Sunday, April 29, 2007
Merits and demerits of censorship
The matter on whether censorship is necessary has been a controversial issue since it was first introduced. However, no matter what it is, the first thing we tend to think of when we speak of censorship, is the government. Some may say it is one of government measures to protect the people’s interest while others may argue that its actually executing control over the people.
It is necessary in a way it helps to protect and prevent. In protecting, the target is not government’s interest but the people’s. Here, we say it is specifically aimed at the young and the adolescences that are the future pillars of the country. Any child could be a potential leader of the country. Since we want to reduce their chance to exposure of negative influences as much as possible yet not able to be supervising them all day round, we censor it.
At the same time, by preventing, it means censoring anything that may lead to misunderstanding or conflicts. The power of the media cannot be underestimated especially in small countries like Singapore where everything spreads fast and almost everyone has the same access to information. As a multi racial society, many issues related to race and religions are considered sensitive. Something one finds harmless to joke with may be rather offensive or hurting to another. It is difficult to gauge what is sensitive level for different ethnic groups and religions so strict censorship may be required to maintain peace and order in the country. It is better to be safe than sorry
On the other hand, without censorship, there is more transparency. We have the right to access to the truth. Usually, it is said that whatever that is censored is to protect our interest. However, the viewers do not know how and what is actually censored. Those that should not be censored like the truth may have been censored away too.
Early exposure of things considered causing negative impact to the young might not be a bad thing after all. The more we prevent them to know, the more curious they are. Instead of sheltering them and causing their ignorance, we might as well tell them and then educate them that it is not correct. It allows more learning and broadens horizons.
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