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Definition: censorship from Philip's Encyclopedia

System whereby a government-appointed body or official claims the right to protect the public interest by influencing the release of any item of mass communication. Censorship usually falls into four broad categories - politics, religion, pornography or violence. Material may be censored before dissemination or may be prevented or seized by the authorities. Censorship raises questions about the freedom of speech, and advanced communications technology (such as the Internet) have made policing more problematic.


Censorship

From Encyclopedia of Politics
FREEDOM OF BELIEF and conscience are essential to democracy; censorship threatens the free exchange of ideas that allows democracy to flourish. English philosopher John Stuart Mill summarized the liberal view of censorship in his essay, “On Liberty” (1869): “If all mankind, minus one were of one opinion, and only one were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing the one than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.” Like Mill, most liberals are afraid that the one person who is silenced might be the one who discovers a universal truth or solves a scientific problem or writes a book, a song, or a poem that will stand the test of time. The purpose of censorship is always to stop someone from saying, printing, or depicting something that is seen as dangerous or which threatens societal norms. Censors seek to place limits on words, images, ideas, symbols, signs, books, music, and art. The danger in censorship is that the censor sets…
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Full text Article Censorship

From World of Criminal Justice, Gale
Youths and soldiers participating in a...
Censorship occurs when a government, business, or individual suppresses speech, writing, art, or any other form of communication. The object being censored usually is deemed by the censoring party to be obscene, indecent, or controversial. The issue of censorship can be divisive, because individuals…
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Full text Article Censorship

From Brewer's Dictionary of Irish Phrase and Fable
A puritanical mindset existed from the foundation of the Free State until the end of the 1960s. This was ref ected in the Censorship of Publications Act of 1926 and in the Censorship Board that began its duties in 1930. It was a corollary of the economic PROTECTIONISM from which Ireland suffered for…
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Full text Article Censorship

From Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies
Pre-emptive censorship is censorship before the event; punitive, after the event. They often work in tandem: one punishment serves as a warning to others. Censorship involves the curtailment, usually by or on behalf of those in authority, of the major freedoms – of belief, expression, movement, …
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Full text Article Censorship

From Key Concepts in Public Relations
Censorship is typically defined broadly to include: the control of information that is given out … Censors are not just people with big black pens cutting out information which they don't like from books or letters, or with scissors chopping out bits of film or video. As well as government…
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Full text Article Censorship

From Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices
Censorship is the regulation of speech and other forms of expression by an entrenched authority. Intended as a kind of safeguard for society, typically to protect norms and values, censorship suppresses what is considered objectionable from a political, moral, or religious standpoint. Any serious…
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Full text Article censorship

From Encyclopedia of American Government and Civics
The word censorship comes from the ancient Roman word “censor.” In Rome, a censor was responsible for supervising the morals of the public. Censorship generally refers to controlled, forbidden, punished, or prohibited speech or expression. It is usually accomplished by a government, but there are…
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Full text Article CENSORSHIP

From Collins Dictionary of Quotations
It is usually better to permit a piece of trash than to suppress a work of art. BOROVOY, A. Alan When Freedoms Collide (1988). Censors tend to do what only psychotics do: they confuse reality with illusion. CRONENBERG, David Cronenberg on Cronenberg (1992). …
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Full text Article Censorship

From Encyclopedia of American Studies
The Trial of John Peter Zenger. A twentieth...
In 1735 publisher John Peter Zenger was acquitted of libel for printing complaints about the New York governor in his newspaper. Zenger's victory affirmed the rights to freedom of the press and symbolized the independent voices that protested unfair British taxation and rule in the colonies. After…
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Full text Article censorship

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
George Orwell. Credit:BBC Copyright
Act of changing or suppressing speech or writing that is considered subversive of the common good. In the past, most governments believed it their duty to regulate the morals of their people; only with the rise in the status of the individual and individual rights did censorship come to seem…
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Full text Article CENSORSHIP

From Historical Dictionary of Australia
Official censorship of printed works was a feature of early Australian history. In 1803, the New South Wales governor, Philip Gidley King (1758–1808), gave permission for the publication of the Sydney Gazette , but only subject to its contents being approved by a government official. This practice…
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