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Censorship is defined as the removal and/or withholding of information from the Public by a controlling group or body. Typically censorship is done by Government s, religious groups, corporations, or the Mass Media , although other forms of censorship exist. The withholding of Official Secret s, commercial secrets, Intellectual Property , and privileged lawyer-client communication is not usually described as censorship when it remains within reasonable bounds. Because of this, the term "censorship" often carries with it a sense of untoward, inappropriate or repressive secrecy. Censorship is closely related to the concepts of Freedom Of Speech and Freedom Of Expression . When overused, it is often associated with Human Rights abuse, Dictatorship , and Repression . The term "censorship" is often used as a pejorative term to signify a belief that a group controlling certain information is using this control improperly or for its own benefit, or preventing others from accessing information that should be made readily accessible (often so that conclusions drawn can be verified). ASPECTS OF CENSORSHIP By subject matter and agenda The rationale for censorship is different for various types of data censored. There are five main types:
Censorship of state secrets and prevention of attention censored by Iranian authorities. The offending cover was about the subject of Love , and the picture hidden beneath the white sticker is of an embracing couple.1 February 2006 .]] , 1966 .]] , People's Republic Of Poland , March 20-21-21, 1981, with censor intervention on first and last pages --- under the headlines "Co zdarzyło się w Bydgoszczy?" ( What Happened In Bydgoszcz? ) and "Pogotowie strajkowe w całym kraju" (Country-wide strike alert). The censor had removed a section regarding the strike alert; hence the workers in the printing house blanked out an official propaganda section. The right-hand page also includes a hand-written confirmation of that decision by the local "Solidarność" Trade Union .]] In wartime, explicit censorship is carried out with the intent of preventing the release of information that might be useful to an Enemy . Typically it involves keeping times or locations secret, or delaying the release of information (e.g., an operational objective) until it is of no possible use to enemy forces. The moral issues here are often seen as somewhat different, as release of tactical information usually presents a greater risk of casualties among one's own forces and could possibly lead to loss of the overall conflict. During World War I letters written by British soldiers would have to go through censorship. This consisted of officers going through letters with a black marker and crossing out anything which might compromise operational secrecy before the letter was sent. The World War II catchphrase "Loose lips sink ships" was used as a common justification to exercise official wartime censorship and encourage individual restraint when sharing potentially sensitive information. A well-known example of sanitization policies comes from the USSR under Josef Stalin , where publicly used photographs were often altered to remove people whom Stalin had condemned to execution. Though past photographs may have been remembered or kept, this deliberate and systematic alteration to all of history in the public mind is seen as one of the central themes of Stalinism and Totalitarianism . More recently, the official exclusion of television crews from locales where coffins of military dead were in transit has been cited as a form of censorship. This particular example obviously represents an incomplete or failed form of censorship, as numerous photographs of these coffins are often printed in newspapers, magazines, and on the web. Censorship of educational sources The content of school textbooks is often the issue of debate, since their target audience is young people, and the term "whitewashing" is the one commonly used to refer to selective removal of critical or damaging evidence or comment. The Reporting Of Military Atrocities In History is extremely controversial, as in the case of the Nanking Massacre , the Holocaust (or Holocaust Denial ), and the Winter Soldier Investigation of the Vietnam War . The representation of every society's flaws or misconduct is typically downplayed in favor of a more nationalist, favorable or patriotic view. Also, some religious groups have at times attempted to block the teaching of Evolution in schools, as evolutionary theory appears to contradict their Religious Beliefs . The teaching of Sexual Education in school and the inclusion of information about Sexual Health and Contraceptive Practices in school textbooks is another area where suppression of information occurs. In the context of secondary-school education, the way facts and history are presented greatly influences the interpretation of contemporary thought, opinion and socialization. One argument for censoring the type of information disseminated is based on the inappropriate quality of such material for the young. The use of the "inappropriate" distinction is in itself controversial, as it can lead to a Slippery Slope enforcing wider and more politically-motivated censorship. Some artists such as Frank Zappa helped in the protest against censorship. Although they usually failed, they did put up an argument against the censorship of other material. An example of such censorship is, ironically, Fahrenheit 451 . The book was themed against censorship, but changed heavily. The version that appeared in school English textbooksBradbury, Ray. ''Fahrenheit 451''. Del Rey Books. April 1991. did so with an estimated 75 separate edits, omissions, or changes. Suppression/falsification of scientific research For more information, see the article on Scientific Misconduct . Scientific studies may be suppressed or falsified because they undermine sponsors' commercial, political or other interests or because they fail to support researchers' ideological goals. Examples include, failing to publish a study that show a new drug is harmful, or truthfully publishing the benefits of a treatment while failing to describe harmful side-effects. This sort of censorship is often supported by the Pharmaceutical Industry , in order to make Drugs appear to be miraculous and simultaneously making Natural Methods appear to be dangerous. Censorship in music and popular culture , an official responsible for censoring plays, created a scandal in 1873 by banning '' The Happy Land '' for its portrayal of Prime Minister Gladstone and two other ministers in his cabinet. In response, Marie Litton, the manager of the theatre where it was performed, agreed to amend it to a censored version - and printed a script with the censored lines in all capital letters, to make the censorship easier to spot. The Illustrated London News , March 15, 1873, page 243]] American musicians such as Frank Zappa have repeatedly protested against censorship in music and pushed for more freedom of expression. In 1986, Zappa appeared on CNN Crossfire to protest censorship of lyrics in rock music, saying that harm will be done or unrest caused if controversial information, lyrics, or other messages are promulgated. In countries like Sudan, Afghanistan and China, violations of musician’s rights to freedom of expression are commonplace. In the USA and Algeria, lobbying groups have succeeded in keeping popular music off the concert stage, and out of the media and retail. In ex-Yugoslavia musicians are often pawns in political dramas, and the possibility of free expression has been adversely affected. Music censorship has been implemented by states, religions, educational systems, families, retailers and lobbying groups – and in most cases they violate international conventions of human rights.2 Copy, picture, and writer approval Copy approval is the right to read and amend an article, usually an interview, before publication. Many publications refuse to give copy approval but it is increasingly becoming common practice when dealing with publicity anxious celebrities.3 Picture approval is the right given to an individual to choose which photos will be published and which will not. Robert Redford is well known for insisting upon picture approval.4 Writer approval is when writers are chosen based on whether they will write flattering articles or not. Hollywood publicist Pat Kingsley is known for banning certain writers who wrote undesirably about one of her clients from interviewing any of her other clients. CENSORSHIP IMPLEMENTATION Censorship is regarded among a majority of academics in the Western world as a typical feature of Dictatorship s and other Authoritarian political systems. Democratic nations are represented, especially among Western government, academic and media commentators, as having somewhat less institutionalized censorship, and as instead promoting the importance of Freedom Of Speech . The former Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics maintained a particularly extensive program of state-imposed censorship. The main organ for official censorship in the Soviet Union was the ''Chief Agency for Protection of Military and State Secrets'' generally known as the '' Glavlit '', its Russian acronym. The ''Glavlit'' handled censorship matters arising from domestic writings of just about any kind — even beer and vodka labels. ''Glavlit'' censorship personnel were present in every large Soviet publishing house or newspaper; the agency employed some 70,000 censors to review information before it was disseminated by publishing houses, editorial offices, and broadcasting studios. No mass medium escaped ''Glavlit'''s control. All press agencies and radio and television stations had ''Glavlit'' representatives on their editorial staffs. Some thinkers understand censorship to include other attempts to suppress points of view or the exploitation of negative Propaganda , Media Manipulation , Spin , Disinformation or " Free Speech Zone s." These methods tend to work by disseminating preferred information, by relegating open discourse to marginal forums, and by preventing other ideas from obtaining a receptive audience. Sometimes, a specific and Unique information whose very existence is barely known to the public, is kept in a subtle, near-censorship situation, being regarded as “ Subversive ” or “inconvenient”. Michel Foucault ’s 1978 text Sexual Morality And The Law , for instance - originally published as ''La loi de la pudeur'' [literally, ‘the law of decency’], defends the decriminalization of Statutory Rape and the Abolition Of Age Of Consent Laws , and as of July 2006, is almost totally invisible throughout the Internet , both in English and French, and does not appear even on Foucault-specialized websites (although it does appear here!) Suppression of access to the means of dissemination of ideas can function as a form of censorship. Such suppression has been alleged to arise from the policies of governmental bodies, such as the FDA and FCC in the United States of America, the CRTC in Canada , newspapers that refuse to run commentary the publisher disagrees with, lecture halls that refuse to rent themselves out to a particular speaker, and individuals who refuse to finance such a lecture. The omission of selected voices in the content of stories also serves to limit the spread of ideas, and is often called censorship. Such omission can result, for example, from persistent failure or refusal by media organizations to contact criminal defendants (relying solely on official sources for explanations of crime). Censorship has been alleged to occur in such media policies as blurring the