Censorship

Extracted Attributes

• Definition

  The suppression of speech, public communication, or other information deemed objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient.

• Conducted By

  Governments, private institutions, individuals (self-censorship)

• Legal Context

  Legal regulations vary across jurisdictions and organizations; many countries offer legal protections against it, but these are not absolute and often involve balancing conflicting rights.

• Affected Media

  Speech, books, music, films, other arts, press, radio, television, Internet

• Common Justifications

  National security, controlling obscenity, pornography, hate speech, protecting vulnerable groups, promoting or restricting political/religious views, preventing slander and libel, imposing moral values, keeping military intelligence confidential

• Historical Origin of Term

  Derived from the Roman office of 'censor' established in 443 BCE, which conducted the census and regulated citizens' morals.

Timeline

• The office of 'censor' was established in Rome, responsible for conducting the census and regulating citizens' morals, giving origin to the term 'censorship'. (Source: web_search_results)

  0443 BCE

• The Comstock Law was passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration, criminalizing the use of the U.S. Postal Service to send certain items deemed obscene or immoral. (Source: web_search_results)

  1873-03-03

• President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8985, establishing the Office of Censorship and granting its director, Byron Price, the power to censor international communications. (Source: web_search_results)

  1941-12-19

• Postal censorship began in the United States, affecting every letter crossing international or U.S. territorial borders. (Source: web_search_results)

  1941-12

• Postal censorship in the United States concluded. (Source: web_search_results)

  1945-08

• The novel 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' was put on trial, highlighting issues of moral censorship. (Source: web_search_results)

  1960

• Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, reportedly expressed regret over the company's past censorship actions regarding the Hunter Biden story. (Source: cdbda7e6-71f2-48cc-8ece-01ee1943fc33)

  Recent

Censorship

Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments and private institutions. When an individual such as an author or other creator engages in censorship of their own works or speech, it is referred to as self-censorship. General censorship occurs in a variety of different media, including speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of claimed reasons including national security, to control obscenity, pornography, and hate speech, to protect children or other vulnerable groups, to promote or restrict political or religious views, and to prevent slander and libel. Specific rules and regulations regarding censorship vary between legal jurisdictions and/or private organizations.

Web Search Results

• Censorship

  Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient".( Censorship can be conducted by governments( and private institutions.( When an individual such as an author or other creator engages in censorship of their own works or speech, it is referred to as _self-censorship_. General censorship occurs in a variety of different media, including speech, [...] Censorship is often used to impose moral values on society, as in the censorship of material considered obscene. English novelist E. M. Forster was a staunch opponent of censoring material on the grounds that it was obscene or immoral, raising the issue of moral subjectivity and the constant changing of moral values. When the 1928 novel _Lady Chatterley's Lover_ was put on trial in 1960, Forster wrote:( [...] Moral censorship is the removal of materials that are obscene or otherwise considered morally questionable. Pornography, for example, is often censored under this rationale, especially child pornography, which is illegal and censored in most jurisdictions in the world.( Military censorship is the process of keeping military intelligence and tactics confidential and away from the enemy. This is used to counter espionage.

• First Amendment and Censorship | ALA - American Library Association

  Censorship is the suppression of ideas and information that some individuals, groups, or government officials find objectionable or dangerous. Would-be censors try to use the power of the state to impose their view of what is truthful and appropriate, or offensive and objectionable, on everyone else. Censors pressure public institutions, like libraries, to suppress and remove information they judge inappropriate or dangerous from public access, so that no one else has the chance to read or view

• Censorship in the United States - Wikipedia

  In the United States, censorship involves the suppression of speech or public communication and raises issues of freedom of speech, which is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Interpretation of this fundamental freedom has varied since its enshrinement. Traditionally, the First Amendment was regarded as applying only to the Federal government, leaving the states and local communities free to censor or not. As the applicability of states' rights in lawmaking [...] On December 19, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8985, which established the Office of Censorship and conferred on its director the power to censor international communications in "his absolute discretion." Byron Price was selected as the Director of Censorship. However, censorship was not limited to reporting; postal censorship also took place. "Every letter that crossed international or U.S. territorial borders from December 1941 to August 1945 was subject to being [...] On March 3, 1873, significant censorship legislation, the _Comstock Law_, was passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration; an Act for the "Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use." The Act criminalized usage of the U.S. Postal Service to send any of the following items: erotica; contraceptives; abortifacients; sex toys; personal letters alluding to any sexual content or information; or any information regarding the

• What Is Censorship? | American Civil Liberties ...

  Censorship, the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive," happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others. Censorship can be carried out by the government as well as private pressure groups. Censorship by the government is unconstitutional. [...] was defined as: "language that describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities or organs." This vague concept continues to baffle both the public and the courts. [...] Today's calls for censorship are not motivated solely by morality and taste, but also by the widespread belief that exposure to images of violence causes people to act in destructive ways. Pro-censorship forces, including many politicians, often cite a multitude of "scientific studies" that allegedly prove fictional violence leads to real-life violence.

• Censorship | Definition, History, Types, & Examples

  secular. Thus, Richard McKeon has suggested, “Censorship may be the enforcement of judgments based on power, passion, corruption, or prejudice—political, popular, elite, or sectarian. It may also be based on scholarship and the use of critical methods in the interest of advancing a taste for literature, art, learning, and science.” [...] Censorship, as a term in English, goes back to the office of censor established in Rome in 443 bce. That officer, who conducted the census, regulated the morals of the citizens counted and classified. But, however honourable the origins of its name, censorship itself is today generally regarded as a relic of an unenlightened and much more oppressive age. [...] censorship, the changing or the suppression or prohibition of speech or writing that is deemed subversive of the common good. It occurs in all manifestations of authority to some degree, but in modern times it has been of special importance in its relation to government and the rule of law. Concerns relevant to censorship ------------------------------- The status of "individuality” -----------------------------

• Instance Of

  Q13433827

Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments, private institutions and other controlling bodies. Governments and private organizations may engage in censorship. Other groups or institutions may propose and petition for censorship. When an individual such as an author or other creator engages in censorship of his or her own works or speech, it is referred to as self-censorship. General censorship occurs in a variety of different media, including speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of claimed reasons including national security, to control obscenity, pornography, and hate speech, to protect children or other vulnerable groups, to promote or restrict political or religious views, and to prevent slander and libel. Direct censorship may or may not be legal, depending on the type, location, and content. Many countries provide strong protections against censorship by law, but none of these protections are absolute and frequently a claim of necessity to balance conflicting rights is made, in order to determine what could and could not be censored. There are no laws against self-censorship.