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Censorship on the Internet Censorship is a word of many meanings. In its broadest sense it refers to suppression of information, ideas, or artistic expression by anyone, whether government officials, church authorities, private pressure groups, or speakers, writers, and artists themselves. It also means the suppression or attempted suppression of something regarded as objectionable. Censorship may take place at any point in time, whether before an utterance occurs, prior to its widespread circulation, or by punishment of communicators after distribution of their messages, so as to dissuade others from similar expression. As long as humans have sought to communicate, others have sought to prevent them. Every day someone tries to restrict or control what can be or has been said, shown, written, sung, or broadcast. Almost every idea ever thought has proved objectionable to one person or another, and almost everyone has sometimes felt the world would be a better place if only "so and so" would go away. There are almost as many justifications offered for the suppression of communication as there are would-be censors, but at root the incentive is always the same. It is a fear that if the expression is not curtailed, it will d