Censorship - Research Paper Example

If these are made public, for example issues concerning crimes against humanity, corruption etc the affected leaders may face criticism or even sanctions which may be humiliating to the affected leadership. This essay is a critical evaluation of censorship from the perspective that it is not a fair practice with examples of leaderships that has practiced it such as Soviet Union and other societies. Freedom of expression is a human right that should be protected in all societies. This is due to the fact that it enhances democracy since everyone would be accorded equal chances to air their views regarding administration and governance as well as accessing the right information from sources which are not influenced by politics or any superior sources.

It is therefore against the spirit of democracy for any institution to exercise control on the sources of this information especially the media, which has a wide influence through expansive coverage and viewership it receives across international boundaries. Due to this influence, the media has been targeted by administrations whereby materials being disseminated to the public are monitored first to ensure that the content regardless of whether it is correct or not, does not create fears among the public (Patterson 2000 p 92).

In the Soviet Union, censorship was practiced on the media such that there was no independent journalism. All the reporting was influenced by the communist party so as to ensure that all the information contained in the reports favored the party as well as the rule of the land. It went further to prohibit foreign newspapers from entering the country unless the agents, who had to be communists, sympathized with the policies of the government of the time. In addition, the government had illegalized the ownership of printing and copying machines so as to prevent publication of books and articles which the government classified as illegal, failure to