Literature Review on "Censorship in America"

Literature Review 10 pages (3127 words) Sources: 10

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Internet Censorship in America:

Censorship of information on the Internet has become a controversial topic that has generated huge debates, especially on whether it's a necessity for the maintenance of a particular ethical standard. While there is no single answer to the question on Internet censorship in America, the issue has been confronted and is being addressed. The censorship of information on the Internet has grown to become a major issue because of the fact that the Internet has extended people's abilities to access information across the globe. As a result, questions and concerns are being raised on the kind of information that people should have access to, particularly if a standard is established. Issues regarding censorship and the freedom of expression continue to emerge with the daily growth and expansion of the Internet industry. These issues are mainly centered on the available material on the Internet like children's exposure to pornography that has caused increased controversy. In addition to presenting a literature review, the paper presents the issues, debates, advantages, and disadvantages of Internet censorship in America from various articles written by different authors.

The Development of the Internet:

In a research article by Qazi (par, 5), the development and growth of the Internet is examined as it emerged from packet switching and distributed computer networks that were developed to be secure during periods of wars. The distributed computer systems were designed to be secure because they are less vulnerable to destruction and facilitate the routing of transmissions around the damage. Local area networks could be connected to these networks without interfering with their advantages and without dependence on a single timesharing computer. Today's Internet was realized as a result of these developments throughout the 1970s and 1980s to promote an informal network of networks that extends in the entire world with approximately 4 million hosts.

The Internet has had significant and huge growth in past few decades to a point that it's mentioned on a daily basis across many facets of the society. As a result of the massive growth, the use of the Internet has expanded rapidly and will continue to grow in the future. In the United States, the massive use of the Internet is evident from the fact that over 10 million Americans access the Internet from computers in their homes.

The main reason for the extended use of the Internet is attributed to the numerous changes it has brought to the world. Some of these changes include its facilitation of easy research activities, enhanced communication across the globe, and transformation of people's shopping activities. The Internet has actually become more mainstream and adopted by the society since it helps in maintaining connectedness between people in various parts of the world ("The Internet Censorship Debate" par, 2). These revolutions are regardless of the fact that the Internet has made it easier for individuals to access inappropriate material.

History of Internet Censorship in America:

While the recent proposals for censoring information on the Internet has generated sharp controversies, Internet censorship in the United States is not new. Throughout the years, the United States government has usually tried to regulate new technology whenever it emerges. For example, the government attempted to regulate telephone companies in the case of the U.S. Postal Service literature in both public libraries and schools. This initiative resulted in the enactment of legislations that prohibited the sending of any obscene or inappropriate material through the United States mail.

The bans marked the beginning of censorship that has now extended to proposals of censoring information on the Internet based on several issues and reasons. Internet censorship in the United States didn't happen overnight but slowly came to the country after tests in the Middle East and China. The other aspect that led to the proposals for censoring information on the Internet was the extension of an improved Patriot Act by the Congress in 2005 that permitted the government to clamp its controls on the web.

Main Issues Regarding Internet Censorship:

As the Internet has developed to become deeply rooted in the lives of many people across the United States, the most common assumption is that it's immune to change. Even though there are no guarantees that it will continue to remain a free and open medium, people tend to think that it will remain so. Since the Internet is a human institution managed by actual people and businesses, it's not fixed and unchanging just like many human institutions. This is largely because the history of the Internet has been characterized by continual changes in its core architecture and several court decisions.

As a result of its vulnerability to change, Internet use or access has continued to face several issues, especially in relation to censorship. Regardless of the assumption that Internet use is static and unchanging, there have been various attempts to censor information that people can access on the Internet in the United States. Some examples of regulations that govern Internet access in America include network neutrality rules by the American Civil Liberties Union. The American government has made various attempts to gain more control on the use of the Internet as various companies have established new technological infrastructures to control Internet use. Generally, Internet censorship in the United States has encountered several major issues including the following:

Concerns Regarding Freedom of Expression:

Stanley (p. 2) argues that the freedom of expression is one of the major issues surrounding censorship on the web since the Internet is one of the basic places where Americans exercise this constitutional right of expression. The Internet acts like an entertainment medium, newspaper, debating platform, and reference work that promotes the free expression of ideas and information. The centrality of freedom of expression is evident from the fact that many Internet censorship cases in the Supreme Court have been decided on the basis of protection of the rights to free expression.

