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In the United States, I think we're living in an era of remarkably _little_ censorship; compare Hays Code-era Hollywood to today (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
by deleted_account 6y ago
In the United States, I think we're living in an era of remarkably _little_ censorship; compare Hays Code-era Hollywood to today (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code)
Tim Wu's "The Master Switch" (https://www.amazon.com/Master-Switch-Rise-Information-Empires/dp/03073909930 https://www.amazon.com/Master-Switch-Rise-Information-Empire...) touches on censorship in the context of information systems.
Almost nobody considers how much the "censorship" discussion lags behind what media conglomerates were willing to broadcast to begin with, see Wu's comparisons between media standards in the States vs. the British Broadcasting Company's.
- jraines 6y agoWu also conceptualizes information systems/paradigms as a cycle, in which radio developed a lot like the Internet: 1. wild west days; diversity of both content and quality. 2. Winners emerge by both ruthlessness, inside dealing, AND winning on quality. 3. Their "quality" becomes a standard and a cashcow, and begins to stagnate as the formula is milked. At the same time, they continue to starve and/or absorb competitors, which has two negative effects: first, innovation slows or is actively suppressed. Second, (the key point in this context) as the industry centralizes, the few players (or player) remaining becomes a target for pressure groups. And they are all too willing to comply, because at this point they are either monopolies or near-monopolies and are eager to show the government and public (read: advertisers) that they are "serving the public interest", and shouldn't be regulated, investigated, and broken up. (The Hays Code was adopted "voluntarily" by the studios)