What is the point of censorship?

[sun rise]

You seem to have a rather interestingly narrow idea of what is and is not censorship:

cen·sorship​

noun​

1. the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.​

And that is what the right is doing in the USA.

 

[Father Heathen]

The point of the thread is to demonstrate that leftists enjoy censoring others' opinions.
Rightists don't censor anybody.
Period.
If you want to stay on topic, prove me wrong.

Conservatives attempt to ban certain subjects from being taught in schools.
Conservatives attempt to ban certain books from being available in libraries.
Conservatives attempt to ban pride flags, drag shows, anything LGBT related.
Conservatives attempt to ban displays or gatherings of minority religions.

The Republican Party has become the very cancel culture it pretends to rail against

The Republican Party has become the party of cancel culture, a bubble-dwelling collection of right-wing caricatures who ban books and silence critics.

www.usatoday.com

Here's the Long List of Topics Republicans Want Banned From the Classroom

There are now 61 censorship bills proposed in 24 states. One legislator wants teachers to pay $10,000 for teaching "critical race theory."

www.edweek.org

After School Satan Clubs and pagan statues have popped up across US. What's going on?

The Satanic Temple says its members do not believe in Satan as a magical or spiritual being, but use the name as a metaphor free thinking.

www.usatoday.com

‘Subtle and sinister’: Republicans’ anti-drag crusade seen as assault on LGBTQ+ rights

Hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ laws were introduced in 2023, including bans on drag shows, but many have been struck down

www.theguardian.com

A friendly reminder: As a transwoman, the right is not your friend.

 

[sun rise]

I think that parents have the right to decide the education of their own children and prevent them from reading pornographic books.

What they are banning is NOT porn. It's things the right hates such as stories about black history.

 

[sun rise]

The point of the thread is to demonstrate that leftists enjoy censoring others' opinions.
Rightists don't censor anybody.
Period.
If you want to stay on topic, prove me wrong.

We have.

 

[Estro Felino]

Conservatives attempt to ban certain subjects from being taught in schools.
Conservatives attempt to ban certain books from being available in libraries.
Conservatives attempt to ban pride flags, drag shows, anything LGBT related.
Conservatives attempt to ban displays or gatherings of minority religions.

The Republican Party has become the very cancel culture it pretends to rail against

The Republican Party has become the party of cancel culture, a bubble-dwelling collection of right-wing caricatures who ban books and silence critics.

www.usatoday.com

Here's the Long List of Topics Republicans Want Banned From the Classroom

There are now 61 censorship bills proposed in 24 states. One legislator wants teachers to pay $10,000 for teaching "critical race theory."

www.edweek.org

After School Satan Clubs and pagan statues have popped up across US. What's going on?

The Satanic Temple says its members do not believe in Satan as a magical or spiritual being, but use the name as a metaphor free thinking.

www.usatoday.com

‘Subtle and sinister’: Republicans’ anti-drag crusade seen as assault on LGBTQ+ rights

Hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ laws were introduced in 2023, including bans on drag shows, but many have been struck down

www.theguardian.com

A friendly reminder: As a transwoman, the right is not your friend.

I meant in the EU, of course.
In the US I see that pot calls the kettle black.
They do the same thing, left and right.

 

[Father Heathen]

I meant in the EU, of course.
In the US I see that pot calls the kettle black.l
They do the same thing, left and right.

What has "the left" in the U.S. tried to censor, and how?

 

[Shaul]

In the US it's the right that's all in for censorship. They want to censor books about black history, gays/lesbians, transgender and actual history such as the cause of the Civil War. Librarians have gotten fired for resisting their attempts to control what is in the library. They have also attacked teachers, colleges and businesses to stop them from anything that the right disapproves of.

What a crock. You can get all the books you want on those topics in the U.S. Indeed they are foisted upon people more than they want. Just look at some of the agenda driven drivel coming out of Disney lately. On the contrary it is the left in the US that are the ones doing censorship. If you don't believe that look at how much leftist censorship there is of social media and search engines.

 

[Shaul]

I once overheard a secret meeting of the illuminati discussing their censorship plans. The real reason for censorship is because [CENSORED] need [CENSORED] and [CENSORED] can't [CENSORED] or [CENSORED] the [CENSORED].

 

[Stevicus]

E.U. law threatens free speech, online groups say

Politicians who posture like totalitarian wannabes might well be giving us glimpses of their intentions. That brings us to European Union (E.U.) Internal

reason.com

Seriously...I have always wondered why a certain political side wants to censor all that they find unsuitable to their agenda.