boundaries between hard news and news commentary, and in the appointment of allegedly biased commentators, such as a Former Government Attorney , to serve as anchors of programs labeled as hard news but comprising primarily anti-criminal commentary. The focusing of news stories to exclude questions that might be of interest to some audience segments, such as the avoidance of reporting cumulative casualty rates among citizens of a nation that is the target or site of a foreign war, or the values of natural methods in the prevention, treatment, and curing of disease, is often described as a form of censorship. Favorable representation in news or information services of preferred products or services, such as reporting on leisure travel and comparative values of various machines instead of on leisure activities such as arts, crafts or gardening has been described by some as a means of censoring ideas about the latter in favor of the former. Self-censorship: Imposed on the media in a free market by market/cultural forces rather than a censoring authority. This occurs when it is more profitable for the media to give a biased view. Examples would include near hysterical and scientifically untenable stances against Nuclear Power , Genetic Engineering and Recreational Drugs distributed because scare stories sell, or a lack of articles about the dangers of drugs and the values of natural cures due to bribes from the pharmaceutical industry. It also occurs when politicians/culture expect the media to give moral guidance - i.e., not publishing the cartoon depictions of Muhammed. Informations about censorship: In many communist countries any information about existence of censorship and the legal basis of the censorship was censored. Rules of censoring were classified. Removed texts or phrases were not marked. Creative censorship: In many communist countries censors not only removed texts but sometimes rewrote them, so some texts had secret co-authors. CENSORSHIP BY COUNTRY United States See Also: Censorship in the United States Under US law, the First Amendment protects free speech and freedom of the press to some degree. Radio broadcasts are under constant scrutiny. This amendment does not mention many things, one being Obscenity (a term usually applied to sexual material), but the common interpretation ignores this aspect using the argument that there is no social value deemed applicable to it. This applies only to the government and government entities; private corporations are under no such restriction (although individuals like Kevin Trudeau are fighting to change this, and protect their own First Amendment rights.) Map Imagery Google Earth censors places which may be of special security concern. The following is a selection of such concerns:
Brazil See Also: Internet censorship in Brazil
Censorship around the world ;Asian and Pacific area: Censorship In Australia , Censorship In China , Internet Censorship In The People's Republic Of China , Censorship In India , Censorship In Malaysia , Censorship In Singapore , Censorship In South Asia , Censorship In Taiwan , Censorship In Thailand , Censorship Of Radio And Film (Thailand) ;Middle east: Censorship In Iran , Censorship In Iraq , Censorship In Israel , Internet Censorship In Pakistan , Censorship In Saudi Arabia ;American area: Censorship In The United States , Censorship In Canada , Censorship In Cuba ;Eurasian area: Censorship In Belarus , Censorship In East Germany (former GDR ), Censorship In France , Censorship In The Republic Of Ireland , Censorship In Portugal , Censorship In The Russian Empire , Censorship In The Soviet Union , Censorship In Sweden , Censorship In Turkey , Censorship In The United Kingdom Wikipedia itself is unavailable to Internet servers in certain countries, such as Iran , China , and North Korea , due to Internet censorship. CENSORSHIP OF MEDIA ;Banned items: Banned Books , Banned Films , Censorship Of Music ;Business and activities: Corporate Media , Re-edited Film ;Controversies: Criticism Of Wikipedia (Censorship Section) , Video Game Controversy OTHER TYPES OF CENSORSHIP ;Business activities: Advertising Regulation , Corporate Censorship ;Organizations: Censorship By Organized Religion , Postal Censorship , Censorship Under Fascist Regimes , Internet Censorship SEE ALSO ;A to F: , Bleep Censor , Book Burning , Book Banning , the Censored Eleven (banned '' Looney Tunes '' and '' Merrie Melodies '' cartoons), Censorware , Chilling Effect , Cindy's Torment , Comics Code Authority , Content-control Software , Death Whoop , Edited Movie , Elsebeth Baumgartner , Entertainment Software Rating Board , '' Fahrenheit 451 '', Freemuse - Freedom of Musical Expression, Freedom Of Speech ;G to P: Gatekeeper (politics) , Graffiti Blasters , '' Index Librorum Prohibitorum '' of The Roman Catholic Church , International Freedom Of Expression EXchange , Jack Thompson , John Stuart Mill , '' Lady Chatterley's Lover '', Leland Yee , Media Controversy , Media Transparency , MPAA Rating System , NEA Four , Network Neutrality , '' Nineteen Eighty-Four '', Police State , Prior Restraint , Production Code , Project Censored ;Q to Z : Scieno Sitter , SourceWatch , Standards & Practices , Parents Television Council , Super Bowl XXXVIII Controversy , Thomas Bowdler , Tunisia Monitoring Group , TV Parental Guidelines , V-chip , Mary Whitehouse , Whitewashing , Obscurantism EXTERNAL ARTICLES AND REFERENCES Citations and notes General information
:(Arguing that an English teacher should get advice from school librarians in preparing to encounter three levels of censorship: # Rejection of adolescent fiction and popular teen magazines as having low value, # Experienced colleagues discouraging "difficult" lesson plans, # Outside interest groups limiting students' exposure. ED 289 172 )
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