Intellectual Freedom & Censorship
Issues
Lesson 7
Censorship
Censorship of ideas is often done by individuals or groups who think they are protecting members of the public from harmful ideas. While their concerns may be legitimate, their actions have the effect of limiting the range of ideas available to the public. Limiting the public's access to "harmful" ideas may be deemed necessary by those who wish to censor, but such actions pose important questions.
Censorship is always problematic in a democratic society. Censorship allows certain citizens, or the state, the right to impose their beliefs and will upon other citizens. By imposing their views on others the censor states that their ideas are the "right" ideas and that all other citizens must abide by them, even if they disagree. The censor might feel justified in their actions by claiming that they are protecting the national interest, or the common good. However, the censor can never ignore the fact that by imposing their will on others they are betraying the foundations of democratic society. In a democracy individuals should be free to think and read whatever they want and discuss their ideas in public. Censorship short-circuits this by stating that some ideas and topics are automatically off limits.
Because our society places such a strong emphasis on the rights and freedoms of the individual, Americans are quite suspicious of attempts to restrict our intellectual and speech freedoms. As a result many battles have been fought over the interpretation of the First Amendment. Numerous free speech groups have been formed whose self-appointed mission it is to protect First Amendment rights. Spend some time looking through the following Web sites and considering the issues.
You may agree or disagree with specific issues that these groups represent, but it is important that you carefully consider the issues of intellectual freedom and freedom of expression.
A fine example of censorship and intellectual freedom issues is taking place in public libraries and school media centers today regarding the use of Internet filtering devices. The debate usually revolves around the ability of children to access pornographic Internet sites. As a result of the possibility of children accessing pornographic sites on the Internet, some people have called for filtering software to be place on some or all the Internet computers in libraries. The problem arises in that Internet filtering software does not only filter pornographic sites, it also filters other information that adults and children might want to access. Please take a look at the following sites for more in-depth discussion of this topic.
As you see, intellectual freedom and censorship issues can raise many interesting and difficult questions. But even though good people may disagree about these issues, it must always be remembered that a truly free society depends on equal and open access to information by all its citizens. Without access to information and knowledge citizens are unable to make the decisions necessary to govern themselves. So the next time you go into a library and find a book that personally offends you, think a moment before you complain to the librarian. That book is a testament to the freedom of thought and expression that this country was founded upon. You may not like the book, you may think the author is a jerk, but you should also celebrate that you live in a country where people have the right to think, read and publish ideas that others might not like. Someday you may say or publish things that others find offensive and you will be happy for the First Amendment and freedom of expression.