Censorship

[dapples]

Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful or sensitive, as determined by a censor

A friend and I were discussing this at work Friday.....it just got me to thinking about governments, etc ( I work for THREE governnent agencies on local, state N federal levels)....Memorial Day being a time to remember those who fought for our freedoms .....

Is there a time when censorship of different ideas, beliefs, thoughts, humor, religion, etc is acceptable? I am not talking about adult material and minors, I am not talking about porn/etc.....I know there are all types of censorship "Military", "corporate", "government" .....

I think this is a fitting subject especially for this holiday weekend

When is censorship needed, when does it become oppression?

Voice your opinions, please!! I enjoy good debates R as some wise person once said

I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

[mack]

I think there are some times when suppression of information is appropriate. A good example of this would be the information given out by Geraldo Rivera a few years ago detailing the location of troops in Iraq to the world. Similar sensative information does not need to be broadcast, of course this also comes under the heading of descretion and judgement. When would this become oppression? It would be when the news media printed and/or reported only what the government hand fed them.

[Ender]

I believe that freedom of information is, in general, a good thing.

I also understand that there are certain times when the general public doesn't need to know certain things, for a myriad of reasons.

In fact, there are certain things that should always remain secret, or remain secret for so many years that it doesn't matter any more, and they probably fall under the broad umbrella of 'National Security.' This is obviously in the realm of government or military censorship.

I don't think that 'corporate' secrecy or censorship really applies as far as oppressing or violating individual rights, mainly because someone is agreeing to follow policy when they work for a company, and they can leave that company at any time. I'm sure that most big businesses have an established confidentiality policy/non-disclosure agreement policy that is required to be signed upon employment also.

[mack]

I don't think that 'corporate' secrecy or censorship really applies as far as oppressing or violating individual rights, mainly because someone is agreeing to follow policy when they work for a company, and they can leave that company at any time. I'm sure that most big businesses have an established confidentiality policy/non-disclosure agreement policy that is required to be signed upon employment also.

Good point, Ender, I agree. With a confidentiality policy you know going in what is expected.

[op246]

I have to agree with the above. Corporate-you signed up for it. As far as gov't, in instances of Nat'l security it may be the right thing to do.

[Five-0]

I don't agree with censorship. The dumb asses tend to out themselves if they are allowed to run their mouthes. Now, if endangers our troops all bets are off. The dumbest newscast I have ever seen is one of our Stealth Bombers taking off from here in the U.S. Even a dumb ass Iraqi can calculate the flight time from the U.S. to the Middle East. WTF!!?? And Jeraldo River can eat my ass with spoon for all his pro illegal BS.