Censorship Is Wrong

Censorship: an official authorised to examine printed matter, films, news, etc., before public release, and to suppress any parts on the grounds of obscenity, a threat to security, etc. (Dictionary, MS Encarta)

Censorship is the removal of material from public viewing or the ability to withhold any material from being released. Using this definition, this issue of pornography seems to be in the grey area of the censorship debate. On the one side there are the people who want to protect their children from pornography and violence, and on the other people state that the Internet is the only medium which still openly accepts freedom of speech. Censorship is always wrong, no matter how unpleasant the material being considered.

The Internet is a complex, living organism inhabited by people from all nations, ages, cultures, political and religious backgrounds. Despite international differences, languages and other barriers, the Internet has spread to every nook and cranny on the planet. Today the Internet is a forum for free discussion and a provider of information for all of those who wish to use it. Because of this freedom present in the ‘web' minorities are afraid of this medium, and accuse it as being a villain, and wish to regulate it. Thus, the Internet is currently under fire because it is being blamed for the irresponsible people who use it for the wrong reasons. Web sites which contain pornographic material are the ones which we fear the most for our innocent children, however, censorship should never be used as the ‘easy way out' as it has been so often used before by governments.

Pornography is the explicit, sexual images that we wish to protect our children from, but there are other ways. It is estimated that sexually explicit sites are the only sites on the Web making money, even though there is so much competition. Using this information we can assume that the majority of the people on the Internet want and use this pornography at their own leisure