CENSORSHIP IN WARTIME
The British invented military censorship in 1856, after critical reports appeared in The Times about the war against Russia in the Crimea. This negative publicity helped to bring down the government of the day. At the beginning of the First World War, Britain, France and Russia were pitted against Germany and Austria-Hungary. The British government decided to control the news coverage by allowing only six correspondents to report from the Front.
‘It’s humiliating to look back at what we wrote during the war. We were a propaganda arm for our government. At the start the censors enforced that, but by the end we were our own censors. We were cheerleaders.’ Charles Lynch, Canadian journalist during the Second World War.
CENSORSHIP TODAY
The reasons given for censorship have altered over the twentieth century, technology has changed and the way society views issues has changed. Some things however have stayed the same. There are still dictatorships in Africa, Asia and the Middle East where much information is suppressed. In Syria and Iraq the list of banned books is longer than the list of the permitted ones. Some 10,000 books are banned in Israel. In North Korea political opinion is censored: imported radios have their dials fixed to prevent the reception of the foreign programmes.
THE SATANIC VERSES
The Satanic Verses was writhen by the former Rugby School pupil Salman Rushdie. The publication of this book in 1988 caused worldwide controversy. Muslims found it deeply offensive and attacked Rushdie for sacrilege and blasphemy. Copies of the book were burnt in many Islamic countries and by Muslims in Britain. On 14 February 1989, the Muslim leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa or death threat sentence on Rushdie. During the twelve months after the fatwa was issued, the publishers, Penguin Books, received death threats, twelve British bookshops were firebombed and many were threatened. Salman Rushdie went into hiding for his own safety. British Muslims demanded that British blasphemy law be extended to other religions. This is an example of what can happen if censorship does not take place. Salman Rushdie was using his freedom of speech. It also shows how different countries view what is acceptable and therefore have different understandings of what censorship is.
‘The idea of extending the offence of blasphemy to cover all religions would require a tight legal definition of what is religion and could open up a nightmare of endless court cases which, if they succeeded, would silence all humanists, atheists, heretics and free-thinkers.’ Tony Benn, British member of parliament, 1989
MY VIEWS AND THOUGHTS ABOUT CENSORSHIP
It seems to me that there is some censorship that is good and there is some that it not. The difficulty is getting the right balance. Censorship does not allow freedom of speech.
I live in a free country so I haven’t experienced the censorship that citizens elsewhere in the world may have experienced. I experience the censorship from the film industry which censors material and gives it ratings to demonstrate who it is suitable for. My access to the Rugby School Internet is censored which sometimes limits access to information I am in need of.
Our Prime Minister was recently upset with the press when he wanted reports of his baby’s inoculations censored. He felt this was an infringement of his family’s privacy
How do we know for sure that the reports we read in the newspapers about the war in Afghanistan are not censored? Perhaps it is alright to censor when it is a matter of security but not when it hides some truth our government doesn’t want us to know about, for example, how many civilians have been killed.
During the World War one news was censored. The dreadful conditions at the front only became known when soldiers returned on leave. With less censorship perhaps the war would have taken another path.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion after doing this report I have learnt that censorship has been going on for many, many years, in all shapes and sizes. I have looked at all types of censorship. Censorship has changed with society. For example in 1878 Annie Besant was imprisoned for publishing a book about birth control, nowadays we would think that was a ridiculous reason to be put in prison. Also censorship on the Internet hasn’t been around for long because the Internet is quite a recent invention.
I have learnt a lot during the writing and researching of this report and I hope it helps others realize what censorship is.