The Nature of the Phenomenon
When introducing various forms of censorship, government bodies typically justify such decisions on grounds of national security, the need to combat extremism, the suppression of harmful ideas, and the countering of moral decay in society. Calls for censorship come not only from government agencies but also from certain civic and political organizations, such as political parties, movements, and churches.
On the other hand, critics argue that censorship does not actually solve social problems — it merely helps to conceal their existence. Moreover, as the number of content creators grows and the internet becomes ubiquitous, censorship becomes simply unworkable.
Critics also note that calls for censorship are often a sign of the inability of state and public organizations to address particular social problems. For example, demands by religious organizations for the introduction of "moral censorship" in Russia — ostensibly to prevent the decline of the nation's moral spirit — in fact reflect those organizations' inability to exert any real influence on the moral climate of society.
Historical Background
The first legal act providing for censorship in Russia is considered to be a decree of Peter I issued in 1720, which subjected the free printing houses in Kyiv and Chernihiv to prior censorship by the Holy Synod. Gradually censorship became concentrated in the hands of the Academy of Sciences and was more haphazard than systematic. Under a decree of 1783, free printing houses were permitted to open freely, but all books submitted for printing were subject to prior censorship by the police boards of public order.
Censorship emerged as an independent government body under a decree of 16 September 1796, which banned free printing houses and established censorship bodies in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Riga, Odessa, and at the Radziwill customs post, each consisting of three members (two laymen and one clergyman), subordinate to the provincial authorities. In 1800, all censorship bodies were placed under the Saint Petersburg censorship authority. Finally, in 1802, all independent censorship bodies were abolished and censorship was entrusted to civil governors.
In 1804, the first Censorship Statute was adopted, providing for prior censorship of all "books or writings." Censorship was entrusted to special censorship committees attached to universities; exceptions were made for ecclesiastical and spiritual books, which were placed under religious censorship within the jurisdiction of the Holy Synod. In this way, secular censorship fell under the Ministry of Public Education. As early as 1810, censorship was transferred to the Ministry of Police, and after its abolition in 1819, the functions of censorship were inherited by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In 1826, deeply affected by the Decemberist uprising, the Minister of Education, Admiral A.S. Shishkov, introduced a new Censorship Statute, which earned the nickname "cast iron" for its severity. Under this statute, the supreme censorship authority was the Supreme Censorship Committee, composed of the Ministers of Education, Internal Affairs, and Foreign Affairs; subordinate to it were censorship committees in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Dorpat, and Vilna. On 22 April 1828, a third, more lenient Censorship Statute was issued — and three days later A.S. Shishkov resigned as Minister of Education.
A subsequent statute placed censorship under the Ministry of Public Education, within which a Chief Censorship Directorate was established. In addition, special forms of censorship were provided for: medical publications were to be approved by the Medical Academy, and so on; over time, censorship functions became increasingly fragmented across various government departments.
The Censorship Statute of 1828 underwent major amendments in 1876 (partially incorporating the Temporary Rules on Censorship and the Press of 6 April 1865), 1886, and 1890. In 1863 the censorship function was transferred from the Ministry of Public Education to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where it was handled by the Chief Directorate for Press Affairs. At the same time, the principle of multiple censorship bodies was retained; a special "theatrical censorship" emerged, and so on.
Censorship in the USSR controlled all official channels of information dissemination: books, periodicals, radio, television, cinema, theatre, and so on. The functions of censorship oversight were assigned to special state institutions. Self-censorship was also widespread.
Soviet censorship was primarily ideological in character. Researchers note that Soviet censorship did not, in particular, restrict the depiction of violence if it conformed to ideological directives — for example, if it showed the destruction of enemies of Soviet power.
The main objects of censorship were: so-called "anti-Soviet propaganda" (a category that encompassed anything failing to conform to current ideological guidelines), military and economic secrets — a category that included any negative information about the state of affairs in the country — and any information that might provoke undesirable thoughts.
