The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics

Book Review Chapter 24:

Censorship and Access to Expression: KAY MATHIESEN

Library Reference: N/A

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Information-Computer-Ethics/dp/0471799599/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232853902&sr=8-1

Quote:  “To censor is to restrict or limit access to an expression, portion of an expression, or category of expression, which has been made public by its author, based on the belief that it will be a bad thing if people access the content of that expression.”

    People usually censor things that are not supposed to be seen. The reason for this hasn’t been really told by the one who censors it. The usual notion that people get is there is something bad to it where as a matter of fact, we always assume that it is wrong and we don’t look much further.

Learning Expectation:

    This chapter is about censorship. So, I want to learn the connection of censorship to computers and most especially ethics. It would be interesting to learn what the author or what this chapter has to say about censorship, in which as we all know is hiding something either because its violent to see or prohibited to children.

Review:

    Censorship. It’s basically the process of covering something up because it is either violent or prohibited to children. This is the usual notion people get when they hear censorship. Others think of movies that are sometimes censored to be a little formal I think, but there are some movies that actually don’t put a censor. So, it really depends with the nature of the movie.

As discussed in the book, people usually think of censor, as there is something wrong to it that is why it is being censored. We all think that way actually. It is not even that clear on what censorship really mean. It is hard to know exactly what’s wrong with it and if it is really always wrong. People including me who use the term censorship always assumes that what is being censored is wrong but as the book says, we do not even bother to look much further. In my opinion, I do think there is a good censorship being done. Remember when victim gets raped or something like that and a media interviews her? They usually censor the face just so people won’t recognize her or maybe the criminal won’t recognize her. So basically, I think that is one example of good censorship because even if we get to see her face, there is nothing violent, prohibited, or wrong with it. So basically, this chapter is all about defining censorship and giving a deeper meaning to it. Moreover, the author tries to fill in the gap where the definition or meaning of censorship is unclear.

What I’ve learned:

    I have learned that there is a good and bad censorship because all my life, the notion most people and I get when we see something censored that it is bad and could be violent or adult content. I’ve also learned that there is a deeper meaning to censorship.

Questions:

1.    If we are all educated, why do we need to censor things?

2.    Will it do really good when you censor things?

3.    What’s the point of it?

4.    Is there any other definition of censorship?

5.    Is censorship a good thing to apply or not?

Citation: (Kenneth Einar E. Himma & Herman T. Tavani, 2008)