What Is John Milton's Argument Of Pre-Censorship?

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John Milton’s argument was that pre-censorship of authors was an attempt by the government to control thought. Milton felt that accountability was essential to ensure illegal words were controlled. He believed this could be achieved by establishing regulations that ensured legal responsibility of authors for the content published. In his essay, Milton shamed the Parliament for adopting a form of censorship which was influenced Catholicism. He claimed the censorship was a Catholic import made by King’s Star Chamber which had a key opponent to the Protestant Parliament. While the Licensing Order was intended to restore legal protection of the monopoly of companies on printing, Milton viewed as an attempt of state control over publishing.
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