Types of Censorship
Radio Censorship
Radio censorship may be carried out by jamming broadcasts. The practice of jamming transmissions from radio stations not under state control is known as signal jamming. The USSR jammed so-called "anti-Soviet radio broadcasts" for nearly 60 years, with high intensity for 40 of those years.
The use of radio stations as ideological weapons was one of the defining phenomena of the Cold War. The radio stations of certain socialist countries — Radio Peking and Radio Tirana — also served as ideological instruments in the struggle against the USSR and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The primary thrust of their programming was the promotion of the political views of the leadership of the People's Republic of China and Albania.
Intelligence agents from socialist countries played a role in the "exposés" broadcast by these stations — notably Yu. Marin, who worked under the name K. Neastrov at Radio Liberty. "Revelatory testimony" about the activities of Radio Free Europe was gathered by its former employees, who were agents of the intelligence services of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria.
Military Censorship
Military censorship involves monitoring the content of correspondence written by soldiers and officers, as well as restricting their verbal communication with civilians, in order to prevent the leakage of classified information or the disclosure of military secrets. In recent times, censorship of military internet communications has been added to these forms of military censorship.
Self-Censorship
Self-censorship (internal censorship) is the deliberate removal by an author, from their own work, of portions which they consider — for one reason or another — unacceptable to display publicly.
Causes of Self-Censorship
The phenomenon of self-censorship may arise for a variety of reasons.
There is such a thing as moral self-censorship, in which an author consciously removes from their work a passage whose inclusion they personally consider morally unacceptable for the work's intended audience or a part thereof — for instance, removing an erotic scene from a book aimed at children and teenagers. An author's capacity for such removal depends on their level of self-reflection.
More commonly, self-censorship is a consequence of external restrictions on creative freedom that exist within a society and that threaten the author with specific sanctions for violations. In a civilized state — especially one that considers itself democratic and free — outright censorship is difficult to implement, yet virtually no state system is willing to permit complete creative freedom.
Examples of Effective Self-Censorship
- As an alternative to censorship, conditions are created in which covering certain topics, expressing certain views, using particular words and phrases, and much else is considered undesirable. Authors who violate these restrictions are sometimes directly punished, but more often subjected to various forms of indirect pressure: they may find it difficult to get their work published, or restrictions may be placed on their audience (for example, a film assigned an "18 and over" rating because of an "objectionable" scene may thereby lose a significant portion of its box-office revenue).
- In the case of book publishing, pressure could be applied through the publisher and editor — a practice widespread in the USSR: an author was not punished for publishing an "incorrect" book, but the editor-in-chief of the publishing house that released it was; as a result, no publisher would agree to take on the same author's next manuscript. Under such conditions, an author hoping to be published and earn a certain income was effectively compelled to take these restrictions into account and to remove all disapproved elements from their work themselves.
- Unconscious self-censorship is also possible, in which the author, while creating a work, avoids disapproved elements subconsciously, without realizing that they are following externally imposed restrictions. Subjectively, they may perceive this avoidance as stemming from their own artistic taste or moral and ethical considerations.
- A striking example of high-tech self-censorship is found in present-day American filmmaking. Under current rules, for a film to receive a rating permitting children under 16 to watch it without an adult, female characters must not have breasts that are "too ample" or excessively exposed. To comply with this requirement, filmmakers not only cast actresses accordingly but also use digital image processing to reduce the bust size of female characters already filmed.
Interesting Facts
- Angelina Jolie flew into a rage (archived) upon seeing the poster for the film Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life. The designers had made slight alterations to the actress's image, removing the "excess" — Ms. Jolie's overly prominent nipples.
Works of Fiction about Censorship
- The novel Catch-22. Captain Yossarian, acting as censor, crosses out every word from soldiers' letters except the prepositions and signs them "Irving Washington" (a well-known American Romantic writer of the nineteenth century).