Terrorist groups and the media enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Terrorists use the media to attract attention and relay messages. Terrorists, on the other hand, provide the journalists with juicy and emotional content which helps in selling their product (Anderson, 1993). In the wake of London Bridge bombings in 2017, the British Prime Minister Theresa May suggested that there was a need to restrict some media agents that make terrorists thrive. The US has toyed with the idea of censorship in the past. Granted, the issue of terrorism is disturbing to the whole world, and there is a need to devise a lasting solution. However, gagging the media may not offer the intended permanent solution.
The United States is a country anchored on the freedom of expression enshrined in the First Amendment. It is this fundamental principle that stimulated the fight against British despotism leading to the American Revolution (Callan, 2017). The government, therefore, should not forget the sacred right even in the face of horrifying terror activities.
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Secondly, allowing a leader or government to come up with such policies will open an avenue for exploitation by fascist or dictators. A leader with an extreme opinion may seek to ban political expressions which he finds threatening to his regime (Callan, 2017). For instance, an anti-abortion leader may attempt to silence all dissenters by prohibiting any speech relating to the topic. By so doing the citizens’ rights of free speech would be at the mercy of the government ideologies.
Media censorship supporters claim that most terrorist organizations use the internet to recruit young people for their activities. That might be true, but the majority of internet users, take advantage of the great resource to discuss topics such as ways of combating terrorism (Hamilton, 2017). Instead of censoring media, the government should instead focus on identifying the main reasons that drive the terrorists to commit grave atrocities.
References
Anderson, T. (1993). Terrorism and Censorship: The Media in Chains. Journal of International Affairs, 47 (1), 127-136.
Callan, P. (2017, June 7). We can't censor our way out of terrorism. CNN . Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/06/opinions/theresa-may-internet-free-speech-callan/index.html. Accessed 2 nd Oct 2018.
Hamilton, J. (2017, September 20). Internet Censorship Is Not The Way To Combat Terrorism. The Jist . Retrieved from https://medium.com/the-jist/internet-censorship-is-not-the-way-to-combat-terrorism-9dc96a74e330. Accessed 2 nd Oct 2018.
