Throughout all cultures, especially those with governments that have lots of control over their people, there has always been some forms of censorship. Before paper was used to write things down you could still be punished for saying something that the government didn't want you to say. Throughout all cultures, the reason for this is, ostensibly, that any words that go against those who are in power somehow incite violence. Many dictators call their opposition enemies of the state and try to make them look like terrorists through misinterpreting their words and "reading between the lines." This is the power of censorship. What is censorship? Censorship is the practice of restricting information to the general public based on the pretense that it is violent, offensive, or untrue. This sounds like a good thing right? Not in my opinion. You see the fact is that if one person or group is allowed to control all the information that is given to the public, they won't leave the power vaccum unfilled. It is naive to think these people will always be impartial and fair. When given this power, the user will make sure that all the public sees is the information that fits their agenda. That's why there was fear of Germans and Japanese during World War 1 and 2. That's why people in the koreas have aren't allowed to speak out against their rulers. Censorship has always and always will be the first and most dangerous step towards dictatorship. Once you control information, you control opinions. When you control opinions, you control people, and when you control people you control power. The first amendment of the US Constituition is a bastion against this very thing. By gaurunteeing us the freedom of speech, press, and religion our founding fathers freed us from this tyranny. However, in recent times, the media has started to find loopholes in this defense by gaining a monopoly on major media sources and covering the voices of people on social media through banning and "fact checks" by companies which are funded by the media outlet itself(Which creates bias).
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How do you think that censorship affects our freedom of speech?
Do you think that censorship is a real threat in the USA
Do you think that Media and Social Media should be allowed to decide what is okay to say and what isn't?
Do you think that CNN FOX ABC New York Times and other news sources are guilty of censoring or selectively cherry-picking information to suit their cause?
Replies
Good stpry idea, good summary and well done overall Kaiden! You should have replied one more time as "bump" comments do not count.
I'm not American and as someone that sees things from the outside I don't think that censorship is a real threat in the USA, I feel like this is one of the countries where freedom of speech and your freedom in general is respected the most (I could be wrong because I have beel living here for two weeks, but that's how many people see you from the outside I believe) . In my view Social media shouldn't be allowed to decide what is okay and what isn't as long as people are saying their opinions, that would have to change when these "opinions" become discriminations or incitements to violence and hatred.
I do believe that censorship affects our freedom of speech and is a threat in America. There is a time and place for it, but so many times I've seen news and social media tag something as being false or unproven when there is little or no evidence that it's false. I hate the fact that our news channels are commonly biased for one party. I think of it as their responsibilty to provide the facts and evidence, nothing more. I don't want to hear their opinions or their beliefs! I want to hear the facts and make up my own mind. That is the liberty we have in this amazing country, but they are trying to control it. I have no problem with media and social media cencoring some of what I see, but only if it's censored on a non-biased reasoning. I don't want to see vulgar content, which censorship protects us from. However, I believe it is being abused.
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I do not think that censorship affects our freedom of speech and I do not believe it is a threat to the United States. In other countries censorship is a big issue like you said in your post, but I do not think it is that big here. In my opinion, we still have freedom of speech and can say what we believe.
I think that censorship, in a nation that allows freedom of speech is almost unconstitutional. The censorship might lead to unforunate misunderstandings that could have been easily averted had that information been spread. In the U.S., I don't censorship is a real threat. I only say this, because freedom of speech allows us to have the news organizations and regular people be able to speak freely. I feel that our news organizations have a certain obligation to us as citizens to tell us what's going on. Whether it's bad or good, we deserve to know and have the information needed to make a decision for ourselves as to how to handle current situations. I believe that most news organizations of guilty of cherry-picking news so that we only see a certain part of it. Of course, news can be influenced by political interests and ideologies, but they should not allow things like that to happen to them.
I don't think densorship is a threat in the U.S. You are still allowed to speak your mind but you have to be careful. Social media should not be allowed to decide what is okay and what isn't because social media can be very biased and wrong. I think the news is guilty of only putting certain things onto their channel that their viewers believe or want to hear.
I agree. I think that companies should not be able to decide what should be posted on their site unless they identify themselves as publishers. If a company is a communication platform it should not be allowed to discriminate against people based on their political beliefs, whether they are a private company or not.
I don't really think it affects our freedom of speech but it can affect it with how some people really have to watch what they say at their jobs. I really don't think it's a threat to the U.S. No they shouldn't be allowed to decide what is okay and what isn't because social media isn't always right and would probably get lots more people in trouble. I don't watch news that much but I think since they talk about the things that are happening and letting everybody know whats going on they aren't quilty.
Yes, media talks about some things that are happening, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are not biased. Often times companies that one side or the other on an issue and intentionally misguide the listener to believe things that aren't true. They don't outright lie, but often they cherry pick information and only tell you what they want you to hear. This goes for all news sources: Conservative and liberal.
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