I remember back in the “good old days” (say, anytime before about 1970?) when censorship and censorship issues making the news generally focused on matters of sex and/or graphic violence. But in recent years, with the advent of the Internet and corresponding availability of “information” — ranging from real information to widespread access to p*rn sites — the battlegrounds upon which censorship issues are fought have been changing.
Today’s censorship battles focus far more on issues of political and personal liberties, matters of individual and national freedom of access, than on sex or graphic violence. Which as I see it, is a good thing.
It’s far more important that people in nations such as Iran and China have open access to news than whether a celebrity exposes her breast at the Super Bowl. And it seems as though censorship battles today are focusing on important stuff rather than celebrity nudity and trivia. (The cheapening of “news” or “journalism” into nothing but celebrity trivia feeding frenzies is a matter for another day.)
I did a search on Google News just now on the word “censorship,” and that’s what started me thinking about the matter. Of the top ten results I got, eight dealt specifically with information access being withheld from people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and China. One dealt with political matters here in the U.S. Only one was related to some sexual issue.
When our world is more concerned about dictators shutting there people up than it is on skimpy french maid costumes or nudity in movies, maybe it shows the world is growing up. The only worthwhile “battleground” on which to fight censorship battles has to do with these broad issues of freedom and knowledge, of personal liberty. In this case, I say good for us!