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GP Model Essay – Censorship is essential to a well-functioning society. Discuss.
Censorship is essential to a well-functioning society. Discuss.
The idea behind this essay is to group different types of censorship and evaluate their importance to a “well-functioning” society. Importantly, consider the conflict between maximizing information and minimizing disruption
[Yes, this is an essay which requires you to balance how much information should be freely available and whether that society is able to cope with that level and content of information without the Government stepping in to regulate.]
Thesis: Based on the potential for the content to cause disruption as well as the capacity of society to accept such content, censorship is necessary to different extents
T1a: Censorship that neuters radical messaging is essential for society’s security
- Following the 2005 London bombings, it was seen as essential for the House of Commons to amend the Terrorism Act to criminalize the dissemination of terrorist publications. This led to the arrest of Samina Malik who was found to have written poems like ‘Lyrical Terrorist’ that glorified terrorist leaders
- [Valid TS]
T1b: Censorship that holds back state secrets from the public and thus possible actors of espionage is essential for society’s security
- The Office of Censorship established by the US during WWII kept the Manhattan Project a secret within and outside of the US so as to prevent espionage and sabotage, leading ultimately to a decisive US victory in the Pacific theatre of war following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- [Valid TS]
- [However you can refer to the torture programme at Guantanamo Bay that this brutal torture of prisoners should not have been kept secret from the public as the torture techniques were against humanity. In 2014, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on the CIA’s interrogation and detention of suspected terrorists in Guantanamo.
T1b ext: Censorship must be temporary and lifted after the threat to security has passed. Not only is there little reason to do otherwise, further, civil disorder and discontent may result.
- President Richard Nixon’s refusal to release the Pentagon Papers (on US political-military involvement in Vietnam) resulted in public discontent that culminated in the New York Times Co. v. United States ruling where the First Amendment constitutional freedom of the press was ultimately preserved
- This should only be done after the information has been considered declassified.
T2: Censorship that limits more dangerous forms of expression is advisable for society’s stability (based on vulnerabilities of society)
- Singapore’s need for social cohesion due to its multicultural makeup demands the censorship of inflammatory remarks against other races. The Sedition Act was called into use to take down Doggiesite.com which contained racist remarks against the Malay community. Similarly, Singapore’s intricate religious composition justified the use of the Sedition Against 21-year-old blogger with the moniker “Char” who posted disparaging caricatures of Jesus Christ
- [Valid]
T3: Censorship that shuts controversial ideas from society is acceptable where society is not ready for such content; this enables society to progress safely. Where these controversial ideas go against the prevailing notions/thoughts/beliefs, then it is better to hold them back
- Censorship allowed Singapore to mature safely in its acceptance of alternative lifestyles. The removal of LGBT material in post-independence Singapore under the Undesirable Publications Act and the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act was congruent with its prevailing conservatism. This has arguably enabled a controlled maturation of our populace today, with its increasing liberalism evident in the recent outcry against NLB’s decision to pulp “And Tango Makes Three”. Further, Singapore’s growing emphasis on LGBT issues extends to its art scene, to the extent that established playwrights like T Sasitharan are criticized for avoiding such issues.
- [The outcome to the NLB saga though, was that the 2 removed children’s books will go into adult section at the library instead of pulping them.]
Antithesis: Censorship, for withholding information from society, should be minimized
AT1: Censorship deprives society of information essential for social and political progress
- Japan pressurises its textbooks publishers to gloss over World War II and wipe out information on Japanese atrocities → Japanese nationalism to the extent that they do not recognise their faults.
- [Valid]
AT2: Censorship can be abused by governments to excessively limit political dissent (to the point of detriment)
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Populist but authoritarian Turkish leader who claimed that Twitter was a bad influence on society in 2011 and later sought to ban it. Because it was being used by Feuthullah Gulen’s supporters. During this period he was being increasingly authoritarian and non-consultative. “Destroy traitors to the state” Read Project Syndicate article on populism.
