Censorship has existed around the world for thousands of years. In some countries it is stricter, and you cannot express yourself however you want, meanwhile other places take the principle lightly and you are not as restricted, but what does censorship actually indicate, and why does it matter so much?
The meaning of censorship is that the government, an institution or a corporation, pre-examine literature, television or media etc., and remove everything they deem inappropriate or harmful. Censorship is a topic with various opinions, some may think that it is necessary and acceptable, whilst other think that it is the opposite. Personally, I believe that censorship is atrocious and should be abolished, and now I am going to explain why.
I am certain that most people know about the freedom of speech, which is a principle that protects every individual’s freedom to express themselves and their opinions, without any interference from the government, corporations or any other form of authority. This is a very fundamental principle that is also part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), under article 19 and the International human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). So, when the government, for example, do censor anything it is ultimately a suppression of our freedom of speech and therefore goes against every individual’s human rights, which may or may not be illegal in some cases. Thus, censorship violates our freedom and suppresses us.
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When allowing censorship, you are allowing other people to control what individuals can and cannot say, but you cannot be absolutely sure about who it is that is in control and what motive they have. What I am trying to say is that censorship gives power to an authority, which can consist of only one individual, to use censorship in their own favor. They can censor opinions and content only because they do not agree with it, deem it harmful or as discrimination against certain individuals. This means that you are putting trust in an authority and giving them the power to essentially misuse this and let their point of view overrule our opinions, and for that reason, I do not believe that one single authority should have that much power over the people.
I think that censorship, especially political censorship, in many cases can lead to violence. Let’s say that the authority that is in charge of the censorship really is misusing it and the people of the society cannot voice their opinions, then what options are there for the people to express themselves, except violence? I believe in democracy, as many other people, and in a democracy, everyone should have a say in everything concerning their country. If they are not satisfied, they should be able to express their concerns and not just be silenced, and in order to get their voices heard, their only option is violence against the government. Sometimes the people’s dissatisfaction could even lead to a civil war if there are different opinions within the country, which could make a whole nation collapse, and that is rather negative according to me.
In conclusion, I think that censorship should be abolished all over the world, mainly because of all the negatives, such as the suppression of our freedom of speech, the chance of misuse and the chance of violence within a country.
Bibliography:
- https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
- https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censur
- https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yttrandefrihet
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom of speech
- https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
