Is Censorship Ever Acceptable

“The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen."

- Tommy SmothersIs Censorship Ever Acceptable

Introduction

Censorship has for a long time, throughout the history been, the dictator that controls the media delivered to the society. We must not forget that even in the ancient times, customs of a certain society or even their speech, dress and sexual orientation were controlled and regulated. Many rulers banned freedom of speech among their citizens and anyone who disobeyed was banished or punished. Censorship was and is still used to suppress the voice of the common man; however it differs depending on the situation. If the ruling authority decides to put a blanket over particular news before it reaches out the public, it gets hard for the public to decide what is right from wrong (Gilc.org, 2014).

Something like this is seen more often now, censorship has matured over the years, in some occasion the question that arises is, 'why was it censored?' From a children's' library to news about war, everything reaching the audience is censored or controlled.

Censorship in schools

There was a time when libraries used by children would have different sections filled with books. Children tend to enjoy books of fiction and fantasy, however that is being changed. Librarians now due to several reasons avoid keeping books that might create a backslash. Some parents that get sick and tired of their kids obsessing about the stories they read, blame and accuse the librarian (Pfaw.org, 2014). A few would argue that this 'censorship' is not really banning, in defense they say that it the filtering of books happens because of the policies, every library tends to have some kind of policy or the other. Taking a more recent example, the LGBT rights, in many libraries around the world, material with regards to LGBT is not put on the shelves. The librarians fear that the children might absorb that in take the knowledge back home. This could create an out burst among some parents. Apart from this, any sort of sexual content that is deemed unsuitable is requested and removed under common rulings; even words that might be suggested as vulgar are censored and removed from literature and text.

Censorship in Commodities and Goods

A lot of companies and firms avoid taking risks that might create a controversy or bring down their name. Sometimes they do it just so that they operate by the rules. Wal-mart is known for censoring music records and albums. Many customers get frustrated by this policy and some complain that Wal-mart does not inform them that the content is censored, so that the customers first make the purchase. When the customer has already opened and discovered that the CD is censored, Wal-mart refuses to give a refund saying that the seal has already been broken. This is the bluntest way of censoring your goods. Some say that this is cheating and there have been court hearings just to deal with such ...