Censorship: Good or Bad?

cen⋅sor –noun

an official who examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams, etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds.

(Source: www.dictionary.com)

Censorship is a powerful tool, usually wielded by higher authority (*cough cough*). Simply put, through censorship, 'undesirable elements' are removed from various forms of communicative media, such that a politically correct, or 'censored' version, would be disseminated to the masses. Censorship goes a long way back. It is even mentioned in the Christian Bible, when Jeremiah's prophecy in the form of a scroll, was 'censored' by the royal family, because it would have been a cause for worry, had it been made known to the public. ("And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth" -Jeremiah 36:1–26)

To start, censorship should be imposed on a moderate level. It shouldn't be too rigid that people would term it 'oppression', nor shouldn't there be too much freedom of speech. In short, censorship is a grey area, there is no right or wrong. Strict censorship laws are imposed in Singapore. In the theatres, overly raunchy or violent scenes are cut from films, and over the radio, song lyrics containing expletives and profanities, are censored too.

Some people think that censorship kills creativity, but laws governing censorship differ from country to country. A film or advertisement banned in, say, China, may not necessarily be banned in America. Furthermore, media censorship protects the younger generation from corruption of mind, by reducing exposure to sex, drugs, and violence from movies or television.

In daily life, we ourselves, do some 'self-censoring'. Our choice of actions and words, at some point in life, would be chosen in such a way, such that damage to self is minimised. In a similar way, sensitive information concerning the nation is never divulged as well. This is to protect ourselves, so that potential aggressors will not be able to take advantage of any exposed weaknesses.

In a nutshell, censorship is important to a certain extent. Sure, certain information might be omitted, but everybody's entitled to have (and keep) their own dirty little secrets, aren't they?

Extras:

To thank you for your kind attention, here are some banned commercials I found whilst surfing http://youtube.com/ . Enjoy!

First Post.

-SITE RESERVED-

For upcoming constructive thoughts.

Coming to a theatre near you! :D