First, some background:
Through the Fourteenth Amendment, the First Amendment’s protection of free speech also applies to state and local governments. As a general rule, government agencies and officials may not regulate or restrict speech or other expression based on its content or viewpoint, subject to exceptions the courts have recognized over time.
Government Action vs. Private Action
The First Amendment limits what governments can do. By contrast, when private individuals or groups organize boycotts against stores that sell magazines they disapprove of, those actions are generally protected by the First Amendment themselves.
Censorship and The United States
Censorship has been debated in the United States for centuries. The questions are especially visible in libraries, organizations dedicated to access to and the spread of information. Issues regarding censorship and intellectual freedom have reached the US Supreme Court many times.
The following overview covers some of the history of censorship in the United States, particularly in its libraries, and how the same questions carry into the digital age.
Throughout the history of the United States, there are many examples of censorship and censorship-related attempts.
Oltmann 2016a, 153
One Example
One well-known example of censorship on the grounds of obscenity involves James Joyce’s most famous work, Ulysses (1922). Before the novel’s US publication, the work was serialized in the literary magazine The Little Review. Following this first publication of Ulysses, three issues of The Little Review were seized and burned by the US Postal Service on the grounds that their content was deemed “obscene.”
The Trial
A complaint was made regarding a particular chapter that was published in the magazine, and after a trial the publishers were convicted and fined (Baggett 1995). Publication of Ulysses in the United States stopped for more than a decade (Gillers 2007). It was not until the federal district court case United States v. One Book Called Ulysses in 1933 that the novel could legally be published in the United States (Gillers 2007).
Court Proceedings
In the ruling for the case, Judge John M. Woolsey established the important notion that an entire work, rather than just a portion of it, should be considered before the work is declared obscene (United States v. One Book Called Ulysses 1933).
The Supreme Court Ruling
The Supreme Court ruled in the case Roth v. United States (1957) that obscenity was not protected under the First Amendment. It also developed what came to be known as the Roth test for obscenity, which was “whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest” (Roth v. United States 1957, at 489).
The Roth Test
However, the Roth test definition of obscenity proved difficult to apply. In the Supreme Court case Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964), which addressed whether states had the right to ban films they deemed obscene, Justice Potter Stewart famously stated that while he could not precisely define pornography, “I know it when I see it” (Jacobellis v. Ohio 1964, at 197).
The Roth test was eventually replaced by the test set out in Miller v. California (1973). Under the Miller test, a work is obscene only if the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest; it depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive way as defined by applicable law; and, taken as a whole, it lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
Freedom of speech is particularly relevant to libraries, as it “encompasses not only a right to express oneself, but also a right to access information” (Oltmann 2016a, 153).
The First Amendment
The First Amendment is a common argument made by advocates against censorship (Lambe 2002). As Pinnell-Stephens (2012) writes, “The basis of intellectual freedom in libraries lies in the First Amendment” (xi). However, interpretation of the First Amendment is not fixed, and throughout US history, courts have worked to decide which forms of expression are protected under it.
At the highest level, the US Supreme Court has heard many cases dealing with the First Amendment and freedom of speech, which can also be relevant to libraries since they aim to provide an environment of free expression and accessibility.
How the ALA Defines Censorship
Many definitions of censorship have been proposed over the years. The American Library Association (ALA) defines censorship as a “change in the access status of material, based on the content of the work and made by a governing authority or its representatives. Such changes include exclusion, restriction, removal, or age/grade level changes” (ALA 2016).
Other Scholarly Definitions
According to Prebor and Gordon (2015), censorship is “an action utilized in order to prohibit access to books or information items because their content is considered dangerous or harmful to their readers” (28).
Knox (2014) describes censorship as “an amalgamation of practices, including the redaction of text in a document, cutting pages out of a book, or denying access to materials” (741). While many definitions of censorship have been used, according to Oppenheim and Smith (2004), “the general sentiment behind most definitions is that something is withheld from access by another” (160).
Where the Word Comes From
The term “censorship” comes from the Latin censere, “to give as one’s opinion, to assess.” The Roman censors were magistrates who took the census count and served as assessors and inspectors of morals and conduct.
In contrast to that straightforward definition from Roman times, contemporary usage offers no agreed-upon definition of the term or when to use it. Even whether the word applies to a given controversy in the arts is often contested.
Here are definitions of “censorship” from organizations and publications with varying views. They are not intended as a single combined definition, only as an indication of the variety of approaches to the concept.
Webster’s Dictionary
Censor: One who supervises conduct and morals: as a) an official who examines materials (as publications or films) for objectionable matter; b) an official (as in time of war) who reads communications (as letters) and deletes material considered harmful to the interests of his organization. Censorship: The institution, system or practice of censoring; the actions or practices of censors; esp: censorial control exercised repressively.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
Culture Wars
Censorship: The use of the state and other legal or official means to restrict speech.
Culture Wars, Documents from the Recent Controversies in the Arts, edited by Richard Bolton
The Catholic Encyclopedia
In general, censorship of books is a supervision of the press in order to prevent any abuse of it. In this sense, every lawful authority, whose duty it is to protect its subjects from the ravages of a pernicious press, has the right of exercising censorship of books.
The Catholic Encyclopedia (a publication of the Catholic Church)
An Anti-Censorship View
Advocates against censorship describe it as the suppression of ideas and information that certain individuals, groups or government officials find objectionable or dangerous. In this view, censors seek to use public institutions, like libraries, to remove material from public access so that others do not have the chance to read or view it and make up their own minds about it.
The American Library Association
For the ALA, technically censorship means “the removal of material from open access by government authority.” The ALA also distinguishes various levels of incidents involving library materials which may or may not lead to censorship: Inquiry, Expression of Concern, Complaint, Attack, and Censorship.
– The American Library Association
Morality in Media
The word “censorship” means “prior restraint” of First Amendment rights by government.
Morality in Media (described as “a national, not-for-profit, interfaith organization established in 1962 to combat obscenity and uphold decency standards in the media”)
Oran’s Dictionary of Law
- The denial of freedom of speech or freedom of the press.
- The review of books, movies, etc., to prohibit publication and distribution, usually for reasons of morality or state security.
Encyclopedia.com
Censorship: official restriction of any expression believed to threaten the political, social, or moral order.
Encyclopedia.com
Another common definition describes censorship as the prevention of publication, transmission, or exhibition of material considered undesirable for the general public to possess or be exposed to.
Why the Debate Continues
Supporters of some restrictions point to protecting children, public order or community standards; opponents emphasize free expression and the right to access information. Courts continue to weigh these interests case by case, and the same questions now arise for online platforms and digital spaces.