Interesting People mailing list archives
What the heck is Censorship anyway?
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2003 03:52:03 -0500
Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 15:51:40 -0500 From: Don Nawrocki <NawrockiD () gsicommerce com> Subject: What the heck is Censorship anyway? To: 'Dave Farber' <dave () farber net> Heya Dave, You probably don't remember me, but you taught me CSE370/371 in my Junior year at Penn in 1992. Thanks much, BTW, I learned a TON in your class. So, seeing that there's a bunch of people bandying about the overused term "censorship", I wanted to shed a little light on what I think that it is, and challenge some folks to thinking about things that the government might do with respect to free speech. Just writing this opened up some thoughts, and I figured that I'd share it, in case others find it useful. Walking through the use-cases, below, in my own head was quite, enlightening. Now note, I'm not a lawyer. I'm just a layman, and I see these things from that point of view. I'm just really a stickler for definitions, 'cause I find when terms are reused, confusion ensues. That said, here are my definitions... and I'd like to invite any of those interested to please correct me where I'm wrong. An "Attack on Freedom of Speech", in my mind, directly relates to actions that the Government takes to prevent someone or some group from expressing their opinion, or more generally, exercising their freedom of speech, or if the Government in some way uses its power to make it more difficult for a person or group to exercise its freedom of speech. These things should be defended against, and the government should be constrained to not do these things. Censorship, is a specific form of an Attack on Freedom of Speech. Censorship is when the government directly affects what can be spoken/said, not through an intermediary. The key word is "directly". Censorship by definition is an attack on free speech. Lets test this definition by making some use cases for this (I know, I know, I'm a use-case oriented kind of guy): 1) The Government sends in troops to a rally where some group is making an unpopular or in some cases repugnant set of statements publically (e.g. the Nazi party, etc.) 2) Congress passes a law that says "political ads made by the unpopular group are to be taxed slightly more than normal ads". 3) The owner of a television station is approached by an unpopular group to place ads on the station supporting their cause. The group is very willing to pay extreme amounts of money to get the ads placed. The television station owner refuses to air the ads or the money. 4) An agent of the Government (not necessarilly a political leader, but an FBI agent, or a tax collector) approaches the owner of the television station, and says that he finds the unpopular group repellant, and would not, in the owner's place, take the ads. The television station owner refuses to air the ads or the money. 5) An agent of the Government (same as above) approaches the owner of the television station, and says that he finds the unpopular group repellant, and that if the television station owner were "smart" he would not take the ads. The television station owner refuses to air the ads or the money. 6) An agent of the Government (same as above), approaches the owner of the TV station, and says in effect "If you take these ads, then we're going to pass a bill next year to make it much harder/expensive for you to do business". The television station owner refuses to air the ads or the money. 7) An agent of the Government (same as above), approaches the owner of the TV station, and says in effect "If you take these ads, then we're going to fine you 100 million dollars". The television station owner refuses to air the ads or the money. 8) An agent of the Government (same as above), approaches the owner of the TV station, and says in effect "I'll give you 100 million dollars not to air those ads". The television station owner refuses to air the ads of the unpopular group. 9) A private company, pulls its ads from the television station because they ran the ads from the unpopular group. So #1, in my opinion is clearly censorship. The government is directly suppressing the speech of a group using its power. Not so sure about #2. Probably is also censorship, as once again, the government is using its power directly to punish a group for its views, and is specifically targeting their ability to voice their message. Certainly, here there is a freedom of speech issue. #3 In my opinion, not censorship. The Government has no part, and its the owners station, so he has the right to air and do business with anyone that he likes. #4 Is also not censorship. The agent was not acting in the government's name, and stated his opinion. The Owner happened to do the same. #5 Things start to get hazy. The government was not directly throwing their weight at the speech of the group, but rather simply implying that some bad effect might happen. The implied threat here, in my opinion, makes this an attack on freedom of speech. However, the owner has every ability to make the decision to ignore the implied threat. Is this Censorship or an attack on free speech? Not censorship, but definately an attack on free speech which should not be allowed. #6 Same as #5, its just that the threat is better articulated. #7 Definately Censorship, definately an attack on Freedom of Speech. The government actively is prohibiting the message of the group by interfering with the channels and free trade. #8 Definately Censorship, definately an attack on Freedom of Speech. The government coercion here just happens to be honey rather than vinegar. #9 Not censorship, and not an attack on freedom of speech. This is a private protest by an independant group. Sound right? Hope this helps someone... Later, Don Nawrocki The information contained in this electronic mail transmission is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named in this transmission. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying or distribution of the contents of this transmission is strictly prohibited and that you should delete the contents of this transmission from your system immediately. 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- What the heck is Censorship anyway? Dave Farber (Nov 08)