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posted by martyb on Tuesday October 02 2018, @09:26AM   Printer-friendly
from the I-Disapprove-of-What-You-Say,-But-I-Will-Defend-to-the-Death-Your-Right-to-Say-It dept.

From an editorial in the Otago Daily Times out of New Zealand, Censorship a Trojan Horse:

It's an oft-cited maxim that the news media is the "fourth estate" upon which a healthy democracy stands.

It ensures the three traditional powers of state — the legislature, executive and judiciary — can be critiqued, challenged and curbed from quietly drifting into the arms of corruption and authoritarianism.

A free, fair, open and uncensored media is an antidote to state power and, for all its failings (and there are many), should be treasured as such. There are many countries around the world whose people would give anything for such a freedom.

Yet calls for the banning of certain opinion pieces, cartoons and commentary have risen in recent months, especially from those using social media, a world where such talk is becoming a trend. It is a trend we must confront.

Censorship is to suppress the harmful, the unacceptable, the obscene and the threatening from the media and other forms of public communication. Like a virus attacking democracy from the inside out, it was traditionally the tool of the dictator, though it is one used by many in power.

[...] It pays to query what those demanding censorship — be they celebrities, social-media activists or anybody else — see their ultimate goal as being.

To reduce hurt? To make the world a better place? Possibly, and those motivations are laudable. But the method employed to achieve them is not.

While censorship may be meant as a figurative horse upon which a better future rides, inside the belly of that horse lurks an army of conformity, quite capable of unwitting oppression.

History shows what happens when the fourth estate is no longer free to table all opinions.

It is a bleak picture. Without the disinfectant of exposure, power and ideals tend to corrupt even the most seemingly incorruptible.


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  • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Tuesday October 02 2018, @05:51PM (1 child)

    by fyngyrz (6567) on Tuesday October 02 2018, @05:51PM (#742961) Journal

    I modded you informative, but I just want you to know, it was a real debate between that and modding your post funny...

    You want data that show you have a right to be, pardon the choice of words here, a complete gaping asshole

    ...so I modded you informative while laughing. At least I managed not to spit coffee. :)

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday October 02 2018, @05:57PM

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday October 02 2018, @05:57PM (#742969) Journal

    LOL, thanks. Yes, I've done the cat /usr/local/bin/mug/coffee | /dev/marissa/nose > /mnt/desktop thing before and it's no fun. Sorry about that =P

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...