The freedom to think what you want and to say what you think has always generated a pushback of regulation and censorship. This raises the thorny question: to what extent does free speech actually endanger speech protection? This book examines today's calls for speech legislation and places it into historical perspective, using fascinating examples from the past 200 years, to explain the historical context of laws regulating speech.

These volumes explore historical examples of censorship in the United States, ranging from book bans to Hollywood. It also touches on The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) creating the parental advisory label in 1987 to warn consumers of explicit content in music, and other modern examples of censorship in the media as the landscape shifts away from traditional means of conveying information.

"Is there such a thing as forbidden knowledge? Are some ideas too dangerous for members of a society to handle? This is the idea behind book banning and censorship, methods meant to create a degree of social control by restricting access to ideas or art or other kinds of expression. Recently, American conservatives have been engaging in this activity again in an effort to limit access to information about race relations, gender politics, and sexuality. Drawing from recent journalism and political writing, this volume of The Reference Shelf looks at the political debate and the social movements behind this resurgence in authoritarianism".-- Provided by publisher.

"Covering topics ranging from web filters to laws aimed at preventing the flow of information, this book explores freedom--and censorship--of the Internet and considers the advantages and disadvantages of policies at each end of the spectrum"-- Provided by publisher.

Journalists are being imprisoned and killed in record numbers. Online surveillance is annihilating privacy, and the Internet can be brought under government control at any time. Joel Simon, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, warns that we can no longer assume that our global information ecosystem is stable, protected, and robust. He proposes ten key priorities, including combating the murder of journalists, ending censorship, and developing a global free-expression charter to challenge the criminal and corrupt forces that seek to manipulate the world's news.

This examination of banned books across U.S. history examines the motivations and effects of censorship, shows us how our view of right and wrong has evolved over the years, and helps readers to understand the tremendous importance of books and films in our society. Included in its discussion are explanations of the true nature of the objections along with the motives of the authors, publishers, and major proponents of the books. Content is organized based on why the books were banned, such as sexual content, drug use, or religious objections.

The vilification of popular music by government and individuals has been going on for decades. Now, for the first time, Parental Advisory offers a thorough and complete chronicle of the music that has been challenged or suppressed -- by the people or the government -- in the United States. This intelligent and entertaining book shows how censorship has crossed sexual, class, and ethnic lines, and how many see it as a de facto form of racism.

Sex and Violence examines the history and social dynamics of film censorship in the United States. It examines censorship controversies throughout film history, from the beginning of cinema in the 1890s to the present. The book focuses both on formal censorship systems, including state and local censorship boards and industry self-regulation efforts, to unofficial censorship rendered by pressure groups and powerful social movements. It probes beneath the official rhetoric and explanations, revealing sensitive, festering controversies.

When Henry Vizetelly was imprisoned in 1889 for publishing the novels of Émile Zola in English, the problem was not just Zola's French candour about sex - it was that Vizetelly's books were cheap, and ordinary people could read them. Censored exposes the role that power plays in censorship. In twenty-five chapters focusing on a wide range of texts, including the Bible, slave narratives, modernist classics, comic books, and Chicana/o literature, Matthew Fellion and Katherine Inglis chart the forces that have driven censorship in the United Kingdom and the United States for over six hundred years.

Hailed as the "first freedom," free speech is the bedrock of democracy. But it is a challenging principle, subject to erosion in times of upheaval. The desire to restrict speech, too, is a constant, and Mchangama explores how even its champions can be led down this path when the rise of new and contrarian voices challenge power and privilege of all stripes. Free Speech demonstrates how much we have gained from this principle--and how much we stand to lose without it.

A historical survey of the destruction of knowledge from ancient Babylon and China to modern times. Includes the three separate destructions of the Library of Alexandria as well as many equally significant collections around the world.

Marjorie Heins explores the fascinating history of "indecency" laws and other restrictions aimed at protecting youth. From Plato's argument for rigid censorship, through Victorian laws aimed at repressing libidinous thoughts, to contemporary battles over sex education in public schools and violence in the media, Heins guides us through what became, and remains, an ideological minefield.