GP Model Essay

Censorship is essential to a well-functioning society. Discuss.

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Censorship is essential to a well-functioning society. Discuss.

The idea behind this essay is to group different types of censorship and evaluat
e their importance to a well-functioning society. Importantly, consider the confli
ct between maximizing information and minimizing disruption

[Yes, this is an essay which requires you to balance how much information should
be freely available and whether that society is able to cope with that level an
d content of information without the Government stepping in to regulate.]

Thesis: Based on the potential for the content to cause disruption as well as th
e capacity of society to accept such content, censorship is necessary to differe
nt extents

T1a: Censorship that neuters radical messaging is essential for society s security
Following the 2005 London bombings, it was seen as essential for the House of Co
mmons to amend the Terrorism Act to criminalize the dissemination of terrorist p
ublications. This led to the arrest of Samina Malik who was found to have writte
n poems like Lyrical Terrorist that glorified terrorist leaders
[Valid TS]

T1b: Censorship that holds back state secrets from the public and thus possible
actors of espionage is essential for society s security
The Office of Censorship established by the US during WWII kept the Manhattan Pr
oject a secret within and outside of the US so as to prevent espionage and sabot
age, leading ultimately to a decisive US victory in the Pacific theatre of war f
ollowing the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
[Valid TS]
[However you can refer to the torture programme at Guantanamo Bay that this brut
al torture of prisoners should not have been kept secret from the public as the
torture techniques were against humanity. In 2014, the Senate Intelligence Commi
ttee released a report on the CIA s interrogation and detention of suspected terro
rists in Guantanamo.
T1b ext: Censorship must be temporary and lifted after the threat to security ha
s passed. Not only is there little reason to do otherwise, further, civil disord
er and discontent may result.
President Richard Nixon s refusal to release the Pentagon Papers (on US politicalmilitary involvement in Vietnam) resulted in public discontent that culminated i
n the New York Times Co. v. United States ruling where the First Amendment const
itutional freedom of the press was ultimately preserved
This should only be done after the information has been considered declassified.

T2: Censorship that limits more dangerous forms of expression is advisable for s
ociety s stability (based on vulnerabilities of society)
Singapore s need for social cohesion due to its multicultural makeup demands the c
ensorship of inflammatory remarks against other races. The Sedition Act was call
ed into use to take down Doggiesite.com which contained racist remarks against t
he Malay community. Similarly, Singapore s intricate religious composition justifi
ed the use of the Sedition Against 21-year-old blogger with the moniker Char who p
osted disparaging caricatures of Jesus Christ
[Valid]
T3: Censorship that shuts controversial ideas from society is acceptable where s
ociety is not ready for such content; this enables society to progress safely. W
here these controversial ideas go against the prevailing notions/thoughts/belief
s, then it is better to hold them back
Censorship allowed Singapore to mature safely in its acceptance of alternative l
ifestyles. The removal of LGBT material in post-independence Singapore under the
Undesirable Publications Act and the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act was con
gruent with its prevailing conservatism. This has arguably enabled a controlled
maturation of our populace today, with its increasing liberalism evident in the
recent outcry against NLB s decision to pulp And Tango Makes Three . Further, Singapo
re s growing emphasis on LGBT issues extends to its art scene, to the extent that
established playwrights like T Sasitharan are criticized for avoiding such issue
s.
[The outcome to the NLB saga though, was that the 2 removed children s books will
go into adult section at the library instead of pulping them.]

Antithesis: Censorship, for withholding information from society, should be mini

mized

AT1: Censorship deprives society of information essential for social and politic
al progress
Japan pressurises its textbooks publishers to gloss over World War II and wipe o
ut information on Japanese atrocities ? Japanese nationalism to the extent that
they do not recognise their faults.
[Valid]

AT2: Censorship can be abused by governments to excessively limit political diss

ent (to the point of detriment)
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Populist but authoritarian Turkish leader who claimed that
Twitter was a bad influence on society in 2011 and later sought to ban it. Beca
use it was being used by Feuthullah Gulen s supporters. During this period he was
being increasingly authoritarian and non-consultative. Destroy traitors to the st
ate Read Project Syndicate article on populism.

Kuo Pao Kun: The four-year-long detainment of Kuo Pao Kun under the Internal Sec
urity Act for his highly politicised and critical Chinese plays proved more than
effective in censoring his dissent, cited as an experience so sobering that he ne
ver wrote another overtly political play. (And was later awarded the Cultural Me
dallion)
Note counter-argument:
Turkish citizens and other members of government marched in protest against Twit
ter Ban
Sufficiently progressive society will reject censorship by governments to the ex
tent that they do not accept it in this case appears reasonable.
[Valid]
AT3: Existence and possibility of censorship decries the idea of freedom of expr
ession

If the authorities are able to suppress publications which nobody has seen, it b
ecomes impossible for others to verify whether the suppression was indeed justif
ied; it is a question of time before such an unchecked power is abused to preven
t criticism of government.
[Valid]

Synthesis

S1: Censorship of political dialogue is essential to a well-functioning governme

nt, censorship of non-political dialogue contributes to a well-functioning socie
ty. But, whether a well-functioning government results in a well-functioning soc
iety cannot be guaranteed.
Note that even well-functioning governments can abuse censorship to the detrimen
t of society. Censorship may be considered a sort of damnatio memoriae, applied
to both people and events such that the most basic facts that inform people of t
heir relative impoverishment, and of gross injustices, are erased from the recor
d. In that sense, censorship maintains an impenetrably placid, idyllic image tha
t belies deeply disturbing undercurrents.
[Depends on what political dialogue. Not all. And quite unusual to have politica
l dialogue censored. The dialogue should be censored not because it is political
but perhaps because it is subversive.]