Self-censorship is the act of editing and suppressing one’s beliefs or creations in any sort of medium as a response to a real or perceived fear. This phenomenon is globally prevalent, making it critical to investigate the implications of a variety of aspects that shape a country, including its predominant religion, political regime, and social norms to determine how each affects the existence and magnitude of self-censorship. My analysis on self-censorship in this essay will be in the context of the artistic works produced by both “western” countries including Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and “eastern” countries such as Turkey, Morocco, Singapore, and China.
One significant complication that arises when analyzing self-censorship …show more content…
Take the United States for example: The First Amendment of its constitution explicitly establishes the necessary freedoms of speech and expression. However, despite political protections of these actions, it is nearly impossible to prevent individuals from being ostracized or otherwise spurned by the communities that they belong to, which is one of the major fears that leads to self-censorship. Self-censorship is evident on a more macroscopic scale as well. Alex Floyd, contributor to the Brown Political Review, writes that “to this day, films deemed too obscene are banned in pluralistic democracies. Australia’s Classification Board works with the Attorney-General’s Department to certify and de facto censor films on the mass market, Canada’s vast network of provincial censorship boards represses at the regional level instead of a national one, and the independent British Board of Film Classification operates as a public-private partnership to screen and block movies.” This institutional self-censorship that exists in supposedly open, democratic “western” countries allows us to safely conclude that the political regime does not have a significant effect on the existence of …show more content…
It is readily evident that what is and is not accepted within a society’s customs or norms will have a large bearing on what works an artist feels comfortable releasing. However, one social factor that is often overlooked is the understanding of the laws in place that protect artistic license. A study by American University found that the fundamental misunderstanding of copyright law in the United States led to many individuals censoring their own artistic works. The university’s findings state that “[artists] pay a high price for copyright confusion and misunderstanding. Their work is constrained and censored, most powerfully by themselves, because of that confusion and the resulting fear and
One significant complication that arises when analyzing self-censorship …show more content…
Take the United States for example: The First Amendment of its constitution explicitly establishes the necessary freedoms of speech and expression. However, despite political protections of these actions, it is nearly impossible to prevent individuals from being ostracized or otherwise spurned by the communities that they belong to, which is one of the major fears that leads to self-censorship. Self-censorship is evident on a more macroscopic scale as well. Alex Floyd, contributor to the Brown Political Review, writes that “to this day, films deemed too obscene are banned in pluralistic democracies. Australia’s Classification Board works with the Attorney-General’s Department to certify and de facto censor films on the mass market, Canada’s vast network of provincial censorship boards represses at the regional level instead of a national one, and the independent British Board of Film Classification operates as a public-private partnership to screen and block movies.” This institutional self-censorship that exists in supposedly open, democratic “western” countries allows us to safely conclude that the political regime does not have a significant effect on the existence of …show more content…
It is readily evident that what is and is not accepted within a society’s customs or norms will have a large bearing on what works an artist feels comfortable releasing. However, one social factor that is often overlooked is the understanding of the laws in place that protect artistic license. A study by American University found that the fundamental misunderstanding of copyright law in the United States led to many individuals censoring their own artistic works. The university’s findings state that “[artists] pay a high price for copyright confusion and misunderstanding. Their work is constrained and censored, most powerfully by themselves, because of that confusion and the resulting fear and