Tag: innovation

Censorship is on the rise, particularly when it comes to the internet. In the wake of FOSTA/SESTA legislation in the US, web based platforms have had to tighten up how they do business or risk being prosecuted. I have noticed a general trend towards conservatism, and if you haven’t, then this is your wake up call. I would hope that I am preaching to the converted with those who reach my blog, but if not, no judgement. However, I really think you should continue reading as I explain why you need to care about censorship.

Safe spaces for creativity and idea generation

Censorship stifles creativity by putting boundaries on what is acceptable. Why would you think outside the box when you have no way of getting outside of it? The most interesting and useful ideas are those that initially started at as being strange or a little offensive. And this takes courage to put those ideas out there, even if we have encouraging and supportive environments. If we don’t maintain safe spaces for this kind of exploration to occur, we are seriously jeopardising any kind of advancement.

Safe spaces for personal expression

A lot of the spaces which I am seeing targeted by increasing conservative ideals are social media, which people use as a tool to express themselves. Self expression is an absolute must for good mental health and well being. If we overly control people’s public places for expressing themselves by attaching rules around acceptable and unacceptable expression, we are smothering people’s authentic emotions and thoughts. This kind of control is fertile ground for a range of issues which will express themselves in different ways. People yearn to be heard and to have their existence acknowledged. By saying, “only this kind of thought, idea, expression is valid”, you are telling people who do not fit this mould that they are not valid.

Bleeding Out

The belief that censorship affects only the things it targets is naieve to the way it operates in real life. Censorship is applied to people, topics and spaces in a highly subjective way. It has to operate in this way because the things it tries to control are in themselves subjective. That means that it will be applied mistakenly to things that do not apply, because it relies on the people in control to make a call as to if it is an appropriate application. In the wake of FOSTA/SESTA legislation a whole range of platforms and topics came under attack. Sexual education, consensual sex work and erotic art have been banished from platforms where they once flourished. This kind of censorship also affects a wide range of apps we use each day. For example, you may not know that there are terms of service you must abide by to use Skype. That sexy conversation you are having with your girlfriend while she is overseas is actually a breach of the accepted use of the platform. True story.

The Voice of the Voiceless

The expansion of censorship also has another effect not often considered. Because censorship particularly targets the views of the minority, oppressed and already disenfranchised, it silences those voices of people already struggling to gain airtime. LGBTQi people, POC, women and sex workers are already being excluded from places online because the primary issues facing them have their roots deep into issues that censorship attacks. Sex positivity, sexual expression, and gender equality all fall victim to censorship which does not encourage conversation around their topics.

Connectedness

When we stop people sharing and talking about things which motivate them, we are installing walls around them, creating silos instead of fostering connection. If your goal is to create a disconnected society where people cannot band together for support, information sharing and encouragement, then censorship is a perfect tool to ensure these things cannot happen. And this should frighten everyone. Because why would we want this to happen? Why would we be so concerned about potentially offending someone when the consequence of protecting people from offence is isolation and silencing of individuals?