Is Censorship Ever Justified and What Are Its' Limits?
Is censorship ever justified, if so, what are its limits?
Censorship is a means whereby the information people receive is limited, either wholly or in part by another individual or a group or individuals. Censorship has occurred in varying forms for centuries and happens within all aspects of society; Parents and teachers censor what children see and read, the government censor the information available to the public and everybody, whether realise it or not partake in self-censorship. It is argued that there are many reasons for censorship but the two that are most agreed upon are; firstly to protect vulnerable adults and children, this occurs mostly within the media and entertainment industry by making sure films and games have age restrictions, and secondly to control people’s behaviours and to sway their thoughts towards one indirectly dictated opinion; This is the motive that is felt is behind the majority of the government’s actions and equally some actions within religion. If people have limited information than the freedom to formulate and individual opinion is withheld. Most people feel that censorship is immoral and the public have a right to the truth and should be allowed to formulate and fully informed opinion regardless of consequences. Censorship in the case of what children witness is widely disputed. Most believe that it is a necessity to protect children from violent games as they believe it affects children’s perception of acceptable behaviour and disrupts children’s development. Craig Anderson and Karen E. Dill (2000) published two sets of results of a psychological study carried out on college students; this was to test the correlation between the levels of violence witness in games and levels of aggression. The first results found that those students who played video games exhibiting high levels of physical aggression throughout primary and senior school had exhibited more violent tendencies than those who did not and the second findings
Censorship is a means whereby the information people receive is limited, either wholly or in part by another individual or a group or individuals. Censorship has occurred in varying forms for centuries and happens within all aspects of society; Parents and teachers censor what children see and read, the government censor the information available to the public and everybody, whether realise it or not partake in self-censorship. It is argued that there are many reasons for censorship but the two that are most agreed upon are; firstly to protect vulnerable adults and children, this occurs mostly within the media and entertainment industry by making sure films and games have age restrictions, and secondly to control people’s behaviours and to sway their thoughts towards one indirectly dictated opinion; This is the motive that is felt is behind the majority of the government’s actions and equally some actions within religion. If people have limited information than the freedom to formulate and individual opinion is withheld. Most people feel that censorship is immoral and the public have a right to the truth and should be allowed to formulate and fully informed opinion regardless of consequences. Censorship in the case of what children witness is widely disputed. Most believe that it is a necessity to protect children from violent games as they believe it affects children’s perception of acceptable behaviour and disrupts children’s development. Craig Anderson and Karen E. Dill (2000) published two sets of results of a psychological study carried out on college students; this was to test the correlation between the levels of violence witness in games and levels of aggression. The first results found that those students who played video games exhibiting high levels of physical aggression throughout primary and senior school had exhibited more violent tendencies than those who did not and the second findings
References: cited. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17523020 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/3934277.stm Anderson, C. A. and Dill, K. E. 2000. Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. USA Black, G. 1998. The Catholic crusade against the movies, 1940 – 1975. University of Cambridge: USA.