- Kuo Pao Kun: The four-year-long detainment of Kuo Pao Kun under the Internal Security Act for his highly politicised and critical Chinese plays proved more than effective in censoring his dissent, cited as an experience so “sobering” that he never wrote another overtly political play. (And was later awarded the Cultural Medallion)
- Note counter-argument:
- Turkish citizens and other members of government marched in protest against Twitter Ban
- Sufficiently progressive society will reject censorship by governments to the extent that they do not accept it – in this case appears reasonable.
- [Valid]
AT3: Existence and possibility of censorship decries the idea of freedom of expression
- If the authorities are able to suppress publications which nobody has seen, it becomes impossible for others to verify whether the suppression was indeed justified; it is a question of time before such an unchecked power is abused to prevent criticism of government.
- [Valid]
Synthesis
S1: Censorship of political dialogue is essential to a well-functioning government, censorship of non-political dialogue contributes to a well-functioning society. But, whether a well-functioning government results in a well-functioning society cannot be guaranteed.
- Note that even well-functioning governments can abuse censorship to the detriment of society. Censorship may be considered a sort of damnatio memoriae, applied to both people and events such that the most basic facts that inform people of their relative impoverishment, and of gross injustices, are erased from the record. In that sense, censorship maintains an impenetrably placid, idyllic image that belies deeply disturbing undercurrents.
- [Depends on what political dialogue. Not all. And quite unusual to have political dialogue censored. The dialogue should be censored not because it is political but perhaps because it is subversive.]
S2: Different forms of censorship have different effectiveness and thus they are essential to different degrees
- Bans – Never truly effective and circumvention is always possible, as enabled by platforms such as proxy servers and underground networks. Nonetheless, they are arguably essential in symbolising a society’s values.
- China’s ban on pro-democratic content and mention of contentious events in its history like the June Fourth Incident (or better known as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests).
- Singapore’s 100-site ban on online porn and other questionable sites is a clear example of a ban that is merely symbolic.
- Partial bans – As opposed to complete bans where all content is indiscriminately silenced, partial bans allow users the benefit of retaining access to rest of the information that is not ‘unsafe’
- This is practiced in the censorship of vulgarities in songs aired on the radio (vs banning the song entirely)
- OB markers – Essential in encouraging self-censorship. Note that the hazier the distinction between permissible and unacceptable content, the more effective OB markers are as a form of self-censorship.
- This is particularly effective in the case of Singapore, where the damnation suffered by J. B. Jeyaretnam, Chee Soon Juan and Roy Ngerng are more than sufficient in instilling wariness and posing a deterrence to political dissent.
- But, their haziness also creates more room for abuse – the alleged ‘line’ determined by OB markers has been reported to be drawn after a flare-up, as and when it suits the needs of the government
- Advisory ratings (e.g. R21, M18 etc)- The viewer is given the freedom and responsibility in deciding what he should be allowed to view.
S3: Censorship is reactionary and insulates. While censorship can protect society from harmful information, it does not target the root cause of the problem. Terrorism proliferates unabated even in spite of the active censorship of its ideologies, proof of its failure in addressing the root causes of oppression, of poverty and of implacable resentment. Visibly, censorship is essential but not sufficient for a well-functioning society
[Thesis, Anti-Thesis and Synthesis contain a good selection of examples and excellent language use. If this is your own piece of work, keep it up. If you have obtained this from some other source, you need to see how a different authour’s piece of writing is able to suit your own writing style. Most students trip up when they take a huge leap forward; forcibly introducing material and content which they do not have a good grasp into their own writing, such that the result is that the entire essay looks like a patch work of mediocre and spontaneously brilliant writing. An additional point to consider for this essay is the censorship on sex and violence in media in different societies. This point wasn’t really thoroughly explored in this essay outline. Nonetheless, a very good and detailed outline which deserves an A.]
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