Self-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure.
Self-censorship is commonly exhibited by film producers, directors, publishers, journalists, musicians, and social media personalities.
There are different factors that contribute to self-censorship, such as gender, age, education, political interests, and media exposure.
[5][6] According to a 2019 German survey on self-censorship conducted by the Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach for the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), 59% of respondents said they can express their views among friends, but only 18% believe the same is possible in public.
Psychologists and therapists often refrain from claiming to be part of any religion believing in the possibility that any expressions of any devout faith may be viewed as markers for mental illness or distress.
For example, the editor of a periodical may consciously or unconsciously avoid topics that will anger advertisers, customers, or the owners in order to protect their livelihood either directly (i.e., fear of losing their job) or indirectly (e.g., a belief that a book will be more profitable if it does not contain offensive material).
Art or journalism involving images or footage of murder, terrorism, war and massacres may cause complaints as to the purpose to which they are put.
Curators and editors will frequently censor these images to avoid charges of prurience, shock tactics or invasion of privacy.
[18][19][20] Products intended for children and youthful audiences, such as young adult literature, can be affected by self-censorship in this context.
In their book Manufacturing Consent (1988), Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman argue that corporate ownership of news media very strongly encourages systematic self-censorship owing to market forces.
[32][33][34] In the early days of atomic physics, it was realized that discoveries regarding nuclear fission and the chain reaction might be used for both beneficial and harmful purposes – on the one hand, such discoveries could have important applications for medicine and energy production, however on the other hand, they might also lead to the production of unprecedented weapons of mass destruction.
The statement agreed on declared:[41] We recognize that the prospect of bioterrorism has raised legitimate concerns about the potential abuse of published information... We are committed to dealing responsibly and effectively with safety and security issues that may be raised by papers submitted for publication, and to increasing our capacity to identify such issues as they arise...[O]n occasions an editor may conclude that the potential harm of publication outweighs the potential societal benefits... the paper should be modified, or not be published...Self-censorship has been found to affect journalists in a number of less-democratic African states, such as Ethiopia, Uganda and Zambia.
[29][42][43][44][45] Widespread practice of self-censorship has been described as significantly detrimental to the development of independent journalism in Central Asia.
[56][57] Self-censorship by Western[clarification needed] companies trying to appease Chinese authorities has also affected the quality of content available to the citizens in other countries.
[72][73] A study published in 2017 by the Council of Europe found that in the period 2014–2016 that 40% of journalists involved in the survey experienced some kind of unwarranted interference, in particular psychological violence, including slandering and smear campaigning, cyberbullying.
In terms of geography, cases of physical assault were more common in the South Caucasus, followed by Turkey, but were present in other regions as well.
[80] After a brief relaxation following the fall of communism in the 1990s, self-censorship once again became a quite frequent practice in Russia after 2000s government take-overs and consolidation of media, further deepened after the 2014–2015 laws on "undesirable organisations" and the invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.
[81][82][83][84][85][86][87] Self-censorship has increased in Turkey as press freedoms declined under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in the late 2000s.
[92] According to an article published by political scientists James L. Gibson and Joseph L. Sutherland, rates of self-censorship in America in 2020 had increased to 46%, up from 13% in 1954.
