Chadwick, Mark

Kusuma, Albert

Moules, Louise

Taylor, Jonathan

White, Magnus

English

EdShare

Video Resource: http://www.edshare.soton.ac.uk/6313Censorship Group 8Tutor Group of David Argles (da@ecs.soton.ac.uk)AbstractCensorship has always been an issue at the forefront of societaldynamics, the advent of the internet has only furthered its importance in current affairs. Censorship is used in order to prevent users from accessing obscenities and private data, but arguably inhibits personal freedom. It is a very subjective concept as many disagree on what can be censored on a moral and ethical level.This poster, and its video resource, aims to demonstrate the significance of internet censorship on a global scale through analysing reasons for censorship, censorship methods, and past examplesIntroductionThe term ‘Censorship’ refers to the control of information and ideas that are circulated within society preventing the viewing of distressing and extremist opinions, images, website and content.  Whilst the motivations of censoring information range from the good intentions of protecting children from unsuitable content or to governments attempts to keeping intelligence confidential, all reasons lead to the same result of blocking access to undesirable information. As the new ‘Information Highway’ the internet acts as the most common gateway for accessing information making the censorship of inappropriate content essential.  Organisations such as the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) work alongside ISPs, mobile operators, software provider and the police to minimise the availability of online criminal content. An educational  Video resource has been created to communicate the common issues of internet censorship in a  manner which engages the audienceBackground Censorship has been present throughout history. The control of information is of high importance for many organisations throughout the world. Many parallels can be drawn between censorship in past centuries and censorship today. In the 16th century Galileo was put under house arrest by the Catholic Church for his radical scientific theories, whereas today Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo is imprisoned by the Chinese government for promoting democratic reform. Sometimes information is censored in order to protect individuals from offensive material. An example of this would be ISPs using filtering programs in order to prevent users from viewing child pornography. On the other hand, censorship inhibits freedoms of individuals. While some countries may put less emphasis on personal freedoms (China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia), many countries with personal freedoms at a core of their governing ideology (USA and UK) are preventing individuals from speaking their mind. In the UK Paul Chambers was fined 2,000 pounds for “tweeting” a joke about blowing up an airport after it closed down due to heavy snow. Discussion The group started by mind mapping ideas on the topic of censorship to come to a consensus on which areas were to be focused on. It was then decided to split up the task of research to individuals with two members each focusing more on the poster design and video script and editing.Most of the research undertaken was internet based, particularly news websites, to find topical stories of censorship within organisations and throughout the world. MethodWe made a video to catch the attention of the audience in a moreentertaining way whilst providing educational information on the topic of censorship. Humour was used to make the content more accessible and entertaining.Keywords IWFInternetCensorshipFreedom of InformationPornography Child ProtectionWikileaksChinaInformation RegulationReferencesConclusionThe Internet allows for easy communication of information worldwide which may be deemed unsuitable by certain groups. Many individuals, companies and countries censor otherwise available information online for a variety of reasons in a number of different ways. The use of censorship is one that will always be met with criticism from various parties. However sometimes it is clearly necessary, such as for protecting children from paedophilia and other illegal obscenities. A balance between restricting human rights and protecting people from unacceptable material needs to be found however, this is hard to find since opinions differentiate depending on the individual involved.We believe our resource is effective since it is structured to convey the important themes of censorship in an informative and educational manner whilst being humorous and engaging. We could have enhanced the video by asking more detailed questions but the aim was to engage an audience as wide as possible rather than just involving those with a prior knowledge of online censorship.Mark Chadwick mc2g09@ecs.soton.ac.ukAlbert Kusuma ark1g09@ecs.soton.ac.uk Louise Moules lfm1g09@ecs.soton.ac.ukJonathan Taylor jt27g08@ecs.soton.ac.ukMagnus White mw10g09@ecs.soton.ac.ukMagnus WhiteJonathan TaylorLouise MoulesAlbert KusumaMark Chadwick- Akdeniz, Y (1997) ‘Governance of Pornography and Child Pornography on the Global Internet: A Multi-Layered Approach’, in Edwards, L. & Waeldle, C., Law and the Internet: Regulating Cyberspace, Hart Publishing, pp 223-241.- Ang, P.H. & Nadarajan, B. (1996) ’Censorship and the Internet: A Singapore Perspective’, Communications of the ACM 39, 6, pp.72-78. Available at: http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/228503.228520 (accessed: 7/10/2010)- Bott, F. (2005) Professional Issues in Information Technology, Swindon: British Computer Society.- Deibert, R. et al. (2008) Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering, Cambridge: MIT Press- Duquenoy, P., Jones, S. & Blundell, B. (2007) Ethical, Legal and Professional Issues in Computing, London: Thomson Learning.- Faucette, J (1995) ‘The Freedom of Speech at Risk in Cyberspace: Obscenity Doctrine and a Frightened University's Censorship of Sex on the Internet’ Duke Law Journal, 44 (6), pp. 1155-1182. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/pss/1372937 (accessed: 7/10/2010- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. (2002) Her Majesty's Attorney General (Appellant) v. Punch Limited and another (Respondents). London: The Stationery Office. (HL 2001-2002 (50)). Available at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200203/ldjudgmt/jd021212/punch-1.htm (accessed: 7 December 2010)- Greengard, S. (2010) ‘Censored!’, Communications of the ACM 53, 7, pp.16-18. Available at: http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1785414.1785423 (accessed: 7 December 2010)- Henderson, M. (2010) Science writer Simon Singh wins bitter libel battle, Available at: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article7098157.ece (accessed: 7/10/2010)- MacKinnon, R. (2010) China’s Internet Censorship and Controls: The Context of Google’s Approach in China. Available at: http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/article?revision_id=175187&item_id=175185 (accessed: 7/10/2010)- Nunziato, D. (2003), ‘Freedom of Expression, Democratic Norms, and Internet Governance’, Emory Law Journal, 52, pp. 187. Available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1003392 (accessed: 7/10/2010)- Resnick, P. & Miller, J. (1996) ‘PICS: Internet Access Controls Without Censorship’, Communications of the ACM 39, 10, pp. 87-93.  Available at: http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/236156.236175 (accessed: 7/10/2010)- Satter, R. (2010) Online outrage follows UK’s Twitter Joke Trial, Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9JEOGO01.htm (accessed: 7/10/2010)- Strickland, J. (2008) How Internet Censorship Works, Available at: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet-censorship.htm (accessed: 7 December 2010)- Thompson, B. (2004) Doubts over web filtering plans, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3797563.stm (accessed: 7/10/2010)- Weisberg, R. (1989) ’Political Censorship: A Different View’, Academic Questions, 2 (4), pp. 99-103. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02682758 (accessed: 7/10/2010)A video with focus on Internet CensorshipUniversity of Southampton - ECS INFO2009 Academic Year 2010 - 2011  

INFO2009 Group 8 Censorship

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

EdShare