The Political Power Of Social Media In Canada
The Political Power of Social Media
Political influence is shifting away from the elites, and back to the people. This is, generally a good thing, however, instant communication and unfiltered flows of information are not such a blessing. The result is an unmatched delegitimation of public institutions and a profession, especially government and politicians, is particularly troubling. Stephen Harper currently reflects these attitudes in the Canadian Government. The latest Senate scandals, have contributed to polling results that find less than one in ten Canadians trust politicians. From the empowerment of the masses emerges a troubling paradox: We have more information and data than ever about the critical challenges we face; whether environmental, …show more content…
23% of the participants agreed, while 73% of participants disagreed with the concern that Freedom of the Press was created for a reason (Political Opinions).5 The free flow of information is needed by the people to allow them to understand why Freedom of the Press is vital to the rights and liberties of all. It is absurd why one would give the government or any other influential organization power to censor the media as they would tend to steer towards biasing coverage allowing them to have absolute power and wider tyranny. In China, for example, the government is driven from their communism influence and restricts the usage of mass media, especially the internet, so that they can control the opinions of their people. Since the government deprives their citizens from full access to the web, it disembowels the public from knowing the truth about what is happening in the …show more content…
Massive research done on movies containing violence, foul language and sexually explicit materials has shown that exposure to such materials at a young age can lead to psychological instability for viewers and make them more prone to committing juvenile delinquency.10 As such, the movies are often rated from Parental Guidance to NC17, M18 and in some countries R21, to protect viewers from viewing dangerous materials unsuitable for their age. The movie ratings system thus is a necessary form of censorship to bar the young from being exposed to harmful materials through movies.
Overall, censorship is justified in many cases, as it seeks to maintain social stability, racial harmony and to protect the young minds from dangerous materials in movies. However, once misused, censorship can violate human rights principles of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Due to the complexity of censorship, the government needs to be prudent in using censorship to the best interest of the
Political influence is shifting away from the elites, and back to the people. This is, generally a good thing, however, instant communication and unfiltered flows of information are not such a blessing. The result is an unmatched delegitimation of public institutions and a profession, especially government and politicians, is particularly troubling. Stephen Harper currently reflects these attitudes in the Canadian Government. The latest Senate scandals, have contributed to polling results that find less than one in ten Canadians trust politicians. From the empowerment of the masses emerges a troubling paradox: We have more information and data than ever about the critical challenges we face; whether environmental, …show more content…
23% of the participants agreed, while 73% of participants disagreed with the concern that Freedom of the Press was created for a reason (Political Opinions).5 The free flow of information is needed by the people to allow them to understand why Freedom of the Press is vital to the rights and liberties of all. It is absurd why one would give the government or any other influential organization power to censor the media as they would tend to steer towards biasing coverage allowing them to have absolute power and wider tyranny. In China, for example, the government is driven from their communism influence and restricts the usage of mass media, especially the internet, so that they can control the opinions of their people. Since the government deprives their citizens from full access to the web, it disembowels the public from knowing the truth about what is happening in the …show more content…
Massive research done on movies containing violence, foul language and sexually explicit materials has shown that exposure to such materials at a young age can lead to psychological instability for viewers and make them more prone to committing juvenile delinquency.10 As such, the movies are often rated from Parental Guidance to NC17, M18 and in some countries R21, to protect viewers from viewing dangerous materials unsuitable for their age. The movie ratings system thus is a necessary form of censorship to bar the young from being exposed to harmful materials through movies.
Overall, censorship is justified in many cases, as it seeks to maintain social stability, racial harmony and to protect the young minds from dangerous materials in movies. However, once misused, censorship can violate human rights principles of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Due to the complexity of censorship, the government needs to be prudent in using censorship to the best interest of the