Power of Censorship

I have always been against censorship. I am lucky to have been born in a country where one’s opinion and expression of that opinion are quite cherished. I am also lucky to live in a country that values the same. I love both nations and I am proud to carry both citizenships. TV censorship in this country does not really bother me as I understand that it has to do with children viewing, so I can deal with the bleeps and the blurriness of nudity, although I think that there is nothing wrong with nudity and children being exposed to it. Other than that the communication of the media is quite open and one can form their own POV. For others wanting more, we have become a global world and there are plenty of media forms out there to get every morsel of information one desires. We are quite lucky compared to other countries and we should cherish our freedom everyday.

Anyway what prompted my rant today was an email I received through Flickr advising me that I had been added as someone’s contact. It happens very often and I always take the time to go and look at the person’s profile and pictures. 99% of the time I add them as a contact too as a reciprocal courtesy. Well I was about to do the same yesterday with that particular individual. I clicked on their pictures and to my utter shock and dismay I was exposed to extremely graphic pornographic pictures of that individual with someone else. I am not a prude, far from it. I have contacts that have tasteful nude shots in their portfolio. I appreciate the beauty of it and consider it art. However, what I saw yesterday was distasteful in my eyes and I wish I wouldn’t have been subjected to it.

So this led me to think about censorship. I asked myself the following questions such as should this woman’s page have been banned? Should I report such offensive subject? After pondering about it for a long time, I am still torn up about it. First of all I believe in freedom of expression and in following this thought she should be able to post anything she wants. However, what would have transpired if instead of an adult I would have been a child or a teenager? My stomach churns thinking about it and I am revolted by it all. Shouldn’t those pages have disclaimers? I have seen disclaimers on Flickr that state that one is about to enter a mature page and even give you the option to decline and go visit the kittens’ page. The page actually contains the cutest little kittens of all breeds.

I guess I am upset at Flickr for not imposing a filter and letting me be subjected to such graphic images without my consent. As for the woman, she should be free to post what ever she wants but she should ensure that her page is linked to mature audiences only. As for reporting it so that an incident like that does repeat itself, well I still have not decided what to do about it.

And the song of the day is "Coffee Shop" (Cut&Paste):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6oRQyAvPKE&feature=related