Essay Sample On Censorship In American Society

Censorship is seen all too common in American society. People have adhered to the idolatry and idealism of everybody needing to share the most popular belief of the time. With the influence of social media people have also clung on to the latest trends, no matter the consequence. The silencing of those who do not agree with mainstream thought only increases unrest and conflict. Rather then solve the conflict and create peace. 

Censorship has long been a part of our nation’s history. Its tone has shifted over the years, though many principles remain the same. “While many Americans pride themselves in their unwavering dedication to protecting the First Amendment, there have been several instances in which the government enacted censorship.” (Lokey, Fiona) The United States of America was built upon many principles. One of those was that of free speech. The First Amendment states; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (Theconstituteproject.org) The First Amendment shows us that the government is prohibited from making any law or suppressing the speech of any group of people within the country. While this seems fairly straight forward, the government and the general public haven’t adhered to this principle. One instance of the government silencing a particular person, in this case a writer, was of William Pynchon. “In 1650, Massachusetts was better known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was a safe haven for Puritans from England. However, those who did not fully embrace Puritanical Calvinism were often faced with oppression. During this year, William Pynchon published “The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption” in London, and it quickly spread over to the colonies. Due to the nature of the pamphlet, it was taken out of the hands of the public and became the first banned book in the New World.” (Lokey, Fiona) This is just one of many instances of the government censoring somebody. It isn’t just the government however, large social media platforms and the general public’s opinion censor many as well. “Politicians use Twitter and Instagram to publish political statements and debate their fellow elected officials. By deciding who can and cannot speak, social media can effectively control the public narrative on many discussions.” (Ewungkem, Julius) Regardless of whatever political ideology you identify with, it is impossible to ignore the censorship going on today. Perhaps even more dangerous censorship then that of the governments and the social media platforms, is that of the publics. 

The general public’s opinions and censorship is incredibly influential and dangerous. It silences whatever seems contrary and they’ll follow their own political and social agenda to a fault, forcing everybody to adhere to it. We see this all over America today in many ways. From advertisements on controversial books being silenced (Clark, Chrissy) to school boards refusing to let people speak (Prestigiacomo, Amanda) the list goes on. People whose opinions do not line up with mainstream media are being silenced. Even though the mainstream media calls for “acceptance” they are silencing whoever they don’t agree with. The mainstream media is all about protecting those who agree with their stance on social justice and gender equality and their own political agenda, yet they refuse to accept a contrary point of view. Instead, they refer to the contrary viewpoint as selfish because they think that because it’s different, it must be hurtful to society. That because it contradicts and may be controversial, it must be bad. They do this all in the name of acceptance when really all they’ve done is accept their own viewpoint and shut out the unpopular and controversial ones. This is what Ray Bradbury was implying in his book “Fahrenheit 451”. 

Bradbury shows throughout the book how a lack of thought-provoking thinking brings unrest and stupidity to a society, similar to today’s situation in America. Bradbury insists that if we allow the government or mainstream opinions to dictate what we read and experience, then the world will become like that depicted in his book. “Firemen” burning books, or in our case, controversial thoughts. As mentioned earlier, thoughts and ideas contrary to popular belief are silenced by the mainstream media in an attempt to promote their own agendas. Thie creates the conflict of nobody ever having what they want. Mainstream media has dumbed down general society enough now that all the people who actually think are being shown as outcast because of their seemingly radical ideas. By the mainstream outlets purely focused on themselves and refusing to let other opinions in they create a society where everybody is dumbed down. Dumbed down to a point of not caring what moral and ethical principles are. Dumbed down to a point of not looking at the facts and instead going along with whatever the popular opinion is at the time. Mainstream media cries for diversity yet all it will ever accept is one thought process. 

Censorship is a dangerous path to go down, yet America has never been free of it. The government, big tech giants, and the general public are all guilty of it. The First Amendment is clear on what is not acceptable in terms of allowing free speech, and yet that principle is absent from many peoples lives. This creates a conflicted society of hypocrites crying for their own agenda all in the name of acceptance. While their idea of acceptance is only tolerating what accelerates their own political and social agendas. What the mainstream media has turned society into has created an atmosphere of conflict, unhappiness, and unrest.