Qazi (par, 13) agrees that freedom of speech or expression is a major issue when addressing Internet censorship in America. The First Amendment to the Constitution enforces the freedom of speech and prevents the U.S. Congress from enacting legislations to the contrary. However, various generations in the American history have re-interpreted and redefined this amendment making the freedom of speech not to be an absolute. Consequently, there are existing laws in America about national security, obscenity, libel, control of electronic mass communication, and access to governmental information.

Therefore, due to the numerous changes that redefined the First Amendment, America has continued to encounter enormous challenges to restore the conventional freedom of speech and information diversity. The reason for the freedom of expression being a major issue regarding Internet censorship is the fact that free speech incorporates the use of the web in expressing several ideas within America and the rest of the world.

Access to Inappropriate Materials:

While the Internet provides huge opportunities for global access to local culture, the other major issue surrounding Internet censorship is concern regarding controversial or inappropriate ideas and images on the Internet (Schrader par, 1). Actually, accesses to inappropriate materials have contributed to technological and political difficulties to open internet access. Internet censorship in the United States has been supported in various quarters on the basis that it could help in restricting access to such ideas and images.

Debates on Internet Censorship in America:

As previously mentioned, Internet censorship in the United States has developed to become a topic of huge controversy and debates. The debates have mainly involved proponents and opponents who argue on differing opinions including & #8230;

Criminalization of Internet Activities:

As reported by the Huffington Post, legislation that promotes censoring of information on the Internet has been supported by both Democrats and Republicans on the basis that it could criminalize many activities on the Internet (Carter & Grim par, 1). Internet censorship has been supported in America because it will hugely contribute to the establishment of new powers for companies to fight piracy of copyrighted materials. The main Internet censorship bill that promotes such efforts is known as the Stop Online Piracy Act, which will help in safeguarding companies from the theft of American intellectual property.

While such attempts will have minimal impact on major Internet industry players, life on the Internet will be very difficult for small companies. The other key aspect is that this Internet censorship bill will change the relationship between the fundamental architecture of the Internet and the government. it's possible that the government through the Department of Justice could use the legislation to conduct domain name system filtering for disgruntled copyright holders and even block an entire website in attempts to prevent piracy.

Lessening of Job Opportunities and Innovation:

Increased attempts by the United States government to expand Internet censorship could make it difficult for new entrepreneurs within the Internet industry to develop into major industry players like Google. Dickinson (par, 2) states that Internet entrepreneurs have conveyed their concerns that Internet censorship could cripple innovation and have expressed their opposition to such… READ MORE

How to Reference "Censorship in America" Literature Review in a Bibliography

Related Literature Reviews:

Book Censorship Term Paper

censorship in the public school system. The writer explores various issues and argues against censorship, citing the American constitution as support for the argument. There were 10 sources used to… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1361 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

America Wealth and Power Are Positively Correlated Essay

America

Wealth and power are positively correlated in American society. People in power are almost invariably wealthy, and the wealthy have access to more avenues of political as well as… read more

Essay 5 pages (1537 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Government / Politics

---

Media Bias in America Term Paper

Media Bias

Knowledge is rarely neutral, often consciously shaped by these special interests and then unconsciously imbibed from our earliest childhood experiences as cultural "normality." More ominously, manipulation, misinformation, and… read more

Term Paper 20 pages (7231 words) Sources: 40 Topic: Journalism / Media / PR / News

---

Howard vs. The FCC Term Paper

Stern

In the world of radio talk shows, there can be no question that shock-jock personality Howard Stern is one of the most controversial show leads in history. From his… read more

Term Paper 4 pages (1415 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Literature / Poetry

---

Jensen's Book Term Paper

Jensen

Communications studies professor and former director of Project Censored, Carl Jensen is passionate about the American media. Project Censored has been described as "America's longest-running research project on news… read more

Term Paper 4 pages (1342 words) Sources: 10 Topic: Literature / Poetry

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>