Information regarding information censorship

1. Seminar 8 Censorship HKU Faculty of Education BSIM0003 Information Policy

3. Censorship history HKU Faculty of Education 443 BC Office of the Censor established in Rome. Censor’s job is to take the census & regulate citizens’ morals 399 BC Socrates condemned to death for corrupting youth & insulting the gods. He insists his intention was only to seek the truth 213 BC Emperor Shi Huang Ti orders that books with Confucian doctrine, which set limits to the power of the ruler, should be erased. He orders chancellor to burn all literary classics 1231 Aristotle’s writings are banned by Pope Gregory IX 1529 Henry VIII outlaws heretical books & creates licensing system requiring prior review of all material to be printed

4. Censorship history HKU Faculty of Education 1564 Index of Forbidden Books issued by Catholic Church. 4000 books are on list which is renewed & used until mid 20 th century 1632 Galileo publishes findings that earth is not centre of the universe. He is arrested & under threat of torture, publicly denounces his findings 1791 US Bill of Rights includes guarantee of freedom of speech & the press 1798 Alien & Sedition Acts (US) makes it a crime to ‘write, print, or speak any false or scandalous criticism of the government 1884 Huckleberry Finn is banned in a Massachusetts library - sales skyrocket as a result