Honestly...in my dear old Europe I have never seen the right-wing being obsessed with what the leftists say or don't say.
They have never tried to censor their political opponents.

Au contraire...I believe that what the European Left has been doing is desperately trying to censor what the rightists say.
For years.
I am happy if others are free to express the ideas I disagree with. If they are interesting, I can reflect about them.

I believe that the desire of censoring others is symptom of insecurity.
What do you guys think?

I believe the U.S. has the "clear and present danger" rule, which seems to work pretty well. In the article, it mentions deleting content which calls for "killing and burning of cars," so I think that would fall into that category. But if it's more vague, abstract, or theoretical, then I can't see any basis for banning it.

The trouble with censorship is that it often appears to be a sign of desperation or defeat - or possibly a fear of criticism or any opposing idea. The best way to fight an idea is with another idea, but for those without the capability to think or formulate coherent arguments, censorship is their only option.

 

[flowerpower]

E.U. law threatens free speech, online groups say

Politicians who posture like totalitarian wannabes might well be giving us glimpses of their intentions. That brings us to European Union (E.U.) Internal

reason.com

Seriously...I have always wondered why a certain political side wants to censor all that they find unsuitable to their agenda.

Honestly...in my dear old Europe I have never seen the right-wing being obsessed with what the leftists say or don't say.
They have never tried to censor their political opponents.

Au contraire...I believe that what the European Left has been doing is desperately trying to censor what the rightists say.
For years.
I am happy if others are free to express the ideas I disagree with. If they are interesting, I can reflect about them.

I believe that the desire of censoring others is symptom of insecurity.
What do you guys think?

I think - like most things - there's a middle path to answer this.

While I agree as an idealistic principle that life in its entirety shouldn't be censored really at all as a form of an appeal to nature of whatever, society simply doesn't work that way. Part of functioning in society is having the self control to NOT expose every last aspect of your being to the world or take on the totality of the world's baggage - growing up and developing alongside a society that tries to minimize trauma to vulnerable people is important to ensuring that any given individual is given a fair go at interacting with society and pursuing some kind of greater good.

It's tricky, because it's hard to determine where a line should be drawn between what is deemed acceptable or potentially harmful or not.

Total grey area.

So - I like the ideal of no censorship anywhere, ever. But ultimately I conclude that limits are necessary to be a functional human in society.

I guess no censorship would work out okay if a person went off into the woods and never came back and were totally cool with that lifestyle.

 

[Heyo]

E.U. law threatens free speech, online groups say

Politicians who posture like totalitarian wannabes might well be giving us glimpses of their intentions. That brings us to European Union (E.U.) Internal

reason.com

Seriously...I have always wondered why a certain political side wants to censor all that they find unsuitable to their agenda.

Honestly...in my dear old Europe I have never seen the right-wing being obsessed with what the leftists say or don't say.
They have never tried to censor their political opponents.

Au contraire...I believe that what the European Left has been doing is desperately trying to censor what the rightists say.
For years.
I am happy if others are free to express the ideas I disagree with. If they are interesting, I can reflect about them.

I believe that the desire of censoring others is symptom of insecurity.
What do you guys think?

The European right and censorship: Do you know who is president of the European Commission? We here know her as "Zensursula". As a member of the CDU (centre-right, Christian party) and minister of family at the time she tried to censor the internet (disguised as an anti porn measure). She didn't get what she wanted but it also didn't end her career.

 

[Estro Felino]

I think - like most things - there's a middle path to answer this.

While I agree as an idealistic principle that life in its entirety shouldn't be censored really at all as a form of an appeal to nature of whatever, society simply doesn't work that way. Part of functioning in society is having the self control to NOT expose every last aspect of your being to the world or take on the totality of the world's baggage - growing up and developing alongside a society that tries to minimize trauma to vulnerable people is important to ensuring that any given individual is given a fair go at interacting with society and pursuing some kind of greater good.

It's perfectly understandable.
But I believe that one can be selective and choose the media they agree with; there is no need of censoring others.

It's tricky, because it's hard to determine where a line should be drawn between what is deemed acceptable or potentially harmful or not.

Total grey area.

So - I like the ideal of no censorship anywhere, ever. But ultimately I conclude that limits are necessary to be a functional human in society.

Of course. But I am speaking of political ideas only.
I am not speaking of things that would harm the totality of citizens.

 

[Estro Felino]

What has "the left" in the U.S. tried to censor, and how?

Ask RFK Jr. Ask Tulsi Gabbard.
Ask them why they left the Democratic Party.

