Week 03 Response - The Fine Line Between Safety and Control

This post is a response to the question "The constitution protects citizens from government censorship. Do you believe the government has taken this too far in what they censor? Such as: media, speech, books, music, TV, etc." posed by @hattiehughs14 .
I think the government has taken censorship too far, specifically when it comes to media. For example, there's a local town in Sweden called 'Fucke' that residents are trying to change the name of because of the online censorship they face when they try to post about it. (Source) These citizens are having to make an extra effort for something they can't control because of the online censorship it causes them to endure. Another example of this is TikTok, an app that enrages its user because of its overindulgence in online censorship. Many content creators who have relied on the social media platform to make a living suddenly get banned for often inexplicable reasons, thus being forced to either create a new account and start all over or to try to find another way of making money. This can infuriate people because of the ability for this censorship to be viewed as a violation of the first amendment. This anger in social media users by online censorship can be amplified when bias can be interpreted with what content is censored. James Fox experienced this when Alex Jones, a conservative radio show host, was banned from Facebook, Apple, Spotify, and YouTube for "hate speech." (Source) Jones content was deemed as fake news, but Fox argues that if Jones spread fake news, then CNN did too with reports of "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq in 2002. Although this article may seem politically motivated, Republicans and Democrats alike have questioned the reasoning behind some online content that has been censored by the government. Online censorship can bring benefits like preventing identity theft and protecting children from viewing certain content, but it has started to get to a point where people question its motive. I believe it has the capability of hurting businesses in the future, particularly if the businesses have a religious or political purpose. Although everyone might not agree when it comes to religion or politics, it is important to not let these things go censored because of the people with those religious or political beliefs.

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