Censorship
I don’t
want yes men all around me; I want people to tell the truth, even if it costs
them their jobs. --Samuel Goldwyn
Definition of Censorship (mine)
“Third-party
action that has the effect of intervening between a willing potential receiver
and a willing sender of the expression, transmission and reception of
information deemed useful by the intended receiver.”
•
Includes prior restraint—deemed the most serious form of
censorship
• Excludes sub-editing and gatekeeping to improve the
content
Censorship Today
· Used to be supported by right-wing but now, also
supported by liberals against pornography, racist and sexist speech
· Supported conceptually though not in practice in
censorship of blasphemy
·
Supported through cultural relativism(?)
Search
"John Tilley cultural relativism" for a series of related articles by him on
the subject. One such article is located at http://www.law.uu.nl/english/sim/nqhr/nq17_1_2.asp.
Under What Conditions Do People
Censor
1. Historically – to prevent untruths and stifle dissent
2.External National Threats
2.1. Rallying
effect—Eg Gulf-War
2.2. Censorship is tolerated for its rallying effects
3.Media Panics:
3.1. Port Arthur – Martin Bryant and “killer videos”
-- 2,000 violent and porno videos,
including Nightmare on Elm Street, Taxi Driver and Black Adder.
Reports found to be inaccurate. Videos were owned by previous owner of house
and most of Bryant’s had Clark Gable and co.
3.2. James Bolger and Child’s Play horror video
3.3. Maria Hertogh riots
4.Third-Person Effect:
4.1. People over-estimate the negative effects of media on
others and under-estimate the effects on themselves.
4.1.1. Gunther, Albert C. and
Penghwa Ang. 1996. Public Perceptions of Television Influence and Opinions
About Censorship in Singapore. International Journal of Public Opinion
Research. Vol. 18 No. 3. 248-265.
Arguments Against Censorship
· Aeropagatica arguments
· Argument that the presence of censorship indicates the
failure of leadership
·
Removing censorship quickly
without a replacement will lead to unacceptable practices that had previously
been blamed on censorship, eg RA rating
Why It Is Hard To Support Censorship
1.Bad experience with censorship
– South
Africa spent more money on censorship than on fostering the arts (Coetzee)
2.People who act as censors are the people we least need
(Milton, who later became a censor himself)
3.Ultimate goal of censorship is self-censorship
4.Freedom from censorship includes freedom from social
pressure (Mills)
Bases of Censorship in
Singapore—Political
· Citizenry wants it
·
History—Maria Hertogh
Censorship in Practice
Two elements:
ŚWhat is censored
–
MITA rules
ŤDegree of censorship
–
Decadal Censorship Review
Committee should be 2002. Does look into (1)
–
Occasional review—ban on 170
mags (90% porn) lifted
Principles Used in Censorship in
Singapore (I)(in reading)
·
Size of Audience--Mass vs
Niche vs Private
·
Type of Medium--Print vs
Electronic; Words vs Pictures
·
Type of Audience—Young vs
Adult; Home vs Business
·
Educational vs Entertainment
Use
or
Principles Used in Censorship in
Singapore II
· Home vs Business
· Young vs Adult
· Public vs Private Consumption
· Educational/Artistic vs Entertainment
Film Censorship
•
Is selected by the movie
distributors
•
Who are given clear
guidelines
–
So clear that they are easy
to use and serve the region too
•
But who choose PG for larger
markets
Exempted Videos/Films
(exempted
from censorship but checks may still be made to verify the content)
(a) personal recordings
(b) local TV programmes
(c) training, educational,
industrial
(d) ballet, opera, classical, jazz
(e) documentary
(f) sports
(g) cartoons for children
(h) karaoke
(i) pre-1966 movies and music clips
from selected countries
Appeal
•
In all cases of censorship,
there is an appeal channel
–
Books, films, video games,
etc
Is Censorship Ever Justified? (MITA:
yes)
•
Multi-cultural,
multi-religious
•
Protect most important
resource - people
•
Cosmopolitan influences
•
Preserve traditional values
•
Maintain racial harmony
•
Protect social fabric &
ensure social cohesion
• Protect children and youth
Is Censorship Ever Justified?
Some Acceptable Scenarios
•
Official secrets
•
National security—prevent
demonstrations
•
Hate speech?
•
Sexist speech?
• Pornography--the writing (graphy) of prostitutes?
Obscenity vs Pornography
•
Obscene
–
the obverse of scenic
–
shocking, repugnant,
disgusting, not alluring
–
not protected in the USA by
its First Amendment
• Pornography--possibly alluring
Arguments –Why Porn Should Not Be
Censored
· It is a private transaction between purveyor and
consumer.
· It causes no harm.
·
Censorship of pornography
increases its allure (forbidden fruit syndrome)
Arguments—Why Porn Should Be
Censored
·
Harms women--objectifies
women; women in porn have been harmed – "false consciousness"
argument
·
Harms mores of society
·
Morality is a shared value of a community/society and
anything that offends that shared value should be removed
Why Porn On The Net Is Different
•
It is readily available
–
Offline, porn is limited by
location in space and in the bookstore
•
There is a lot
–
Which leads to the user
getting numbed and demanding a higher high
•
The ultimate end of the
fantasy is the act itself
•
Technology makes it possible
for live acts
Child Porn
• Most of the child porn is of pictures and drawings
that are old, from 1950s and earlier
• Users will only trade
– Prof.
Maxwell Taylor of Ireland used to trade child-porn as part of research
• NZ Censorship Inspectors have always nabbed someone
while giving a demonstration
• Now there is evidence of live acts through the use of
digital cameras
– Maxwell
Taylor helping to nab paedophile
Arguments For Tolerating Net Porn
•
Will stifling it hurt
diffusion of the Net?
–
New Net technologies have
been used first on porn sites
–
Did anti-social/unauthorised
use of the printing press in Germany contribute to the diffusion of the press
vs only authorised use in China and Korea?