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Charikus Brown

Professor Malcolm Campbell

WRDS 1103

14 November 2022

Censorship: Unconstitutional Acts Online?

Has censorship gone too far in modern-day terms? To be more specific, has censorship

affected political writing? Censorship has been a hot topic in the news lately but its power has

been questioned for quite some time now. Due to the recent banning of social media star Andrew

Tate and Former President Donald J. Trump, censorship has gained more spotlight than it ever

has before. The question of censorship’s constitutionality has been raised, many are wondering if

removing these figures from social media goes against the right of “free speech”.

When it comes to political writing, censorship has affected what can and can not be said.

Whether that is a good thing or not is up for debate. Censorship can be defined as the

suppression or prohibition of any parts of news, films, books, etc. They may be removed because

they could be considered unacceptable politically or just obscene. Robert Corn-Revere points out

that censors “have a large amount of power and may enjoy political favors.” By saying this he is

trying to stress that censors have control over what the people can see. If information is going to

be withheld then speculation amongst the people will begin.

Political writing in modern times is very different from what it has been in the past. For

instance, most political writing today is online. The old days of picking up your newspaper from

your front porch and reading the mornin’ paper with a good ole cup of Joe are long gone. 86% of

Americans receive their news from a smartphone, computer, or tablet according to Elisa Shearer,

a Senior researcher at the Pew Research Center. 30 years ago there were only a handful of
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nationally followed news sources such as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and The

Washington Post.

When an author decides to write a political article, essay, or any other form of text they

are usually writing about something that will provoke emotion. Political writing is usually done

with the author putting power behind their words. Ife Fahima of Louisiana State University tries

to incite political writing in a middle school classroom and asks the students questions about

gender roles, domestic violence, race, and culture. This is an example of a topic that would bring

out strong emotions for not just the author but also the audience. The main purpose of why Ife

Fahima does this is because she wants to invoke a culture of political writing instead of the

student's normal academic writing. She believes that simple blogging assignments are not quite

effective at being able to combine “home-writing” and academic writing.

When you are writing or any other form of work has the chance of provoking the wrong

emotions in its audience there is a chance your work may be censored. The chance of censorship

is even higher if you are not being what is called “politically correct”. Being “politically correct”

means that you are in a sense avoiding language or actions that could insult, harm, or exclude

those that are already experiencing some sort of discrimination. A good way to explain what it

means to be politically correct is to compare former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald

Trump. Barack Obama was very politically correct and was even sometimes criticized for it

according to Mallika Soni a content producer at the Hindustan Times and graduate of the Indian

Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi. When Obama was being interviewed by Mallika Soni

the 44th President of the United States of America Had this to say…”Look, I used to get into

trouble whenever, as you guys know well, whenever I got a little too professional and, you know,
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started...when I was behind the podium as opposed to when I was in a crowds, there were times

where I’d get, you know, sound like I was giving a bunch of policy gobbledygook”.

While on the opposite side of the spectrum number 45 is what is safe to say pretty far

from being politically correct. He has said and done many outrageous things publicly such as

calling for the “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S. until our countries

representatives can figure out what the hell is going on”, “Our great African-American President

hasn’t exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying

Baltimore”, and the crowd favorite “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it.

You can do anything. … Grab’em by the p***y.” Many Americans wanted Donald Trump

censored during his 2015 campaign for his inability to be politically correct. The former

President started to use the phrase “politically correct” as more of an insult. Colby Itkowitz of

The Washington Post, and Hofstra University, BA, states that “While Trump is asserting his right

to free speech, he is at the same time calling into question the listener’s right to complain about

what he’s saying.”

Recently the constitutionality of censorship is being questioned. Many are wondering if

censorship restricts a person's right to freedom of speech. The American Library Association has

this to say about the first amendment when referring to freedom of speech, “The First

Amendment prevents public institutions from compromising individuals' First Amendment

freedoms by establishing a framework that defines critical rights and responsibilities regarding

free expression and the freedom of belief”. Instead of engaging in censorship the Supreme Court

Justice Louis Brandeis believes that in order to resolve our differences in values and beliefs we

should refer to “more speech, not enforced silence”.

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Censorship is starting to affect political writing because writers with unpopular opinions

feel as though they are walking on eggshells when having to express their viewpoints. When

writers feel as though they can not speak their minds properly and clearly express how they feel

it will affect the quality of their work. Many political writers are left to self-censor. As a person,

it is hard to know what will offend one or more members of your audience because politics are

mainly subjective. The consequences that come from saying or doing the wrong thing can be

detrimental.

