Censorship: in the world and the internet

[Laurence]

Censorship: What is your opinion?

I was reading the George Washington thread, and the topic of censoring images came up. I did a search, and found no threads in the Freeones Talk forum.

This topic is a very important one these days, especially on the internet. I know the there have been some Bills floating around US congress dealing with Net-Censorship and Net-Neutrality. Both involve censorship, just at different places and levels.
I want to open this thread up to debate on all forms of censorship, especially in entertainment and the media, both on and off the net. What is your opinion? Where should the control over what is censored come in, if at all?


...I'm going to hold back my opinion for now. Maybe as we discuss this you will figure out where I stand on this Important topic...

Censorship, while necessary in certain instances, must primarily be regarded as a threat to freedom of expression. In Ireland years ago, stringent censorship resulted in an almost total lack of such freedom in many key areas. On the whole, I feel that censorship of extreme violence is OK, though if the violence occurs in a horror movie then that should be treated somewhat differently. Obviously, children must be protected from inappropriate content and images (though I must say I question the values of a society that says it is OK to give toddlers toy guns yet refuses to permit sexually mature 16 and 17-year olds to view mild pornography). The point is that minors should be protected, not overprotected. As for adults, I sincerely feel that in most things they should be free from having to worry about the tyranny of censorship. When contemporary governments, especially in America, talk of censorship they generally mean the censorship of pornograpahic content. Porn may not be the most noble invention of man, but it is only a bit of adult fun after all. Obviously, some of the content on the Internet is truly obscene. Certain types of extreme pornography and illegal porn must of course be prevented from spreading, but censorship should only be applied with moderation and only where it is truly necessary for the well-being of all involved.

 

[kide83]

just voted: "is something to be decided on for kids by their parents ONLY."

If teenagers want to watch porn they will always find ways to get to it. If nothing else they will go to friends who has internet access or will download porn from ******* and warez sites...
On the other hand, if parents don't care to do somethng about it then why should i care (as adult webmaster) more then them about their children.
I'll have children too one day but i'll protect them by talking to them about everything they can and probably will find in life, internet, media etc... i won't try to keep them safe by hiding everything from them, after all i am watching porn since i was 12-13 and you know what - i'm perfectly normal i have job, g/f, friends, social life etc...