other sensitive issues. It is deemed as an invasion into other forms of rights. Hence, one could speak or express as freely as he pleases as long as he does not make any sensitive remark. However, people find the boundaries too restrictive. For example, the issue on the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. The artist of the cartoons, even though is being charged, still strongly believes that his drawings are solely to criticise about self-censorship. It is seen as ridiculous to him for being framed for drawing a false picture of Prophet Muhammad when the Islamic people do not know his real appearance. Hence, his freedom of speech and expressions are compromised. However, it is seen as dangerous to the borders of Denmark and Countries like Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. Racism caused by the Jyllands-Posten newspaper has escalated a level and caused protests across the Muslim world. It exacerbated the situation further when some of these conflicts turned into violence with instances of firing on crowds of protestors. It is therefore important in compromising freedom of speech and expressions to a safety level.
Not only does censorship provide the people with the right information, censorship is also essential in maintaining racial and religious harmony all over the world. Censorship can remove any racial or religious discrimination remark or detains any individual who made such a remark. A closer look at home, during a service in a particular church in Singapore, Pastor Rony Tan was making his speech and within his speech, he criticised Buddhism which angered the Buddhist populace. Without censorship, such issues which involved freedom of speech might cause a religious conflict in Singapore. However, there are some forms of censorship in Singapore. The day after Pastor Rony Tan made his speech; the Internal Security Department of Singapore tracked him down and persuaded him to make a public apology. This shows that censorship can prevent racial and religious issues from getting out of hand. It filters out what people should and could say so that no particular race or religion is hurt in the process. If censorship were to be removed, chaos might break loose. Hence, in addition to providing the right information, censorship is important in upholding racial and religious stability. Most importantly, censorship can prevent a dreadful reality such as cross-borders racial conflict or racial riots. Hence, it is imperative for a country to have censorship.
Some people state that censorship prevents the free flow of ideas. Ideas and information may undergo some sort of manipulation before publishing and releasing it to the public. Eliminating offensive remarks and unnecessary information are also parts of the censorship of ideas. An example to illustrate this will be the Saudi Arabia Internet Censorship. The internet censorship in Saudi Arabia is relatively tight. The Communication and Information technology Commission (CITC) established a new service for an internet user to request to block or unblock a website. In this case, it can filter unnecessary and bad information. This will only enable the free flow of good and inspiring ideas instead. Some may argue that censorship, in this case, will stifle connectivity and prevent the transfer of ideas. It prevents sharing of knowledge and technology know-how if censorship is imposed to block certain website. Hence, censorship ceases the exchange of ideas. However, censorship can filter and provide people with the knowledge that is beneficial to society and to them. For example, Operation Pangea III which shuts down website selling unregulated slimming pills. This form of censorship protects people from harmful information. So, a world without censorship can be dreadful.
Censorship is important in protecting people from mimicking dangerous acts done by professionals or restricts any forms of media which could affect the people negatively. In the context of Australia, the famous “crocodile hunter”, Steve Irwin, was a role model to many people out there who seek adventures. In 2006, when he was filming a show about the coral reef, he was pierced through the heart by a stingray. Months later, Steve Irwin “copycats” made trips to the coral reef ocean to complete his expedition. This results in an 81-years-old man being in critical condition after being attacked by stingrays. Also, before Steve Irwin’s death, due to his popularity of being a crocodile hunter, copycats begin to copy him by approaching a crocodile in the wild which results in severe injury. This shows that if censorship is not in place, people will be misled into believing that Steve Irwin’s acts are normal and harmless. This might lead to severe injury and even death. After all, censorship is important to protect the people with the safety of knowledge and information. Hence, it is imperative to uphold censorship in the country to prevent a dreadful reality.
In conclusion, it is a common error among laments to believe that censorship is absolutely detrimental. However, censorship may really be good sometimes. In order to ascertain the viability of censorship, we have to examine the purpose behind the use of censorship. An example closer to ourselves will be we will self-censor. Despite the feeling of disgust, dissatisfaction and discouragement, we often do not explicitly show our despair or hatred. We are aware of the consequence of such actions and hence, we often self-censor. Hence, it will be superfluous to say that a world without censorship is a delightful idea. Therefore, censorship is very important in preventing any dreadful consequence of social instability and the transfer of inaccurate information.
