Pornography and the Moral Dimensions of Censorship In A Democratic Society
Pornography and the Moral Dimensions of Censorship In A Democratic Society
In discussing this topic, we cannot fully understand the topic without defining what censorship and pornography are. Censorship can be defined as the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by a government, media outlet or other controlling body. It can be done by governments and private organizations or by individuals who engage in self-censorship. It occurs in a variety of different contexts including speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of reasons including national security, to control obscenity, child pornography, and hate speech, to protect children, to promote or restrict political or religious views, and to prevent slander and libel.
Many countries provide strong protections against censorship by law, but none of these protections are absolute and it is frequently necessary to balance conflicting rights in order to determine what can and cannot be censored. Censorship is typically referred to as whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others and so, some countries also feel that the law (government) censoring some things is unconstitutional as it violates their rights to freedom of speech and right to free expression. Another key term needed to understand this topic is pornography. Pornography can be described as the 'explicit representation of sexual activity in print or on film to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings. There is typically no limitation, other than for their moral values, so there are various types of pornography that range from male and female child porn to adult porn, both heterosexual and homosexual.
There are various harms and benefits of pornography, although in my opinion, there
In discussing this topic, we cannot fully understand the topic without defining what censorship and pornography are. Censorship can be defined as the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by a government, media outlet or other controlling body. It can be done by governments and private organizations or by individuals who engage in self-censorship. It occurs in a variety of different contexts including speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of reasons including national security, to control obscenity, child pornography, and hate speech, to protect children, to promote or restrict political or religious views, and to prevent slander and libel.
Many countries provide strong protections against censorship by law, but none of these protections are absolute and it is frequently necessary to balance conflicting rights in order to determine what can and cannot be censored. Censorship is typically referred to as whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others and so, some countries also feel that the law (government) censoring some things is unconstitutional as it violates their rights to freedom of speech and right to free expression. Another key term needed to understand this topic is pornography. Pornography can be described as the 'explicit representation of sexual activity in print or on film to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings. There is typically no limitation, other than for their moral values, so there are various types of pornography that range from male and female child porn to adult porn, both heterosexual and homosexual.
There are various harms and benefits of pornography, although in my opinion, there