Censorship & Creative Freedom of Expression
“The question of freedom of expression in the arts is currently receiving a lot of attention in many parts of the world. While many artists are pushing the limits of the acceptable, with deliberately provocative works, the public exhibition and support of their work has resulted in many controversies, fuelled by new, or renewed, political and religious sensibilities and the enhanced exposure provided by the media.” (Poupeye, Veerle)
The basic definition of censorship is the act of suppressing the unacceptable. All the same, this raises questions about the relativity of the unacceptable and by whose standards. Censorship is mainly motivated by political, social and or religious standards. Plato purported that art is dangerous for a number of reasons but it is primarily useless. His argument highlighted that art is mimetic (mirroring nature), deceptive, immoral and politically dangerous in that it stirred up negative emotions that threaten the common good. There seems to be an evident link between modern censorship practices and Plato’s views on art.
However, as outlined in article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.’ Moreover, ‘freedom of artistic expression is the principle that an artist