Censorship is a social issue that has existed for ages and only continues to be more prevalent in this further connected society we have developed through the use of tools such as mass media, social sites, and other networking facilities. The document, “The Long History of Censorship” by Mette Newth talks about the history of censorship, saying that “the origin of the term censor being traced to the office of censor established in Rome I 443 BC” (1). Newth brings up the point that “Free speech, which implies the free expression of thoughts, was a challenge for pre-Christian rulers,” which is most of censorship as we know it began (1).. The church would use tactics “To fend off a heretical threat to Christian doctrine” by “banning books for …show more content…
In the journal “An Alternative to Government Regulation and Censorship:Content Advisory Systems for the Internet” by Dianne Martin, the author mentions methods that the United States uses to censor material. It is said that, “In 1994, Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Herbert Kohl (D-Wis.) chaired a number of Senate hearings regarding the increasing levels of violence in computer games. To address these concerns and to deflect possible government regulation of this media, two major content classification systems for interactive electronic entertainment were developed in …show more content…
The research document, “Internet Censorship in China:Where does the Filtering Occur?” by Xueyang Xu, Morley Mao, and Alex Halderman says that “China has the world’s most complex Internet censorship system, featuring IP blocking, keyword filtering, DNS hijacking and so on” (1). Regardless of how censorship is accomplished it is indisputable that censorship is on the rise as the article, “Google Reports Alarming Rise in Government Censorship Requests” by John D. Sutter claims that, “Western governments, including the United States, appear to be stepping up efforts to censor Internet search results and YouTube videos, according to a"transparency report" released by Google” (1). It is for this reason that people need to take a stance on government censorship in order to protect their freedom of speech and in order to exercise their right to access material that is informative in nature. In order to do so, it is important that the people advocate for the government to back away from media and social networking sites and allow people themselves to decide on what is inappropriate and what is