Censorship isn't always black and white

Censorship

The Internet has always been a great source of information but over the years the "information highway" has had speed bumps and roadblock thrown up in its path. In some cases this has been justified and some sites might have malicious coding or inappropriate content. Sites are sometimes block on laptops, desktops and other media devices by parents using parental locks. This is understandable to most of us that some content is not suitable for minors.In a more general term censorship on the web is about blocking certain webpages, this can be done by parents, governments and even consumers (pending they have the right software).With this in mind it brings up the issue how much of information on these sites are being kept from us and is it right or wrong, how can citizen journalism thrive if different sites are locked down?

Citizen Journalism 

Different countries control information differently, for instance take a look at China. The Chinese government have control shape independent media like blogs and forums as they see fit and they have full control over all state news. In fact on the 27th of December 2007 a man named Hu Jia was arrested due to his blogs being "subverted state authority", this man who had fought to protect endanger animals and was later awarded a human rights prize by Europe. In this type of censorship citizen journalism isn't extinct it was never born.
Of course this is only one country and very few European countries work this way. In England and Ireland no such limits or put on most information. I want to revisit a question a ask earlier " how can citizen journalism thrive if different sites are locked down?", the answer social media. 

Social Media

Look at Facebook, Twitter or any social media service, everyone on has something to post and therefore everyone has a story to tell. Whether people realise it or not they are journalist in the broadest term of course and news in this media can spread like wildfire.The way of the future through citizen journalism and it will change how we look at things and we receive and disseminate information.

Of course this does have down side as well, as people can be their own journalist on these sites, but does this mean they can say whatever they want? The answer is not always.

For example a student was jailed for 56 days after he tweeted racist comments about Bolton Wanders footballer Fabrice Muamba, who had collapsed on the pitch and was fighting for his life. The student claimed he was drunk at the time and deleted the tweet. This is a good the side of censorship in the authors opinion,but this is only one occasion that a persons comments were seen as offensive taken down and punished, so many more go unpunished. For example a 15 year old Ciara Pugly took her own life after internet bullying.  

 

Necessary Censorship

So then with citizen journalism some type of censorship is required but then you must ask yourself where does censorship begin and where does it end, is the onus on the government to enforce censorship or the site itself to ban the content and what other means if any should be taken.

Social media sites lately are taking more responsibility to deal with these issues, but their is certainly a long way to go before it is perfected.

Ref:Irish Times Jennifer O'connell Sep 26, 2012
      http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/mar/27/student-jailed-fabrice-muamba-tweets
      http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet-censorship.htm
      http://politicsandthenewmedia.commons.yale.edu/2011/02/03/citizen-journalism-viable-in-a-censored-internet/
      https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/08/07/cens-a07.html