What is Censorship all About?
Censorship, simply put, is controlling the information and the ideas that are being circulated within a society. The truth about censorship is that it has truly been a hallmark for dictatorship all throughout history. Censorship is achieved in many ways, including through examining plays, books, television, films, news reports, radio programs and all other forms of communication in order to alter or otherwise suppress any ideas that were determined to be offensive or objectionable.
The rationale behind censorship can vary significantly depending on the censor what they seek to achieve. Sometimes the rationales behind the censorship have to do with targeting any material that is obscene or indecent, blasphemous or heretical, while other times it is all about preventing seditious or treasonous information from reaching public consumption. As such, free ideas have been suppressed under a false guise of protection of social institutions such as the state, the church and the family for example.
It is important to consider that not all forms of censorship are created equally, and not all forms of censorship rise from external or governmental force. People are capable of self censoring just as easily as the government is capable of censoring. It is important that you understand what censorship is, and what the impulse means to censor. In order to do this you need to strip away the shock that comes with just thinking about censorship and understand the ideology that stands behind the concept. This is the best way to develop a firm grasp on what censorship is all about.