Dictionary.com defines a censor as:
1.) an official who examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams, ect., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral political, military, or other grounds.
2.) any person who supervises the manners or morality of others.
The
ACLU says that censorship is:
the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive," happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others. Censorship can be carried out by the government as well as private pressure groups. Once you allow the government to censor someone else, you cede to it the power to censor you, or something you like. Censorship is like poison gas: a powerful weapon that can harm you when the wind shifts. Censorship by the government is unconstitutional because freedom of speech is protected in the First Amendment, and is guaranteed to all Americans.
Then we have a report by Zach Miners on
PC World about flagging practices on Facebook:
Looking for proof of the existence of Santa Claus? A search on Facebook might not yield much.
“Hoaxes” or misleading news articles, like a story revealing scientists’ proof of the existence of Santa Claus, will appear less frequently in people’s news feeds, under changes made to how the news feed ranks flagged content, Facebook said Tuesday. The changes pertain to “misleading” news stories that have been flagged as such, like the Santa Clause story or an article such as “Man sees dinosaur on hike in Utah,” and also to scams like, “Click here to win a lifetime supply of coffee.”
Facebook itself will not be completely purging news feeds of these types of stories. Rather, Facebook will limit the posting to news feeds of stories that people have reported as false. And, stories that have been reported many times as being false will receive an annotation or note letting users know. Facebook will also demote posts with links to articles that have been reported as false or deleted because the content was misleading.
Then there is the report by Mike Kurz about his experience with Craigslist's flagging system. He is an independent writer who adds to his income by fixing game systems. His advertising, on Craigslist, for his services, were all flagged and removed, some within minutes. After investigating the Craigslist flagging system, this is what he discovered:
Based on that description my assumption was that multiple users had to flag a listing down in order to get it removed from the site. After Googling around for a bit, I discovered that several autoflaggingprograms are available for purchase, and they make it really easy for one person to get a posting removed from Craigslist. Autoflagging software connects to a proxy server, flags the posting in question, switches proxies, flags the listing again, and repeats that process until the listing goes down.
I was completely surprised at the results I got from Stat Counter. It turns out that one single person making no effort to disguise their IP address, or location was responsible for almost every flag. In fact, it appears that all they have to do to get a listing removed is flag it over and over again.
Just to be clear, that flagger wasn’t solely responsible for every listing that got flagged down, but almost every listing they attacked did get flagged down. One listing actually got removed after one single flag from this user.
Please follow me below the break for my "take" on this subject.
I have had my own run-in with the Craigslist flagging system. I have been a widow for over five years now. I feel ready to at least date again. My problem is that because I am disabled and don't get out much, I have no way to meet a man to date. I began posting on Facebook. I am a large lady, and I am also very honest about myself. In my posts, I always stated that I am fat.
Every post I ran was flagged and removed, some within minutes. I couldn't understand why they were being flagged. I turned to the community for help. I found a lot of snarky comments, but no help.
Finally, another heavy lady sent me an email. She was having the exact same problem. We tried an experiment. Both of us posted an add without mentioning our weight. Neither of those adds were flagged. Someone, who had a problem with fat women, was flagging our adds until they were removed. That was our conclussion. Granted, the size of our sample was too small for that to be a scientifically sound conclussion. However, I feel certain it was correct.
Another conclussion I have formed is that censorship, in whatever form, is WRONG. When you limit the ability of even one person to express herself, you have damaged the community. Human expression is holy ground. We must cherish and nourish it, even when we disagree with it. We must protect it, even when it makes us uncomfortable. We must be willing to speak up in favor of it, even if it is unpopular.
So many of our brothers and sisters have sacrificed their lives on the alter of freedom. My father spent almost seven years as a Prisoner of War. I grew up without a father during my crucial teenage years, which took a harsh personal toll. I would dishonor those sacrifices if I did not speak out about this subject. Many might feel that my concern is trite. But, this is how it begins, with one person being forced to retract one idea.
Although a community must have some ability to call attention to objectionable material, a few should not have the power to deny another member the right of free and open expression. If this statement makes you uncomfortable, I am sorry that you are uncomfortable, but that does not change my belief. If you think I am wrong, tell me I am wrong, and we will discuss it like adults. If I have broken a community rule, inform me, I will certainly do my best to adhere to the TOS. If I have offended you, let me apologise, because I never intend to be offensive. If my facts are incorrect, show me the real facts, educate me. None of those actions seek to limit my ability to communicate.
Flagging actually limits another member's ability to communicate. It can cause them to loose the ability to write a diary, post a comment, or even read their own private mail. A few users, flagging in union, can keep other members from discussing unpopular ideas. Sometimes, the "unpopular theories" of today become the facts of tomorrow. Flagging is censorship.