Censorship in the USA - Research Paper Example

Censorship in the USA The repression of certain material or communication that can be a threat to the national security or offensive to the masses due to its data content is term as Censorship by the government or any administrative controlling body. With the advent of freedom of speech as its integral constitution, USA tie knot with United Kingdom at 20th place for freedom of press and speech (Reporters without Borders, 2009) that had been in state of controversies, which than has been protected under the censorship of expression and speech by the First Amendments to the constitution.

The censorship in USA dates back to important events of Smith Act of 1917 and Anti-Abolitionist (Reporters without Borders, 2009) during the civil war to demolish slavery, which led to the protection of privacy and sacred information during the wartime. The right of every citizen for available information is crucial and speaking for their rights is very important but the free speech rights are censored to preserve the national security heritage and any criminal act that could be offensive for the civilians and the county by mails, newspapers, tabloids, speeches etc.

In particular, the paper will look at different aspects of censorship in the USA & the way it has become an important component of American society today. After World War II, communism became a breeding ground for activist speeches and writings which than were censored to advocate for the national security and military services of USA. Obscenity under the congress law forbids the freedom of speech and determines to censor publically the adult entertainment, as it not only defined the moral standards but also the danger of obscenity to the younger citizens of USA (History of First Amendments, 1995).

The censorship pertained and was not confine to the national security or freedom of speech but it exemplified the local entities to censor magazines, movies, newspapers, plays and public actions from any indecent obscenity by an extended protection under the First Amendments in the 60’s for imposing stricter standards in monitoring the actions. The literature and arts was the main target for censorship controversies in the 1930’s due to its obscene and adult literature and material depiction notably in Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer and Ulysses by James Joyce.

The censorship was then defined by any immoral act of literature or art and describing the adult romance and language used for illustration was subject to ban and humiliated by the Supreme Court. Under the directions of the Supreme Court the statues depicting any obscenity or nudity that was a serious offence to the minors, which was strike down by the local government (Hanyok, pp. 23-29). The broadcasting along with the television stations was permit to operate under the agreement license that outlaws any illicit material or advertising from commercial cable networks.

The entertainment industry is famous for its glorious history of censorship mainly due to films that were highly self-regulated by the Hays Code. The code principles determine the offensive situations, nudity and sexuality matters for the censorship. After 1960’s with the vast changes in social and cultural taste, the censorship was design according to the response from the public by either removing the implicit scenes from the movie or rating it adult due to offensive adult language or nudity.

The state government of federal regulations did not enforce this code but it was practice to avoid the hassle of censorship regulations by the government and the court orders (Bennett, pp. 1-4). The growing popularity of internet and global presence of networking have given rise to adult entertainment websites and videos that has given a boost to the pornography industry. The minor’s protection was safeguard by the Children’s Internet Protection Act (Sweeney, pp. 29-46), which controls and filters any obscene materials for viewing in schools and universities libraries.

Software companies further upgraded to provide parenting lock and child lock security to block any such websites that implicit obscene or offensive materials to the minor. The internet is also a very important tool in foreign affair strategy due to its cyberspace world of blogs, official online domain of warfare and sensitive information that needs to be subject to censorship for the defense security of the country (Bambauer, pp. 1-3). The national security censorship is vital during wartime as it denies the access for unauthorized personnel in obtaining any relevant information through public or private channels in the United States.

The denial is necessary to prohibit enemies in undermining any secret military operation or secret information of the national defense system that are in danger of exposure through DNS servers incase of surveillance. The current scenario of war on terrorism has given birth to various implicit complications regarding the censorship information of structural data such as public places, modern art structures, bridges etc for monitoring. The media plays an important part in the code of censorship during the wartime especially when they are not allowed to pass any sensitive information nor it was acceptable to deliver in accurate information to the public creating riots or ciaos in the masses (Sweeny, pp. 50-67) . During Iraq war in 2003, censorship was enforcing on media to safeguard military information and bases through satellite about the whereabouts of any military units in the war.

The censorship is subject to enforcement due to protection of the sensitive cryptographic information and softwares and any publication that was strictly adhered to the First Amendments. The sensitive weapon censorship was enforce by the US Secrecy Act (1951) for prohibition of any publication related to nuclear and thermal weapons, location of plants etc on national security grounds. It also emphasizes on the censorship policy to forbid any knowledge or distributions, which gives critical information of making or using destructive weapons and explosives.

The Censorship is critical to maintain and an important tool to safeguard privacy and national interest of the country and citizens of America (Hanyok, pp. 35-49). Work Cited Bambauer, E. Derek. “Cybersieves: Internet censorship.” Duke Law Journal, 2009. Bennett, R. James. Censorship in America: stopping the presses. St. Louis Journalism Review, 1994. Censorship in America. History of Censorship in the USA, 2011. Retrieved from: http://censorshipinamerica.com/a-brief-history-of-censorship-in-the-u-s-a/.

Hanyok, J. Robert. Secret of Victory: The Office of Censorship and the American Press and Radio in World War II. Central Intelligence Agency, 2011. History of First Amendments. Illinois Press Association Guide to First Amendments and Access Laws. HFA, 1995. Reporters without Borders. ‘Reporters sans frontiers- Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2009. Retrieved from: http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html. Retrieved 01-05-2009. Sweeney, S. Michael. Intelligence in Recent Public Literature.

University of North Caroline Press, 2001.