The Importance Of Censorship In Society

Censorship is the practice of officially examining publicly available materials and suppressing the “unacceptable” parts. This process has been used on printed products since the 15th century. As time went on censorship has been applied to materials such as literature, movies, television, music, and the internet. Today, censorship is a rising topic in this country. We now live in a world that is widely connected, and some may think that means censorship is more important than ever, but not all. In fact, a lot Americans feel that censorship should not be allowed to control what they want, or need to see. Although censorship has been around since ancient times, it can also stifle creativity, silence important issues and it violates our first amendment rights. Art is a way to express one’s feelings or thoughts; therefore censorship and art cannot exist on the same level. Practices, such as censorship, can cause people to be mindful with their artwork, but that is not what art is about. Artists cannot truly express themselves and show the world their talent, if they cannot do so without being censored. Forms of musical censorship have dated …show more content…
According to an article by Rick Gladstone, Eritrea & North Korea are the most censored countries in the world. In Eritrea, less than one percent of the people can access the internet, and journalists are terrified to write pieces that may offend the president. Censorship in North Korea is a bit more severe. Their government forbids most types internet access. According to this article, the country has even “airbrushed the leader’s uncle, executed for treason in late 2013, from all historical photo archives” (Gladstone). Censorship is used as a way to control people and in our advanced society we should be able accepted all truths. Censorship may not violate those countries’ laws, but it does contradict the USA’s first amendment to the