 

[Estro Felino]

The European right and censorship: Do you know who is president of the European Commission? We here know her as "Zensursula". As a member of the CDU (centre-right, Christian party) and minister of family at the time she tried to censor the internet (disguised as an anti porn measure). She didn't get what she wanted but it also didn't end her career.

Honestly, I think that AfD is right-wing. Christian Democracy is not right-wing,, we used to have that too. It's centrism.

 

[flowerpower]

It's perfectly understandable.
But I believe that one can be selective and choose the media they agree with; there is no need of censoring others.

Of course. But I am speaking of political ideas only.
I am not speaking of things that would harm the totality of citizens.

In that case - I'm an advocate of NO CENSORSHIP at all whatsoever when it comes to political ideas.

If anything, we as a society (and a worldwide international community) are embarrassingly petty, superficial, uninspired and incurious when it comes to political ideas in the 21st Century. Plato, Aristotle and Socrates would be ashamed of being human if they could see what we turned into philosophically.

I think being traumatized by WW2 and the Cold War had something to do with it - leading most people to simply assume that some political ideas are completely unacceptable in every context. We seem to be getting a lot worse too - like it's as if the internet used to be this completely unfiltered expression of ideas and media and people got traumatized by that too in the 2000s, leading to a surge in people becoming easily offended and engaging in ridiculous phenomena such as cancel culture and considering willful ignorance to be a good thing when properly exercised.

I remember a time when the internet was poor quality and sort of like the wild west - it clearly established a culture of its own that humanity had never seen before; then, inevitably as humans do, we decided to apply rules to it, making it sucky and now we're actually losing a grip on what things like the definition of free speech is both online and in the real world.

 

[Heyo]

I remember a time when the internet was poor quality and sort of like the wild west - it clearly established a culture of its own that humanity had never seen before; then, inevitably as humans do, we decided to apply rules to it, making it sucky and now we're actually losing a grip on what things like the definition of free speech is both online and in the real world.

That makes me question your age. I do remember that time but that was before when you say you were born.

 

[flowerpower]

That makes me question your age. I do remember that time but that was before when you say you were born.

Really? In the 1980s/90s? I didn't really think anyone could really do anything meaningful online before 1995.

I'm talking about the 2000s.

I noticed the shift towards censoring the internet as I knew it around about 2010.

 

[Heyo]

Really? In the 1980s/90s? I didn't really think anyone could really do anything meaningful online before 1995.

I'm talking about the 2000s.

I noticed the shift towards censoring the internet as I knew it around about 2010.

Oh, so you are talking about the www (web), people today think of that as "the internet" but the internet is much older and even the idea of free exchange of ideas goes back to 1980 with the introduction of Usenet - Wikipedia. That was the Wild West of the internet.

 

[flowerpower]

Oh, so you are talking about the www (web), people today think of that as "the internet" but the internet is much older and even the idea of free exchange of ideas goes back to 1980 with the introduction of Usenet - Wikipedia. That was the Wild West of the internet.

Interesting.

Apparently computers were directly a result of countries at war with each other - codes and trying to get the jump on each other as far as intelligence goes. It's weird to think that if it weren't for all the horrifying conflicts that went on in the 20th Century, we might still be using morse code and radio to communicate in the 2020s instead of watching live entertainment in high definition from the other side of the world.

I'm actually far from an expert on the internet. I guess I just observed it as I grew up - more as an adolescent and in uni than anything else.

Being a small child in the 90s was all about TV for me and my peers. Sitcoms and cartoons kind of seemed like what everyone was glued to and seemed to be what served as role models for us growing up. As I understand it, the 80s weren't really all that different.

That old "usernet" stuff is totally new stuff to me - definitely an informative post. It kind of makes me laugh remembering some of the movies that the idea of the internet seemed to inspire in the 80s and 90s - like Sandra Bullock in "The Net" is just so silly now - and there was that "You've Got Mail" movie. I saw some recent shows that satirized some of those films that romanticized "hacking" in those decades; one scene involving two FBI agents attending a scene trying to catch some "hacker" who almost started WW3 lol.

Now I'm getting nostalgic, but those old computers were so cumbersome.

 

[Estro Felino]

Oh, so you are talking about the www (web), people today think of that as "the internet" but the internet is much older and even the idea of free exchange of ideas goes back to 1980 with the introduction of Usenet - Wikipedia. That was the Wild West of the internet.

She probably means that in the early 2000s, there was no political correctness, anywhere.
I give you the example of the movie Mean Girls, which was not politically correct, at all.

Then, I guess it was with Obama and the Leftist Brigade that the crusade began.
An example (I don't think those who chase Brian are rightists. They are all leftists.)