Self-censorship

Image of a scene in Pompeii, showing an erect penis. Image from a French book, of 1838.

Same illustration in 1877: not showing an erect penis

Correct (left) and censored (right) depiction of a scene in the Mastaba of Ti. The censored depiction hides the genitals.

Self-censorship is the act of limiting and classifying one's own speech and expression. This affects the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression. It occurs at publishers,with people producing media or movies. There are many different reasons for self-censorship. The boundaries between self-censorship and censorship are often unclear. An investigative journalist may hold back a story, because he is unsure if it is true. He may also be forced to not publish it, because it would affect the people who currently run the state, or who have a big influence.

The practice of self-censorship, like that of censorship itself, has a long history.

Reasons

There are different reasons why people take part in self-censorship. These reasons can be broadly classified and include:

• People want to be part of a larger group. These groups often share the same social values ans beliefs. This means that people, who want to belong to the group will change their expression so that is more like what the other members of the group say.
• The reasons why people change their expression may be economic. They will want to meet the expectations of a market.
• Creators of artworks may remove material because they fear the that their government might findit controversial. They fear that the government might sanction them if they publish the material.
• People might remove materials because they think they are not tasteful, or that they are indecent.

Being part of a group

People may adjust their beliefs or opinions to go along with the majority attitude. There are different factors that contribute to self-censorship, such as gender, age, education, political interests, and media exposure. For some, the reason for their change in beliefs and opinions is rooted in fear of isolation and exclusion. For these people, the expression of their own beliefs is less important than the fear of negative reactions of others to the expression of those beliefs.

Economic reasons

The editor of a periodical may consciously or unconsciously avoid topics that will anger advertisers, customers, or the owners in order to protect their livelihood either directly (i.e., fear of losing their job) or indirectly (e.g., a belief that a book will be more profitable if it does not contain offensive material). This phenomenon is sometimes called soft censorship.

Taste and decency

Art or journalism involving images or footage of murder, terrorism, war and massacres may cause complaints as to the purpose to which they are put. Curators and editors will frequently censor these images to avoid charges. Concepts like political correctness and spiral of silence have been found to contribute to the existence of self-censorship.

As preference falsification

Self-censorship is a form of preference falsification, but the concepts are not identical.  Self-censorship is a passive act. It amounts to the suppression of potentially objectionable beliefs, opinions, and preferences. For this reason, it amounts to self-silencing. It is an act of passivity. Preference falsification is the misrepresentation of one’s preferences under perceived social pressures. It is often performative, as it can involve the active manipulation of one’s preferences to impress an audience or avoid its wrath.   For an illustration, consider a discussion on a controversial subject. We are among the participants. If we keep quiet, that is self-censorship. Insofar as our silence conveys agreement with a position that we actually dislike, our self-censorship amounts also to preference falsification. If instead of keeping quiet, we speak up during the discussion in favor of position A, when we actually favor B, that is preference falsification but not self-censorship. In pretending to like A, we have gone beyond self-censorship. We have deliberately projected a contrived opinion. In a nutshell, preference falsification is the broader concept. Whereas all self-censorship falsifies a preference through the signals it sends, preference falsification need not take the form of self-censorship.

Examples

• There is a popular English song called the Crabfish, from the 19thcentury. It is about a man who puts a lobster into a chamber pot. His wife doesn't know this, and users the chamber pot. As a result, she gets bitten. In the original version, she gets bitten in the arse and the genitals ("cunt"). Over the years, the text was adapted, and today, she's only bitten into the face and nose.
• In 1967, Ballantine Books published an adapted version of the book Farenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. The version was aimed at students. Changes included the removal of the words hell, damned, and abortion. From 1973, only the censored version was printed. In 1979, Bradbury was made aware of this, and demanded that the original version be published.
• And Then There Were None is a mystery novel, published by Agatha Christie, in 1939. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, as Ten Little Niggers, after an 1869 minstrel song that serves as a major plot element. The US edition was released in January 1940 with the title And Then There Were None, taken from the last five words of the song. Successive American reprints and adaptations use that title, though American Pocket Books paperbacks used the title Ten Little Indians between 1964 and 1986. UK editions continued to use the original title until 1985.