Censorship
Updated: 05/06/2024 by Computer Hope
Censorship is the suppression of speech, writing, or other information from any part of a book, film, song, news story, video, website, or another source. Material surrounding these media is usually censored because it is considered harmful, objectionable, or insensitive.
Examples of censorship
The list below contains examples of how content may be censored from a person.
- Certain words (e.g., swear words) may be blocked in an online game or chat.
- A parent may use an Internet filter to censor adult-related content online.
- An individual may utilize self-censorship when creating content (e.g., making a YouTube video) to help avoid breaking the rules or the TOS (Terms Of Service).
- A service like Netflix may censor certain TV shows and movies from people in different parts of the world because of Copyright or other distribution rules.
- A military group may censor certain products and services to help protect sensitive content (e.g., block products) with GPS (Global Positioning System) data that an adversary could use.
- A government entity may censor an app or website from its citizens because it's deemed subversive.
Tip
See the AppleCensorship website for a list of countries that censor apps from the Apple App Store. For example, as of 2024, China is blocking over 14,000 apps.