Internet Censorship Pros & Cons
“Censorship” is a word everyone is familiar with, it offers protection one way, and on the other, it restricts your freedom. Censorship is of many types from censorship on social media to restricting the content of different countries. Censorship can be disturbing. Sometimes you cannot watch your favorite content or access important information on the internet if the government has restricted the content. But it has some of its Pros & Cons just like other things. Why censorship is important, what are the benefits of censorship, also what are the social media censorship pros and cons, we will be going to discuss all about it in this blog.
What is Censorship?
Censorship in other words is the restriction on specific things that can hurt the country, area, or within an organization. This can be irritating as well because people feel their freedom has been taken. It can be freedom of watching the content, freedom of speech, or the ability to watch their favorite content on the internet. Sometimes governments censor individuals’ content or speech of expression who are openly talking against government policies or laws.
What is Internet Censorship?
It’s simple to understand internet censorship, it is done on orders of high authorities including your office’s higher management who put restrictions on some of the websites for employee data protection or it’s done to make employees work productively without accessing content that can lessen their productivity at the workplace. Governments or rulers often put restrictions on several sites including the illegal ones which can be harmful to the national security of the country.
Moreover, sometimes sites and social platforms are banned when internal clashes are happening with some other country, to prevent the spread of false or hateful information or different narratives which can create chaos inside the country. Still, we can’t say it’s negative, it has both pros and cons of internet censorship. And when we are talking about the internet then it has social media pros and cons as well.
Reasons for Internet Censorship
There are some reasons to block specific sites or content. Some of the content on the internet doesn’t bring anything good to you which is morally or ethically wrong and it must be censored for the betterment of the audience. And bring the benefits of censorship. Saying the internet is a completely different world isn’t wrong, just like in the physical world crime happens. In the internet world you can see the same level of crimes but not physically. Although the other user can harm you physically as well.
If something is blocked without any real reason then it’s likely stealing your right to internet freedom.
Which Country Has Censored What?
Every country has different ways of dealing with social media censorship pros and cons, and internet policies for their public. Let’s find out which country has what kind of social media restrictions in their country.
China
The Chinese government has censored popular online social platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. The government of China has a strict monitoring system. They are extremely careful with their public’s data. They also have blocked a lot of news websites on the internet so Chinese people can only follow one narrative of their government.
China is an advanced country and does not want its public behind in tech. However, the benefits of censorship in China are that they have created their version of apps and browsers. Motivates the public to use China-based apps only. So, there are both social media censorship pros and cons in China. Some of the apps that have been replaced are:
- WhatsApp has been replaced with WeChat, QQ, and DingTalk.
- Google to Baidu.
- X (Formerly known as Twitter), Facebook is replaced by Sina Weibo.
- Quora, where people post their questions related to any genre, is replaced by Zhihu.
- They have their own successful online shopping platform Xiaohongshu.
Pros and Cons of Censorship in China
Pros
- Promoting own local applications.
- Giving authentic government news.
- “Great Firewall of China” filters out the websites based on provided sensitive keywords.
Cons
- Inaccessible apps in China make users unable to use the latest features.
- People feel the lack of freedom of speech as they won’t be able to criticize the government.
- Chinese people cannot create communities with other countries’ people on Instagram, X, or Facebook.
Russia
Russia puts censorship on social media platforms on and off. Russia hasn’t got any good views for Meta which owns Facebook, Instagram,m, and WhatsApp, and calls them an extremist company. In 2022, the Russian government blamed Meta for being against Russia, it was during the war conditions between Russia and Ukraine. The government of Russia has banned Facebook since then.
In 2020 they censored TikTok, China took down some videos from the platform, and some were taken off at the request of the Russian government. Not only this but telegram was also banned in Russia for some years, later on, it was lifted.
Crypto sites and news sites like BBC and other European sites were doing propaganda against the Russia and Ukraine war. However, people accessed the banned sites using a VPN which the government is in a crackdown on.
Pros and cons of censorship in Russia
Pros
- Censoring the social media platforms that are creating propaganda against the Russia and Ukraine war.
