Dawald 1

Graham Dawald
Wilson
HELA 10
24 February 2015
Censorships Power
What if a man or woman woke up one day and no longer had the right to say or publish
their opinions? Some countries harsh government regulations put innocent men and women in
prison for simply publishing the truth. Citizens of the United States cannot begin to understand
these regulations because in the United States under the Constitution every person enjoys
freedom of speech. Often people of the United States do no appreciate the privilege that they are
born with and use this right to their full advantage. If there exists a human being on this earth
they should have the right to think and say as you wish and some people are not receiving this
basic right. Censorship unethically happens in countries all around the world and should be
outlawed.
There are some basic rights that every man and woman in the world should have. Among
the right to marry, right to a fair trial, and right to privacy is a much broader idea. The idea that
you can think and then say what you want to. This is a right that seems almost second nature to
Americans, the ability to share your ideas with whomever you would like no matter what. People
in the country Morocco do not have this luxury that so many of us enjoy on a daily basis. A
Moroccan news magazine was banned from publishing for two months by the Moroccan
government because of jokes they printed about Moroccan culture from scientists, intellectuals,

Dawald 2
and comedians (Lalami). Another news magazine in Morocco was threatened by court bailiffs on
three separate occasions, demanding payment of a fine for more than $ 350,000 (Lalami). This
harsh regulation by the Moroccan government is foul and makes the Moroccan people feel
indignant. The magazines did something as simple as print jokes about their culture, not even
jokes about the Moroccan government, and they paid for their actions. These are new magazines,
they should have the right to print whatever they feel the public wants to see, and not want to the
government wants the public to see. If this is the flippant role the Moroccan government wishes
to play then there is no point of having a privately owned magazine company in Morocco,
because you would not have the ability to publish what you wish. While this situation deals with
the government that was censoring a magazine, a situation in Iran deals with the government
blocking social media websites. In Iran, the government officially blocked access to Facebook,
Twitter, and almost all other social media platforms (Derakhshesh). Accessing one of these
websites is considered a crime in Iran (Derakhshesh). The Iranian governments regulations are
fallacious on two levels. The first is that the law denies the Iranian people to see whats going on
in the world, the ability to see whats trending in the country. This is something that we as
Americans use on a daily basis, to see what is happening in any location that we desire. The law
also denies Iranians the ability to express themselves and their beliefs through social media. One
of the beauties of social media in the modern world is that its reach stretches around the globe. If
you have a passion for something social media can allow you to express this didactic passion and
meet people who share your interests. This is now something that the Iranian people dont have
the ability to do, without being taken to prison. Think if it was a crime to access your favorite
social media website, this is a reality for the people of Iran. These coukmcgdt mntries that

Dawald 3
impose these harsh laws argue that these websites and information that the news magazine
printed are harmful to their countries societies.
Some say that these censorship regulations are necessary to keep their nations tranquil, maintain
peace and order for the citizens of the nation.
In countries spanning the globe unjust censorship is occurring. The people of these nations do
not receive many of the advantages that freedom of speech allows, this is because of their
governments inequitable laws on censorship. There is a fine line between censorship and total
control.

Dawald 4

Works Cited
Setareh Derakhshesh. Breaking the Law to Go Online in Iran Gale Virtual Library, 25 June
2014. Web. 23 February 2015.
Laila Lalami. Censorships new clothes: Moroccan taboos Gale Virtual Library, 7 February
2007. Web. 23 February 2015.