ROLE+OF+GOVERNMENT+PD.+7

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=Role of Government = = =

Censorship: the control of the information and ideas circulated within a society


===__Brave New World Society__ === In //Brave New World//, the World State is their government. There is no religion, and families didn't exist. There were no mothers or fathers. There is a caste system, too. The people are broken up into five groups: **Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon**. Within those five groups, the people are split into two groups: plus and minus. (This makes ten groups total: Alpha +, Alpha -, Beta +, etc.) Each group has their own sets of likes, dislikes, colors worn, and jobs. The State is the government in their society.

__Our Society __
In our society, there's no caste system that divides us. We are free to like what we want, wear what we choose, and do whatever we want to do with our lives. Our government gives us more freedom than the World State gives to their citizens, but at the same time, our government does try to censor us and take away our freedoms. But censoring us and taking away our freedoms aren't limited to the national government. The local governments, authorities, and school boards also try to censor us as well. Some believe that the government is violating our First Amendment rights and our individualism. Since our government is trying to do this, smaller authorities and local governments are trying to do the same.

__Civil Liberties Infringement__
Alien and Sedition Act (1798)  //**What was it?** It made writing malicious writing towards the government forbidden. The majority of people wouldn't publicly try to criticize the government, which held off any chance of a rebellion or revolution Freedom of Speech was taken away and made people in fear of sharing their opinions. Also, the government couldn't use criticisms on it to help it improve.//
 * Benefits**
 * Personal Costs**

Espionage Act of 1917 (1917)  //**What was it?** It made it illegal to be disloyal towards the military and to refuse to serve in the military. Everybody could help fight in World War I on the United States side, thus making the military stronger. It took away freedom of speech. Also, people who didn't believe in the war were forced to fight for something they didn't believe in.//
 * Benefits**
 * Personal Costs**

Sedition Act of 1918 (1918)  //**What was it?** It forbade disloyal and/or abusive language towards the government. There were no criticisms towards the government to weaken the choices made. Similarly to the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798, it took away Freed of Speech rights. Also, the government couldn't fix their weaknesses.//
 * Benefits**
 * Personal Costs**

Patriot Act (2001)  //**What is it?** It allows the government to read anyone's e-mails or text messages and listen in on phone conversations. Also, it can search anyone's medical and financial records without a warrant. The government is able to stop any potential terrorists and their plots to attack America. It allows the government to search through innocent people's lives without any real reason to, invading people's privacy.//
 * Benefits:**
 * Personal Costs**

Extraordinary Rendition <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//**What is it?**// //Extraordinary Rendition or irregular rendition is the term to describe the transfer of a person from one state to another which is not legally authorized. The term "torture by proxy" is also used by some critics to describe situations where the U.S has employed harsh interrogation techniques in other countries to the suspected terrorists.// //**Benefits:** This gives the government an opportunity to find out needed information involving terrorist activities, and to stop potential plots against America.// //**Personal Costs** Rendered suspects are denied due process. They are arrested without charges, deprived of legal guidance, and are illegally transferred to a different country with the intention to facilitate torture and interrogation measures which are illegal in the United States//

<span style="color: #681fd6; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Communications Decency Act (1996) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> //**What is it?**// //It restricted the material and online speech that could be seen by a minor. Many argued that this could include most online speech. Many free speech groups, including the ACLU, have worked hard to successfully get this act mostly overturned in courts. It keeps children from seeing pornographic material, as well as reading speech that is hurtful and/or inappropriate. Teenagers should be able to see more material than children from a different age group, but under this law, they would all be grouped together and censored.//
 * Benefits**
 * Personal Costs**





====<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Blue** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">: No censorship <span style="color: #ffff00; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Yellow** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">: Some censorship <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Red** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">: Under surveillance **Black**: "Internet Black Holes" ====

<span style="color: #1456d2; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Pros to Censorship
- Censorship of pornographic material prevents the corrupting of the children - Religious conflicts are avoided by information that may be insulting or offensive to a particular religious community - Preserves the secrets of a nation - Useful in hiding sensitive military information - May protect the privacy of people - Terrorists are prevented from learning about dangerous technology



<span style="color: #5f87e3; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Cons to Censorship
- Freedom of speech is compromised - It intrudes upon the freedom of the press - Withholding of information only leads to ignorance in the society - Censoring of information may lead to a wrong image perceived by the public - It is used to control people - People have the right to know what is going on in their country - It keeps children from using good judgment, establishing what is right and wrong or truthful and fictitious

Links
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">http://www.reformthepatriotact.org/ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">--> **Click here to see the Patriot Act's effect on us in 2010 and the attempts to reform it.** http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/nyregion/14watchlist.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss --> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**This article talks about an eight year old boy who gets searched every time he goes to the airport.** http://www.borowitzreport.com/2009/12/28/department-of-homeland-security-3/ --> **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This is a blog that talks about issuing potential terrorists ID cards so they can be easily identified. [|The CIA Rendition Controversy: Is Khaled Al-Masri Lying?] --> This is an article which shows that rendition could be beneficial in finding suspected terrorists ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|Government Reading E-mail?] --> **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In 2007, an article was written on the issue of our e-mail being public or not. The government thinks that they have the right to listen in on e-mail conversations because people are "broadcasting" them. Normally, e-mail is protected under the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, however since they are broadcasted, the government says they are no longer private. ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|An Unfair Doctrine] --> **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In response to the Fairness Doctrine that was in effect up until 1987. However, the idea of bringing this idea back into our government today is spreading. [|Pro-Censorship Article] **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> --> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**This article states that censorship is good because it promotes stability. It says that the main purpose in censorship is using it as a tool that filters out unnecessary, misleading information that might cause a lot of problems in this "new media" we are exposed to today.** [|Censorship vs. Freedom of Speech] --> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**This article debates whether the government should censor our Internet, or whether that violates our First Amendment rights.** [|Students Rights] --> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**This article is a history of students rights and there are examples of court cases when these rights were violated. [|Pros&Cons Blog] --> This is a blog written by someone who states the pros and cons of having censorship in the media.**

=<span style="color: #1157e8; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Videos =

[|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnQDp5LxgtQ] http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=1093964n

= RSS Feeds =

rss url="http://www.aclu.org/news/project/free-speech/feed" title="American Civil Liberties Union: Free Speech News" number="3" description="false" date="true" author="false" length="50" enclosure="true"

rss url="http://www.ncac.org/news_rss.php" title="National Coalition Against Censorship News" number="3" description="false" date="true" author="false" length="50" enclosure="true" rss url="http://www.constitutioncampaign.org/blog/?feed=rss2" title="Bill of Rights Defense Committee News" number="3" description="false date="true" author="false" length="50" enclosure="true"

=<span style="color: #0d5896; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Discussion Questions = 1. How would the media be different if nothing was allowed to be cut out? 2. Do you think it is right for the government to tap into our e-mails? 3. Do you think our school violates our first amendment rights by censoring? 4. Do you support the Patriot Act, even if it means sacrificing some privacy to the government?