Censorship, Political

Political censorship is as old a social phenomenon as politics itself. It normally refers to the mechanism, process, or system employed to restrict people's expression of ideas deemed subversive, seditious, unorthodox, or politically incorrect. To a different degree and through a variety of measures, all political entities in human history used some type of political censorship to reinforce their ruling ideology, governing legitimacy, and social order. The objectionable materials were either deleted by the censors, banned from publication, or totally destroyed, and the violators were subject to different types of punishment, ranging from fines, prosecutions, tortures, jail terms, or even execution. The censoring process can be carried out by a government-appointed agency, by the editors and managers of a medium, or by the authors themselves. ...