Ethical Issues Related To Censorship
Censorship is when certain opinions- or pieces of information are withheld from being expressed or depicted. Censorship is mostly occurring in movies or on social media sites. How big of an issue is censorship in our modern world, is it ethically correct, where is censorship the most significant matter, and is there a solution to the potential problems of censorship?
To furthermore discuss the ethics, and the issues behind censorship, the article 'The Dangers and Ethics of Social Media Censorship' posted on 'The Prindle Post' takes an example of Alex Jones. Alex Jones is an American radio show host, who addresses controversial topics, that are often thought of as 'offensive' or 'politically incorrect', or that is at least what is thought by many social media users, along with additional news organizations. He has in the past had a large fanbase on YouTube, but due to censorship, his channel was removed.
The article concludes that those who wish to express their theories should have as much right to do so, as those who wish to reprimand these theories has to do so. In my opinion, this is a correct statement to make. I believe that no-one should be allowed to suppress other's opinions. The reason for this is that censorship, in my opinion, goes against the freedom of speech, which in most countries is a right that people have. By violating the first amendment regarding freedom of speech, censorship can cause problematics such as 'What is trustworthy on the internet?' or 'What is trustworthy in the media?'.
I believe that censorship poses a great issue within our present-day world because it causes those controversies as mentioned above.
To get back to another important question, which is 'Where in the world does censorship have the most significant impact?', I am going to be referring to the article 'Speaking against the Silence: An ethical analysis of Censorship practices within China today'. Aforementioned article, written by 'Global Ethics Network', has an introducing statement that regards first amendment violations, which is, that ' We express the idea that the greatest ethical challenge facing the United States and China is the Chinese government's censorship of its citizens.'. This statement is referring to the Chinese government inciting subversion of state power if faced by controversies, etcetera. This is a fact, that I ascertain to be crucial in determining the issue behind the suppression of the right to freedom of speech since it clearly portrays, that without the freedom of speech, the civils in certain societies is controlled by those in further eminent positions.
My findings on this topic have caused me to draw the conclusion, that censorship is an excessively broad issue, that is actively causing controversies. I can furthermore conclude that it is unethical to inflict censorship, given that it is violating basal human rights, such as freedom of speech.