- Limiting foreign news which was brainwashing the nation.
- Blocking the extremist content for the public’s safety.
Cons
- Blocking international news sites like BBC limits the audience to believe in one side story.
- Users have to use a proxy to access the content.
- The public becomes less aware of global issues.
North Korea
The country which is living under extreme censorship conditions, North Korea has blocked all foreign applications and websites in the country. Having strict control over everything they even control the TV and radio shows, the government only shows the content they want their public to believe in. They never show the narrative going against the government.
They have banned social sites including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, X, and many others. Also blocked search engines like Google, Yahoo, and several others with messaging apps including WhatsApp, Discord with many more. A lot of educational platforms and news sites are banned in the country. Strict internet restrictions in the country leave North Korea really behind in technological advancement. There are no benefits of censorship that are seen in the country. The level of censorship can be checked as North Koreans aren’t allowed to make international calls, and all the calls are monitored closely.
Moreover, the young gen tech skilled North Koreans are making their way out of this censorship by using new tools. Some tools are not available directly which they smuggle from different countries to bypass the strict censorship.
Pros and cons of censorship in North Korea
Pros
- The government controls what people have to watch.
- Creates political stability.
- Protects the nation from harmful content.
Cons
- Lacking in tech advancement.
- No education in the latest trends and tech.
- No freedom of speech.
Type Of Content Is Banned On The Internet
Since there is a huge amount of illegal and unethical content on the internet this is why censorship is important to keep the internet safe from illegal activities. Although it reflects the pros and cons of internet censorship. On one side it will protect users from unethical content and for some users, it is a theft of their freedom of speech.
Following are the types due to which censorship takes place are:
Offensive speech
Hate or offensive whatever you name it is not allowed to do on the internet. However, some people believe that it is against freedom of speech and that everyone has the right to say anything on the internet. But applications like Facebook, X, and Instagram do not allow users to post violent content or content that can hurt anyone’s religious or cultural values. Includes discrimination of gender or race as well.
Inappropriate or violent content
Violent and inappropriate content is blocked on various major platforms that show extreme violence and brutal images or disturbing graphical images that can cause trauma or distress to a sensitive or mature audience. These kinds of restrictions are benefits of censorship, these restrictions are applied on apps including YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook which have huge audiences of every age group.
Anti-government narrative
As discussed, earlier countries like North Korea have strict policies regarding internet censorship because they do not want their nation to see the challenges the country is going through. And block all the relevant websites and foreign content that they knew could feed the nation with negative stances related to the government.
Fake news
Social media platforms, governments, and news websites are taking action against fake news and people who are misleading others. These platforms take action by removing their accounts permanently or by warning them. Countries like Turkey, and Russia have strict cybersecurity policies and in Singapore, a person can go to jail for 10 years with a penalty of millions of dollars.
Pirated content
Some platforms which upload pirated content on their platforms are blocked in several countries. Streaming content sites usually have pirated content on them as these sites do not give credit to the actual owners of the content. Additionally, YouTube removes pirated content instantly from the creator’s channel. This is one of the benefits of censorship that YouTube never allows pirated content on the platform which prevents content creators from making unique content.
Religious content
No country compromises on the blasphemous religious content. Especially countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. These countries do not take a while to block the platforms which hurt the Muslim’s beliefs. YouTube was blocked in Pakistan for about three years.
Doxxing
Internet bully collects the user’s personal information and posts it over the internet without the user’s permission. This information is the user’s phone number, name, and address. Many people take their lives when they couldn’t do anything for themselves from this cyber harassment. Platforms like X, Instagram,m, and Reddit remove or hide such posts that are violating anyone’s privacy on the platform.
Why Censorship is Important?
Many people ask why censorship is important, as they still think that it is the worst a higher authority can do. But, Censorship has a huge role as it protects you from any harm. You don’t have to trust every piece of information as most things are misleading you. Censorship saves you from cyber bullies and no one can do hate speech easily, because of the strict government laws and policies of the platform itself. There are a lot of pros and cons of censorship and yes! There are if you think there won’t be any.
