Censorship -- the control of the information and ideas circulated within a society

-- has been a hallmark of dictatorships throughout history. In the 20th Century, censorship
was achieved through the examination of books, plays, films, television and radio programs,
news reports, and other forms of communication for the purpose of altering or suppressing
ideas found to be objectionable or offensive. The rationales for censorship have varied, with
some censors targeting material deemed to be indecent or obscene; heretical or blasphemous;
or seditious or treasonous. Thus, ideas have been suppressed under the guise of protecting
three basic social institutions: the family, the church, and the state.
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other
information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect
or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or
institutions.[1]
Governments, private organizations and individuals may engage in censorship.
When an individual such as an author or other creator engages in censorship of their own
works or speech, it is called self-censorship. Censorship may be direct or it may be indirect,
in which case it is called soft censorship. It occurs in a variety of different media, including
speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a
variety of claimed reasons including national security, to control obscenity, child
pornography, andhate speech, to protect children or other vulnerable groups, to promote or
restrict political or religious views, and to prevent slander and libel.
The purpose of censorship is to restrict freedom of speech to maintain the
status quo. Censorship is often used by fragile regimes that lack a legitimacy to govern or
acquired political power through illegal means. Usually, the reason governments give for
censorship is to protect citizens from harm.
Visible forms of censorship usually take place within the media. The government
or people in power can weaken the power of the media by declaring some topics to be off
limits. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Nazis used
censorship in Germany to burn books that differed from the views of authorities after
banning ordinary German citizens from reading them.
For example, censorship laws allow individuals to speak freely in the United
States. No individual may be censored, as long as their speech does not encourage violence,
hatred or disregard for the law. This protects those that work in the media, the political arena
and any job where an individual has interaction with the public.
However, censorship laws also protect national security and the public interests.
For example, individuals may not take part in speech that encourages individuals to break the
law. In fact, individuals that have done so have been persecuted for instigating violence. 
Censorship laws protect freedom of speech while also protecting national security
and the public interest.