Censorship in Countries of Controversy

Censorship in Countries of Controversy : 

Censorship in Countries of Controversy Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan

Censorship in Iraq : 

Censorship in Iraq During the reign of Saddam Hussein censorship was imposed over all aspects of life Censorship was used to preserve the government and prevent attacks/coups before they started It was used to spread fear among the Iraqi people

Iraq : 

Iraq The people began to self-censor out of fear Censoring activities included: Monitoring individuals inside their homes Tapping phones Granting Baath personnel the right to arrest anyone at anytime with out a warrant Cash rewards for turning in friends, relatives, and acquaintances Deprived economically, the people could not afford to buy books or magazines

Fall of Saddam Hussein (2003) : 

Fall of Saddam Hussein (2003) New media outlets developed 20 radio stations 15-17 Iraqi owned TV stations Roughly 200 Iraqi owned and operated newspapers Satellite dishes prohibited before now provided access to a larger variety of news and programming Increased use of the Internet and the development of Internet cafés

Censorship in Iran : 

Censorship in Iran Censored information includes topics such as: Women’s rights Freedom of speech Democracy Pornography Intended to keep Iranians from learning about the past and challenging the present

Iran : 

Iran Radio and television are owned and operated by the government Strict ban on satellite television Infamously issued a fatwa condemning Salman Rushdie in 1989 Later repealed in 1998 Since April 2000—more than 110 newspapers and other publications were stopped and more than 40 journalists jailed

Censorship in Afghanistan : 

Censorship in Afghanistan Taliban restricted the broadcast of music, film, television, video, and printed imagery Female voices were prohibited from the radio to keep the radio from becoming seductive, arousing, or inspiring carnal desires Prior to 2001, Afghans had only the Taliban’s radio station High illiteracy rate makes the radio a more powerful medium than the newspaper

Afghanistan : 

Afghanistan Over the past 20-30 years journalism and the media was nothing but propaganda Journalists face extreme opposition and often flee Those that flee are still wary to speak the truth out of fear for their families back home

Western Influence : 

Western Influence Much of the censorship in these countries stems from the desire to keep Western culture out View Western culture as immoral and dangerously corrupting Sense of cultural invasion, which propagates foreign views and undermines traditional values Want to protect their people from influences that could weaken society

The Future: Iraq : 

The Future: Iraq Government has decided to crack down on Internet service providers and ban sites that include violence and pornography Will require Internet cafés to obtain licenses, which are subject to government approval and cancellation if compliance requirements aren’t met Press publishers to censor books that violate public order and morality

The Future: Iran : 

The Future: Iran Iranians have turned to blogging to bypass strict state censorship One of the few countries where one can be sentenced to jail for blogging Publishing their work online rather than in print Increase is pirated materials Use of social networking sites to organize protests Use of password protected websites to distribute scanned PDF files of pamphlets and literature

The Future: Afghanistan : 

The Future: Afghanistan Constitution provides for freedom of speech and the right to gain access to information from government departments However, the law prohibits information that may insult “the sacred religion of Islam and other religions” or may “harm the rights of others and public safety” Media Law was ratified, but the President refused to publish it leaving journalists uncertain Journalists are still targets of extremists and are often kidnapped or killed

Conclusion : 

Conclusion Overall, progress was made in the countries of Iraq and Afghanistan Iranians work with technology to bypass the strict censorship of the state None of these countries are near a society of total freedom of speech with out fear

References : 

References The Huffington Post The New York Times Translation, Culture, and Censorship in Saudi Arabia (1988-2006) and Iraq (1979-2005) The U.S. Department of State Radio, Politics and Trust in Afghanistan: A Social History of Broadcasting Wikipedia We are Iran A Report on the Status of the Internet in Iran