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Paragraph 1: Censorship refers to the suppression of speech, communication, or information that is considered offensive, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect, or inconvenient by governments, media outlets, authorities, or other groups or institutions. Censorship can be performed by individuals or organizations, and can be direct or indirect. It occurs in various forms of media, including speech, books, music, films, press, radio, television, and the internet.
Paragraph 2: The reasons for censorship are varied, including national security, controlling obscenity and hate speech, protecting children and vulnerable groups, promoting or limiting political or religious views, and preventing defamation. There are different forms of censorship, including moral censorship (such as censorship of pornography), military censorship (to protect military information), political censorship (by governments to control information), religious censorship (by religious groups to limit materials deemed objectionable), and corporate censorship (by media to prevent negative exposure).
Paragraph 3: The laws and regulations surrounding censorship vary by country, with some providing strong protections against censorship, while others have more restrictive policies. In Australia, censorship is referred to as “classification” and material can be officially refused classification, resulting in a ban. The country has strict censorship of video games and internet sites.
Paragraph 4: Internet censorship in China is particularly severe due to a multitude of laws and administrative regulations. The government of China has implemented over 60 internet regulations, which are monitored by state-owned ISPs, companies, and organizations. The extent of China’s internet control is considered the most advanced in the world, with the authorities not only blocking website content but also monitoring individual’s internet access.
Paragraph 5: Censorship can also be self-imposed by individuals, known as self-censorship. There are no laws against self-censorship, and individuals may choose to censor their own works or speech for personal or professional reasons. However, censorship by others, whether it be by governments, organizations, or media outlets, can limit the free expression of individuals and restrict access to information. It is important to consider the impact of censorship on society and to protect freedom of speech and access to information.
Censorship: Memes containng +memes (accepted memes) and memes containing -memes (toxic memes). Plus words and minus words.
Crawling the net for bad and toxic memes. Located and monitored at the source.
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information that may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions.[1]
Governments, private organizations and individuals may engage in censorship. When an individual such as an author or other creator engages in censorship of their own works or speech, it is referred to as self-censorship. Censorship could be direct or indirect, in which case it is referred to as soft censorship. It occurs in a variety of different media, including speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of claimed reasons including national security, to control obscenity, and hate speech, to protect children or other vulnerable groups, to promote or restrict political or religious views, and to prevent slander and libel.
Direct censorship may or may not be legal, depending on the type, location, and content. Many countries provide strong protections against censorship by law, but none of these protections are absolute and frequently a claim of necessity to balance conflicting rights is made, in order to determine what could and could not be censored.
There are no laws against self-censorship.
The rationale for censorship is different for various types of information censored:
- Moral censorship is the removal of materials that are obscene or otherwise considered morally questionable. Pornography, for example, is often censored under this rationale, which is illegal and censored in most jurisdictions in the world.
- Military censorship is the process of keeping military intelligence and tactics confidential and away from the enemy. This is used to counter espionage, which is the process of gleaning military information.
- Political censorship occurs when governments hold back information from their citizens. This is often done to exert control over the populace and prevent free expression that might foment rebellion.
- Religious censorship is the means by which any material considered objectionable by a certain religion is removed. This often involves a dominant religion forcing limitations on less prevalent ones. Alternatively, one religion may shun the works of another when they believe the content is not appropriate for their religion.
- Corporate censorship is the process by which editors in corporate media outlets intervene to disrupt the publishing of information that portrays their business or business partners in a negative light, or intervene to prevent alternate offers from reaching public exposure.
Censorship in Australia is called classification and material, though technically being given an advisory rating, can officially be Refused Classification which results in the material being banned. The system also has several levels of “restricted” categories, prohibiting sale, exhibition or use of some materials to those who are under a prescribed age. Censorship of video games and Internet sites hosted in Australia are considered to be the strictest in the western world.
Internet censorship in China is extreme due to a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. More than sixty Internet regulations have been created by the government of China, which have been implemented by provincial branches of state-owned ISPs, companies, and organizations. The apparatus of China’s Internet control is considered more extensive and more advanced than in any other country in the world. The governmental authorities not only block website content but also monitor the Internet access of individuals; such measures have attracted the derisive nickname “The Great Firewall of China.”
