Censorship

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What are your views on the subject of censorship? When,where and why should it be used if ever?

Only during times of declared war and then as little as possible.

ruveyn

I don't believe in censorship, I see it as a form of deceit.

I am generally against censorship nothing good ever comes from oppressing people's right to freedom of speech and thought, a lesson certain mods could do with learning...


There are certain areas where I think it is acceptable, child porn or an idiot's guide to hacking into the nuclear command control system or reporters giving away useful details of ongoing military operations are examples where I find it sensible.

The censorship debate is something I am wary of. The balance between censorship and freedom of speech is a very fine line.

And with some topics that are controversial (e.g. hate speech) it's hard to know where the line is.

I personally find hate speech repulsive, but does that mean we should take away someones right to freedom of speech when it comes to that simply because we disagree with it or because it is harmful?

If it does become harmful, with large numbers of people following or engaging in such actions stemming from it, censoring it may be the only way to go to prevent further such actions or sentiments from spreading.

Alternatively, censoring it may only cause it to go underground or receive a sizable backlash, more attention, or more people being drawn to it that would not have otherwise occured if you hadn't censored it.

It is more useless [EDIT: typo, "useful"] that there be a free press. It lets out steam. It's not like newspapers change anything.

Last edited by enrico_dandolo on 31 May 2012, 3:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

Have you been living under a rock the last year?

Murdoch phone hacking inquiry pass you by?

The one where celebrities, politicians and the police all admit to being terrified of the press and their power to destroy careers with false gossip or bury potentially career ending indiscretions so that you sail on unscathed?

Or how after the press created the MMR scare, parents stopped vaccinating their children and case of fatal measles, mumps and rubella went up hugely? etc, etc, etc.

I am against censorship but I am for censureship

I wonder what this place would be like, with the spammers and trolls being allowed to roam freely (that's what no censorship would entail). As an example, one troll could easily churn out a whole page of topic headings, in minutes. I don't think I'd use places like this at all, if they weren't censored somewhat.

Banning trolls, spammers, and locking violating threads, is not censorship, it is enforcement of the rules. Is it censorship to refuse a violent television show on a family friendly channel?

I don't see it so much that way exactly ... it's more like WP is someone's megaphone or other communication tool. They share it under certain conditions. They're not robbing you of freedom of speech if they attach conditions to using the megaphone; it's their stuff.

Censorship is when you're forbidden from using any megaphone, including your own, to communicate something. No website can take your freedom of speech away. They can attach conditions to sharing their stuff, because it's theirs, but that's not censorship.

Your nose is looking mighty brown, lately.



For the government to refuse it? Or for the owner of the channel to refuse it?

artrat,

Just to clarify, was your question intended to be taken in the general context as per the norm for this sub-forum, or in the context of censorship on WP?

Really? I have nothing to gain by voicing my opinion. Furthermore, the TOS is not really a matter of opinion. Feel free to go and read it any time you like, or feel free to be a fool and throw insinuations around, I don't particularly care about your view on my motivations, though it says a lot about yours that you accuse me of brown nosing when my post was in disagreement with a mod's interpretation of censorship



For the owner of the station, obviously.

My thoughts exactly.

Last edited by HerrGrimm on 29 May 2012, 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

That is another valid way of looking at it.