1. Computers & Censorship
David Ghiurco

2. History / Background Ancient times
China: “regulation moral and political life of the populous”
Greece: “Good governance includes shaping character of the people
Famous Example: Socrates sentenced to drink poison
Promoting unorthodox ideas & deities to youth
Modern times
Censorship most prominent in digital media
China:, North Korea: Google blocked
Free flow information SEVERELY halted by non-Western regimes

3. Types of Censorship Moral Military Political Religious Corporate
E.g. obscene content: pornography, etc.
Military
Keeping military intelligence away from enemies
E.g. counter espionage
Political
Holding back key information from citizens
Religious
Dominant religion enforcing limitations on non-believers
Corporate
Intervention to keep incriminating information from the public

4. ALL of these are exacerbated by the Computer Age

5. Problems for Society Restriction of free flow of information
Uneducated / uninformed populous
Ignorance to key ideas / events
Mass manipulation
Immoral Incentives
Entities can commit corrupt acts and cover them up

6. Personal Opinion on Solution
“Internet Free Speech”
No centralized entity making censorship decisions
Community-based consensus
Focus on users rather than providers of information
Community-led decisions on removal / censorship of content
First Amendment for Digital Age

7. Changes in the future? World-wide acceptance of Internet
Pressures strict censorship countries
Western-led model of Free Speech & Free Web

8. Resources Cited
“The Long History of Censorship”
“What is Censorship?”
“Internet Censorship” work/issues/censorship-and-free-speech/internet-censorship