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June 06
Edition

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Censorship - An Ugly Word

- by Chris Jacobs       www.ctsbayside.com.au

I have never conducted a study in this regard, but I would hasten to guess that there is innate aversion in all of us at being told what to do that starts from a very young age.

With many things our parents drummed into us when we were young, like not getting in the car with strangers, or not smoking, we eventually could appreciate that it was for our own good. And as we move into adulthood, it becomes our responsibility to make an informed choice.

However there are some aspects of our society that have never been, nor will they ever be, so definitive and this brings me to that ugly word, Censorship.

One parent will introduce their child to the concept of sex or homosexuality in primary school where as another might wait till the teenage years or post puberty to discuss the topic.

While many individuals might consider profanity used on television or the media abhorrent, others see it as a portrayal of society at large and are totally comfortable with it. Similarly, we all have different views politically: how much Government should be involved in our lives, what tax rates should be, who should pay for health and education.

The list goes on and on, and the spectrum of views span from one extreme to other.
Now with all this diversity in our society and all these different moral and ethical standards, how can we make legislation banning certain materials because a minority find it offensive?

Of course, many pipe up at this point and say well what about things like child pornography, slanderous material about a person or depictions of extremely violent or cruel acts in the media, and isn’t censorship good in that regard?

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will

defend to the death your right to say it”*

Why I am discussing this topic? Well, after extensive lobbying by a Tasmanian Liberal Senator Guy Barnett, a trial to keep the internet free of violent and pornographic content will begin in a couple of months and may force internet service providers to filter out content such as sex, violence, and so on.

Currently it is a voluntary trial but the Senator hopes it will go Australia-wide soon, and that it will eventually become mandatory for every internet service provider in the country.

Now we come back to the earlier discussion, how can one person’s moral code be forcibly applied to another?

This would be akin to a one politician stating just because I am of this religion you must all be, too.

We live in a free society and we are also in a great and enlightened Information Age whereby anybody has very easy and cheap access to any information the world over.

Thus collectively, we are a more knowledgeable group. And as history has shown, the greatest, happiest and wealthiest societies were the ones where individuals, regardless of circumstance, had a chance to prosper in a chosen endeavour.

There are already criminal laws, and rightly so, to deal with people who exploit children, publish slander and so on, so the argument for censorship falls short in that regard.

If censorship is required at all, it is for those who choose to deprive society at large for their own personal crusade.

Chris Jacob is a director of Jive eXchange (www.ctsbayside.com.au)

* a quote written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall, who wrote under the pseudonym S.G. Tallentyre, which is often mis-attributed to Voltaire, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” as an illustration of Voltaire’s beliefs

Chris Jacobs

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