Week 9 Response to Content

Censorship in Democracy

Does censorship have a place in democracy? The word democracy derived from the ancient Greeks and means to rule by the people. In ancient Greece all city affairs were subject to an assembly where all male members belonged and all decisions were made by a majority vote (Kilcullen, 2000). Therefore if the majority vote for censorship, then yes, censorship does have a place in democracy. Furthermore, if the majority do not vote for censorship, should the censorship still be put in place. This essay outlines Australia’s censorship as well as the public’s view on censorship in democratic Australia.     

Not all censorship is evil. The current system of censorship ‘classifies material into appropriate categories rather than looking for reasons for it to be banned’ (Williams, 1997).  For example, the classification on movies and video games is a form of censorship that prevents young children witnessing images that would be offensive to them. This, however, is not what the public have a problem with.

Technology in recent decades has advanced to the point where ‘government agencies have unlimited capabilities for surveillance, command and control that challenge the authority of national representative democracy’ (Stockwell, 2008). This is where Australia’s public becomes angry. The government has the power to filter through our computers and telephone conversations to gain information that they feel is needed for ‘government protection’. Although this might be for the better of the country, it is still an invasion of privacy and does not reflect a democratic nation.

Obviously there are upsides and down sides to censorship within democratic Australia. The overall product needs to be a line drawn as to where the censorship should stop to keep privacy and democracy intact.   

References 

Kilcullen. J, ‘Democracy in Australia’, Macquarie University, accessed on 29^th September 2011 http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/y67xa.html

Williams. D, ‘From censorship to classification’ Press release database, 1997, accessed on 29 September 2011 http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=(Id:media/pressrel/plm30);rec=0;

Stockwell, S, ‘Where all Hackers Now, Doing Global Democracy’, 2008, accessed on 29^th Setpember 2011 https://learning.secure.griffith.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_101249_1&frame=top