ABSTRACT
To be for or against censorship as such is to assume a freedom no one has. Censorship is.
(Holquist 1994: 16)
Censorship has always been with us in some form in all societies and may be simultaneously viewed as positive or negative. Much of the difculty that occurs when discussing censorship arises from the fact that there are many types of censorship operating in different societies and some of these are accepted, or even welcomed, by majority groups or powerful minorities. Any discussion of censorship in recent history and as a contemporary practice is complicated by several factors. The term itself can refer to various types of restriction and control, and it is affected by changing social and political contexts. It is linked to a series of concepts such as freedom of expression, decency, political correctness, and the common good, which are also difcult to dene and are open to conicting interpretations. Indeed, the question of what constitutes censorship has been tackled by many inuential thinkers and while their work is immensely valuable and addresses several important aspects of censorship in the context of both authoritarian states and liberal democracies, it is nevertheless clear that there is no consensus on the matter.
