Is State Sponsored Censorship Ever Justified?

A detailed Summary of Is State Sponsored Censorship Ever Justified?

"So many new ideas are at first strange and horrible though ultimately valuable that a very heavy responsibility rests upon those who would prevent their dissemination (J.B.S. Haldane)."

Whether parents are censoring material for their children or the media is presenting to the public only the things it deems newsworthy, a nearly infinite amount of censorships are being exercised every day around the world. More significantly, every legislator or person of political power must consider carefully the decision to censor the governed. Those decisions carry consequences of varying weights, but regardless of the issue, it is essential to decide whether the benefit of one choice outweighs the negative aspects of the other. If so, the decision to censor is justified.

When asked off the cuff, most Americans would readily proclaim their opposition to censorship. "Censorship violates the First Amendment," or "America's supposed to be a free country" are some likely responses. The truth is, most Americans are actually in favor of several types of censorship. They simply haven't thought about it enough to realize their feelings. Ask a father if he wants his eight-year-old daughter reading a sexually explicit magazine, or if a mother

wants her six-year-old son watching extremely violent movies. Assuredly they will tell you, "no." They may continue to explain their reasoning, citing statistics about youth violence or inappropriate behavior, but the reasons don't really matter. In terms of battling with censorship in these examples, both parties would have to agree with the statement that "some censorship is necessary."

This type of censorship doesn't appear to be the "state sponsored" suppression we were expecting, but it is. Governments are hierarchies, and the governed are like children to the rulers, who act as parents. Just as children who in their ignorance prefer to think they "know it all," we too are ignorant of the censorships controlling our lives. Of course we would like to think we know everything about our government and country. We're a free, democratic nation and we've elected people to govern our lives. "They wouldn't hide things from us...." so we say. Do we really believe it? The curious can generate an infinite number of hypothetical situations in which the government, or politicians would be forced to make decisions with consequences involving censorship. Take Roswell, New Mexico for example. Rumors about aliens and cover-ups could all be completely untrue, but then again, if the censorship surrounding their existence is good enough, how would we ever know? In a situation that could provoke mass-paranoia or anarchist behavior, would those who know of imminent danger choose to tell the public, or would we go on uninformed? Given situations in which knowing the truth actually risks the safety or h

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Approximate Word count = 1085
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English