Censorship

Censorship means monitoring, screening and putting certain reasonable restrictions on the public, by the Government, to maintain communal harmony, peace and tranquility. The Constitution of India guarantees freedom of speech but necessitates certain restrictions in the interest of the Sovereignty and integrity of the nation as well as public order and morality.

Censorship may be broadly classified as Moral, Military, Political, Religious and Corporate Censorship. Moral Censorship deals with removal of materials that are obscene and morally questionable. Military Censorship is the process of keeping Military Intelligence and Tactics confidential, away from the enemy especially due to threat of espionage. Political Censorship comes to play when the Government keeps information from its citizens in order to exert control over population to avoid rebellion. Religious Censorship amounts to removal of objectionable material to any faith. Corporate Censorship mostly deals with preventing the publication of certain information that portrays the business or corporation or business partners in negative light.

Censorship protects the average man’s sentiments and brings about law and order in a Nation. Thus, Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive or inconvenient to the Government or media organizations as determined by a censor.

Questions

• Is Censorship, according to you, helpful or a hindrance? Give reasons for your answer.
• Enumerate the different kinds of Censorship.