Censorship may be defined as the act of suppressing the production, performance or dissemination of parts of books and articles, films and photographic images, music and theatrical shows, or news [3]. In the 21st Century, censorship takes place in traditional print media, on television and radio, at the cinema, on social media or internet web sites. The purpose of censorship is to prevent the spread of content considered objectionable due to the presence of obscene, politically or socially unacceptable themes which may threaten the peace and security of society. Free-speech advocates will claim that censorship has traditionally been used as a tool for oppression. However, to say that censorship is always used as a form of oppression is too
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Today’s youth live in a society where they are exposed to many influences over the internet, radio and television. The messages spread by these media formats are very pervasive. Many films and songs from the West promote themes like promiscuity and extreme violence. Many children are also impressionable and lack the ability to objectively discern what is correct behaviour. As some of the views expressed are extreme, these youths develop anti-social attitudes, which may result in the disruption of family and communal relationships. Worst still, such messaging may incite harmful behaviour. For example, the two teens who committed mass shooting and murder of more than 12 students and teachers at the Columbine High School in the United States in 1999, were found to have been largely influenced by films of violence and fighting and often fantasised about conducting mass shootings. [10] Two ten-year-old boys who abducted a two-year-old boy in England, in 1993 and brutally tortured him before killing him for sport were particularly influenced by movies which depicted graphic and extreme violence, such as Child’s Play 3. The two boys copied the show and after torturing the toddler, laid the him on a train track so that the oncoming trains would slice his body apart. [2] One might argue that censorship of violence in the mass media would therefore help to protect and support character and moral …show more content…
Our Government introduced an Act in Parliament on contempt of court laws, which prohibits people from making public statements which attacks the reputation of our courts and judiciary. This was done not to prevent Singaporeans from being unable to criticize court decisions within reason, but instead to ensure that our judges continued to have the respect they deserved. If people lost their respect for the judiciary as a whole, this would mean also the loss of respect for our laws and undermine the rule of law in our country. This Act was extensively debated by Members of Parliament. While there was some concern about whether the Act was overly restrictive in its definition of what would be considered offensive to the judiciary, there was no disagreement to the need to preserve the standing that judges had in enforcing the law, and that some amount of censorship was needed for this purpose. [1], [7],
Today’s youth live in a society where they are exposed to many influences over the internet, radio and television. The messages spread by these media formats are very pervasive. Many films and songs from the West promote themes like promiscuity and extreme violence. Many children are also impressionable and lack the ability to objectively discern what is correct behaviour. As some of the views expressed are extreme, these youths develop anti-social attitudes, which may result in the disruption of family and communal relationships. Worst still, such messaging may incite harmful behaviour. For example, the two teens who committed mass shooting and murder of more than 12 students and teachers at the Columbine High School in the United States in 1999, were found to have been largely influenced by films of violence and fighting and often fantasised about conducting mass shootings. [10] Two ten-year-old boys who abducted a two-year-old boy in England, in 1993 and brutally tortured him before killing him for sport were particularly influenced by movies which depicted graphic and extreme violence, such as Child’s Play 3. The two boys copied the show and after torturing the toddler, laid the him on a train track so that the oncoming trains would slice his body apart. [2] One might argue that censorship of violence in the mass media would therefore help to protect and support character and moral …show more content…
Our Government introduced an Act in Parliament on contempt of court laws, which prohibits people from making public statements which attacks the reputation of our courts and judiciary. This was done not to prevent Singaporeans from being unable to criticize court decisions within reason, but instead to ensure that our judges continued to have the respect they deserved. If people lost their respect for the judiciary as a whole, this would mean also the loss of respect for our laws and undermine the rule of law in our country. This Act was extensively debated by Members of Parliament. While there was some concern about whether the Act was overly restrictive in its definition of what would be considered offensive to the judiciary, there was no disagreement to the need to preserve the standing that judges had in enforcing the law, and that some amount of censorship was needed for this purpose. [1], [7],