Andrew Tate is a retired two-time world champion kickboxer. He owns several casinos

and sells online courses on how to make money quickly. He became one of the most searched

names in the world in just a matter of months. He is a perfect example of how having an

unpopular opinion can lead to your demise quickly. Many deemed his content to be

“misogynistic” and “hateful”. He was removed from TikTok, youtube, Instagram, Twitter, and

more in August of 2022. This goes to show how his voice was essentially stripped from him. He

was no longer able to reach his fairly large audience on some of the most famous social media

platforms in the world.

Imagine this, you wake up like any other day. You go to the bathroom. Get some water.

Eat some breakfast. Finally, you decide to check your phone. You decide to check your emails

and see you have gotten an email from several different social media sites that you use daily that

you have been removed from their platform. Hours later you even get a notification from Airbnb

saying that you are no longer able to rent a house for a vacation. To make matters even worse the

online program that makes you 5 million dollars a year was closed.

Recently, an event of being shunned from the world for what you say would be 24-time

Grammy award-winning rapper, producer, and designer Kanye West, who lost a billion-dollar
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deal with Adidas. Mr. West, also known to go by “ye” also had his banking relationship with

JPMorgan Chase ended. All of this happened to Kanye because of his anti-semitic comments

made on a show called “Drink Champs”.

But these situations go to show that saying the wrong thing has serious consequences. Whether

their opinions are morally or ethically correct we should be able to agree that their punishments

may have been extensive.

Writers that decide to write about controversial and political topics will be hesitant to

truly speak their minds due to the possible repercussions. Some say censors and major

corporations hold unconstitutional powers by being able to suppress your voice, ideas, and

writing. While on the other hand others believe that these are private corporations and have every

right to decide who gets access to their platforms and what can be said on them. These people

would be correct because legally speaking the first amendment only prevents the government's

restriction on speech according to the American Library Association. There are no restrictions on

speech for private businesses.

I will finish by asking this, is censorship heading in the right direction? Should major

companies have this much power due to our internet lives now being directly tied to our lives in

the outside world? With political writing being easier to access than it ever has before there is

more room for false or harmful information to be spread. But on the other hand, there is more

room for political articles, books, or media to be taken down or removed from the web. Anyone

can become a political writer with access to the internet so there is an unlimited amount of

information and opinions to read up on. Breaking news in modern times is released to the public

simply moments after it has happened. The power of the people may be at an all-time high but

you could say the same for censors.

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Works Cited

Corn-Revere, Robert. “The Censor's Dilemma.” Americanbar.org, American Bar

nnnAssociation, 16 Mar. 2022,

nnnhttps://www.americanbar.org/groups/communications_law/publications/communication

nnns_lawyer/2022-winter/the-censors-dilemma/.

“First Amendment and Censorship.” Advocacy, Legislation & Issues, ALA Publishing &

nnnMedia, 22 Dec. 2021, https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/censorship.

Ife, Fahima. “Powerful Writing: Promoting a Political Writing Community of Students.”

The English Journal, vol. 101, no. 4, 2012, pp. 64–69. JSTOR,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41415475. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

Itkowitz, Colby. “Donald Trump Says We're All Too Politically Correct. but Is That Also a

nnnWay to Limit Speech?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 27 Oct. 2021,

nnnhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/12/09/donald-trump-says

nnn-were-all-too-politically-correct-but-is-that-also-a-way-to-limit-speech/.

Nwanevu, Osita. “What Is Political Writing for?” Columbia Journalism Review, Columbia

nnnUniversity Graduate School of Journalism, 15 Sep. 2021,

nnnhttps://www.cjr.org/special_report/political_writing_future_internet.php.

Shearer, Elisa. “More than Eight-in-Ten Americans Get News from Digital Devices.” Pew

nnnResearch Center, Pew Research Center, 12 Jan. 2021,

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nnnhttps://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/01/12/more-than-eight-in-ten-americans-g

nnnet-news-from-digital-devices/.

Soni, Mallika. “Barack Obama on Political Correctness: 'I Used to Get into Trouble

nnnWhen...'.” Hindustan Times, HT Media, 16 Oct. 2022,

nnnhttps://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/barack-obama-news-joe-biden-news-us-n

nnnews-michelle-obama-news-today-barack-obama-on-political-correctness-i-used-to-get-i

nnnnto-trouble-when-101665907137462.html.