The very mention of the word censorship invites disapproving looks of apostles of freedom of expression. Granted that censorship is not a good thing but unfettered freedom, the one, which we have been witnessing on social media in this country is also not liked by a preponderant majority of our countrymen. They have a point when they say that most of the stuff that is shown on mini screens through the medium of social media is such that the elders in every house cannot see it in the company of younger members of their household as they border on nudism and obscenity which has been promoting immorality in the society.
One remember that in good old days no feature film could be screened in cinema house unless it was given clearance certificate by the specially appointed Censor Board, the members of which saw every film for deciding whether or not it was fit for public exhibition. It was quite common to see the publicity board of films carrying the words for ‘Adults only’.
The Censor Board members used to apply scissor to those scenes from the film reel which in their view were not desirable to be shown to the teenagers. Such was the extent of care in the matter. It is another matter that it were love scenes in English films that were mostly subjected to rigorous censor ship but Censor Board also applied scissors to Urdu and other language films if it thought that its dialogues or scenes can incite sectarianism in the country or injure the religious feelings of any group of people.
Lately, censorship restrictions were quite relaxed and since long one hasn’t come across any case in which any film was subjected to censorship. As far as social media is concerned it has been enjoying absolute freedom since the day it caught the fancy of its viewers. Those who have gone long in the tooth understand better than the younger population of the country that teenagers in the country are susceptible to the negative effects of the unfettered freedom of screening the programmes that are being exhibited in social media of the country without any check and balance.
