Q: Consider the merits and demerits of censorship and state the reasons why you think it is un/necessary

R: My stand on this topic is that media censorship is necessary.

The merits for media censorship are many, of which includes the existence of sensitive issues and protecting national interests.

Firstly, media censorship plays an important role when the media delivers issues that may be deemed as sensitive in some parts of the world. Certain issues are sensitive due to different people's lifestyle and cultural beliefs. For example, the recent issue of the cartoon of Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper. Also, all communities have their own opinions that more or less differ from others. Here, media censorship comes into play to draw the line and prevent the violation of certain people's beliefs. Thus, this decreases the tension between racial groups or relationships amongst countries.

Furthermore, to protect the young and weak-minded, there is media censorship. The media is a powerful tool that has the ability to influence and manipulate people's mindset. If the media is not used with appropriate care, it can bring about negative impact on the youth of the world. The young and weak-minded children can easily fall victim to media abuse as they are still innocent and unexposed to life experiences yet. Hence, media censorship is vital to prevent the young and innocent from unnecessary exposure that create negative effects.

Lastly, media censorship is crucial to safeguard national interests. The government policies are protected as censorship means there is control over what the media can publish regarding the state's affairs. This preserves national interests such as preventing racial riots and ensuring that no wrong messages are sent out to the public. With media censorship, conflicts do not break out so often and peace is ensured, stabilizing the country's relationships nationally and internationally.

On the other hand, media censorship has its demerits, such as limiting exposure for the public and breaching the rights of freedom of expression.

Firstly, media censorship controls how much is let out for public-viewing. It may cover the truth of certain issues in the bid for protecting national interests or community's beliefs. This does not allow the public to know the real facts of the issue. Consequently, the media will portray 'creative untruths' that are not true.

In addition, human rights are violated by media censorship. Particularly in discussion here is the right of freedom of expression. Censorship tightens the boundary so much so that people are not given the opportunity to voice their opinions and have their say. As a result, the right of freedom of expression is virtually being removed from people by media censorship.

Therefore, in conclusion, media censorship is important and highly necessary as it helps to maintain peace in the world. This is done so when sensitive issues are safeguarded and messages are not wrongly portrayed by the media.