Censorship Problems

Censorship Current Problems and Trends

In the 20th century, as in all previous history, freedom from censorship has been the exception in the world. The rule has been, and continues to be, repression, suppression, and oppression. It may, however, be considered a sign of political and social progress that, everywhere in the world, at least lip-service is paid to the ideal of liberty, and that no country brazenly admits that it is committed to a policy of religious, intellectual, artistic, or political censorship. This is apparent in the many covenants and declarations that have been passed in support of freedom and human rights; these include the UN Charter (1945), the UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the UN Covenants on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966), the European Convention on Human Rights (1953), the Helsinki Final Act (1975), and the American (Western Hemisphere) Convention on Human Rights (1978). (1)

Resources

Notes and References

1. Encarta Online Encyclopedia

See Also

Further Reading

Harry M. Bracken, Freedom of Speech: Words Are Not Deeds (Praeger, 1994).
Martina Cloonan; Reebee Garofalo, Policing Pop (Temple University Press, 2003).
Owen M. Fiss, Liberalism Divided: Freedom of Speech and the Many Uses of State Power (Westview, 1996).
Joel B. Grossman; Richard S. Wells, Constitutional Law and Judicial Policy Making (Longman, 1988).
Bob Horbert, “A Justice’s Sense of Privilege,” New York Times (April 12, 2004).
Joseph J. Hemmer Jr., Communication Law: The Supreme Court and the First Amendment (Austin and Winfield, 2000).
Peter Irons, Brennan v. Rehnquist: The Battle for the Constitution (Alfred A. Knopf, 1994).
Sheila Seuss Kennedy, Free Expression in America: A Documentary History (Greenwood, 1999).
Ken I. Kersch, Freedom of Speech: Rights and Liberties under the Law (ABC/CLIO, 2003).
Nan Levinson, Outspoken Free Speech Stories (University of California Press, 2003).
Juhani Rudanko, The Forging of Freedom of Speech: Essays on Congressional Debates on the Bill of Rights and on the Sedition Act (University Press of America, 2003).
Wojciech Sadurski, Freedom of Speech and Its Limits (Kluwer, 1999).
Steven H. Shiffin, Dissent, Injustice, and the Meaning of America (Princeton University Press, 1999).
Thomas Tedford, Freedom of Speech in the United States (Random House, 1985).
Elder Witt, The Supreme Court and Individual Rights (Congressional Quarterly, 1988).