Class Projects for Censorship

by Jeremy Finney

• Vote on what is offensive.

  Given a list of topics, determine what the class thinks is offensive. This should show that different people find different things offensive. Fill out the following table with respect to your feelings. 1 being very offensive, 5 being not offensive.

  Topic	5	4	3	2	1
  Adult sex content
  Child pornography
  Gay or lesbian content
  Information on abortion
  Gambling
  Bomb making instructions
  Illegal drug information
  Graphic violence
  Explicit language
  Racial slurs
  Satanic information

  Please list any other information that you think is offensive.

• Vote on what should be censored on the Internet.

  Given a list of topics, determine what the class thinks should be censored on the Internet. This will also show that different people have different perceptions about what should be censored. Fill in the table below. "Yes" meaning the material should be censored.

  Topic	YES	NO
  Adult sex content
  Child pornography
  Gay or lesbian content
  Information on abortion
  Gambling
  Bomb making instructions
  Illegal drug information
  Graphic violence
  Explicit language
  Racial slurs
  Satanic information

  Please list any other information that you feel should be censored on the Internet.

• Vote on CDA.

  Upon reading the text of the Communications Decency Act discuss its legality. Also state your opinion of the bill.

• Come up with a list of possible people/organizations to censor material on the Internet.

  When censoring information, who should be in charge of deciding what should be removed? Discuss this with regard to the Internet (the web in specific). Examples are local government, federal government, author, school, company, church, etc.

• Present your ideas on censorship in general.

  Use this space to discuss your ideas of censorship in general. Do you think it should ever occur? If so, when and what should be censored? Why should anything be censored? What part does the Utilitarian view of the rule of the majority play in censorship?