Censorship: Good or Bad?

Censorship is the control of speech and other forms of human expression, often in the context of government control. It is most commonly applied to acts which occur in public circumstances, and generally involves a suppression of them by criminalizing their expression. What is censored may range from specific words to entire concepts, and the ostensible motive of censorship is to stabilize (?) or "improve" the society over which the government has control.

Nairaland members, consider your thoughts, ideas, beliefs and values. These things are of priceless intangible value to us because these are the things that define us.
Do you believe it is right for others to censor your or anybodies contribution to society?

Should your voice be silenced for "common stability" or must the "truth" be heard?

i believe in democracy which allows freedom of speech. censorship to me will be like giving my rights away!! i believe in freedom of expression and i want my voice to be heard not silenced!!!! i want to make my own mistakes and learn from them. i don want to be directed on What to say, how to act like I'm some kind of puppet.
democracy is government by the people if d voice of d people gotta be heard 4 it to work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Freedom of Expression and Censorship. There has to a balance between the 2. Not everybody is sane...allowing anything could cause chaos. What we do not know is that freedom itself has got rules. If u don't guide freedom...it could kill u.

My take on this:

Censorship should be in HOW i say it not WHAT I say.

I think that ultimately, in a democracy, everyone has the right to express his opinions.  However, if someone's opinions are expressed in such a way as to constitute a security threat to the country, then the government has to find a legal means of shutting that person up.  A government primarily exists for the seucrity of it's people.

However, in a media outlet - newspaper, TV, or an Internet forum like this one, there are private interests at work.  If something you've written or said is deemed not to be in the best interest of your favorite newspaper, TV station or Internet community, they have a right not to publish it.  Your recourse is such a situation will be to take the fight to your own publication, TV station, blog or website.

Sometimes we have to censor people on this forum, and I don't feel guilty about it at all, because I know that if they wish they can go to www.blogger.com and publish the information on their own weblogs.  By the time such a person has been able to develop as much traffic as this forum, he or she will understand why censorship is often necessary!