There are those who consider that which they dislike not worthy of protection for access. But this attitude of theirs reverses completely when it is something THEY like which is the target of censorship, or even their perception of censorship. There are those who will decry adult material in the privacy of one's own home, yet will decry as censorship (wrongly) the prevention of proselytizing in the homes of others against their wishes. Anti-abortion activists will claim that all their illegal activities are 'protected speech' while they decry their fantasies of 'government censorship of religious speech' which in fact does not exist. This shows how the arguments on censorship rage. There are those who are legitimate, and there are those who are illegitimate but who hypocritically attack those who are legitimate. Go figure!
Censorship comes in many areas. The religious puritans seek it for their ends, apparently for fear that unless theirs is the only option their 'answers' will not be embraced in the free market of ideas. The medical community censors anything which threatens their profits and power. Does anyone REALLY think with the trillions spent in Cancer Research that they have not found a cure, and, in fact, that if they DID find a cure they would ever give up their entire industry by making such knowledge available? The same goes for Big Oil. The same goes, in my humble opinion, for Microsoft and Intel. It is the same old game with just different players. This is not always just limited to profit. There are many other motives. Selfrighteousness is one of the chief ones amongst them
There are also those who would censor because of some misguided idea that no one has the right to say or do anything that might possibly offend them. They forget that there is absolutely nothing which cannot be considered offensive by SOMEONE, somewhere. It is clearly ridiculous to try. If something is wrong and demonstrably so, show it as such. Do not just try and censor. That only means you are admitting that in the free marketplace of ideas you have no confidence in your position and your ability to prove and defend it. If it is a position which has merit then it can be supported and defended without preventing the other side from having their say.
Politics