Is Censorship Ever a Good Thing?
This is a pretty deep philosophical question, but a common sense approach seems to dictate that a little censorship in certain contexts can be helpful. Nobody wants to see hate groups, neo-Nazis or homophobes run rampant and unchecked to spread their message of violence and bigotry. Instagram has a feature that asks users to confirm that they want to view images that may be upsetting, such as gory images of accidents, surgery or conflict. This seems sensible, especially for younger viewers or those of a nervous disposition. It also makes sense to make sure that users don’t accidentally click on pictures of, say, sexual violence or extreme BDSM while they’re just scrolling through Insta for some inspo on jazzing up their new conservatory. But beyond these obviously full-on examples, is there ever any sense in censoring sexual discussion?
Sex is not just a dirty thing, it ties into so many other issues: health, self-love, sexual and gender identity, social justice and more. By censoring sex as a topic as a whole, Instagram is limiting public access to not just open sexual discussion, but so much more. This has the nasty taste of the (sadly still ongoing) debate about whether schools should be able to discuss homosexuality, or whether queer characters have a place in children’s cartoons. Like sex in general, queerness has long-standing, old-fashioned notions perpetuated by the media of being something dirty, something shameful, something that should be kept away from children, and even adults. Does Instagram really think that frank, open sexual discussion is going to warp our fragile little minds? Do we need what we’re allowed to see decided by a bunch of rich men who own social media platforms? Call me crazy, but I don’t care what Mark Zuckerberg has to say about my sexual tastes, interests and issues. It’s time things change.