Pros of censorship
Let’s see what are the pros and cons of internet censorship.
Securing National Information
The government has to put censorship of agencies and tell them about the threats the country is facing, then the government has to take measures. They restrict some of the platforms that are vulnerable at the time, which can have sensitive information for the public or government. Restrictions for some time can save the country from big losses.
Censorship for Peace
When violent content is restricted, there is peace in the society. No one is sharing violence or receiving disturbing graphical content. Such content creates chaos in society and hurts minors’ brains. Restrictions on content which can cause a conflict among people is a positive thing.
Censoring Inappropriate content from children
The Internet is a place where you can get information openly. There is content that is not suitable for children of certain age groups. Parents can keep an eye on what is difficult to do all the time. However, there are controlling applications and features on devices that parents can use. Parents can also set age limits on various platforms so their child can only see their age-appropriate content. This draws attention to social media’s pros and cons.
Blocking fake medical information
Some websites are misguiding people on the internet by providing incorrect medical information. People start taking medications that they see on the internet, which is immensely dangerous to health. Censoring such sites is a crucial part of the pros and cons of internet censorship.
Cons of Internet Censorship
As discussed the Pros of internet censorship, now let’s check out the disadvantages of censorship.
Censoring Freedom of speech
Irrelevant censorships are annoying, this highlights the social media pros and cons. Every individual has the right to express their thoughts on the internet. However, unnecessary censorship does not allow people to express themselves openly. People can’t tell their stance related to the government. In some countries the government silences people by banning social platforms or adding restrictions on several other platforms.
Limited information
Censoring the major platforms like news sites and other informative sites can limit the thinking of people. They cannot keep different perspectives and think uniquely. This way no ideas are polished. Sich nations remain backward in terms of thinking and advancement, as they can’t educate themselves with the latest trends.
High Cost for Censorship
High authorities working for censorships require the latest tech tools for adding string censorships. This is time-consuming, utilizes skilled resources, and creates a monitoring system. All these things are very costly. People have to review the content on different platforms so content would be according to the policies. This is a costly process, also removing and adding the government’s narratives. There’s a team for it in the cyber cell.
Restricting Pirated Content
One of the key points of social media censorship’s pros and cons is restricting pirated content websites. The government bans these sites to protect the rights of the original owners of the content. Downloading movies, software and games from third-party sites makes it difficult to generate revenue.
Conclusion
There are a lot of pros and cons of censorship, we cannot say there are only negative impacts of the restrictions. Moreover, there are benefits of censorship that you should know. Unnecessary censorship makes people annoyed and disturbed. People cannot speak anything with freedom or share on the internet. And this puts people behind other countries in terms of gaining useful educational information when it’s the era of science and technology.
However, the positive side of censorship is that public data remains safe from online threats if a country is facing it. People do not get disturbed watching stressful or violent content as it is censored by the platform itself or higher authorities block them.
Unnecessary censored content can be accessed using a trustworthy VPN like iProVPN. It helps you bypass all the restrictions in your country. You can use it for your entertainment or business purposes.
FAQs
- Why is censorship important?
Censorship keeps you safe from stressful content and prevents you from believing rumored content so you can stay safe from fake medical-related information which can harm your health. Also, it is important for the national security of the country.
- What are some social media censorship pros and cons?
Discussing social media censorship pros and cons, on the positive side it is a good way of joining different communities to make social connections. Social media helps you to do online business, you can communicate with others freely. However, it has cons including privacy issues and the spreading of fake info like a fire.
- Can I use a VPN to watch censored content?
Yes! You can use a reliable VPN like iProVPN to bypass all the censored content in your region. You can also access the websites and apps that are not working in your region.
- Can I use a free VPN to avoid censorship?
Free VPNs are not protected. Although they hide your IP address but are not safe to use. Online attackers can steal your information and blackmail you later.
- Is an iProVPN subscription affordable?
Yes,iProVPN has different subscription packages that you can get according to your preference and use all the best security features of the VPN.
- In how many countries can I access iProVPN?
There are 250+ servers in 45+ countries globally, you can take the subscription and have unlimited access to unrestricted content.
