Stan, your application of the definition...

 Posted on 7/9/1995 by STRACZYNSKI [Joe] to GENIE


Stan, your application of the definition of censorship just doesn't
wash. When the dictionary says "remove or suppress," it means from the
society at large. It also refers to the government. If a newspaper chooses
not to publish an article, it's not censorship, it's the choice of a
publication. The right to make that choice is one of the prime tenets of
freedom of speech. By your definition, any service or publication which
chooses for itself what it will or will not publish is a censor; and in so
doing, you create the error of accepted cliche which in time wears down the
specific meaning of censorship by generalizing it to an insupportable level.
People who scream censorship at the drop of a hat become like the little boy
who cried wolf; pretty soon, the serious and real cases get ignored in the
whiten noise.

(white noise, that is)

One suggestion: study a little communications law. Because you really
don't understand what it is you're addressing here; a two-line definition in
the dictionary has little to no bearing on case law, the history of
governmental censorship, or much of anything else. I've spent considerable
time studying communications law; you should try it before you go off like
this. Also copyright law, and free speech rules. We'll continue this after
you've finished your homework.

jms