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Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
Consider Japan. That country is notorious for some of the subjects of its popular literature. Murders and sexual deviations abound.
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That's true. As also is
this 2004 report:
Quote:
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The case was appealed to the High Court on arguments that the manga was not as indecent and explicit as much material on the Internet, and that article 175 violated the Japanese Constitution's protection of freedom of expression. The High Court upheld the ruling, and tripled the fine on Yuuji to 1.5 million yen . . .
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Censorship is a human universal. Not that everyone censors, but just about every really large organization, whether governmental or business, will be found to suppress certain kinds of speech it doesn't like. Personally, I much prefer the countries and businesses that allow a broader rather than a narrower range of expression, and Japan is certainly in the broader-freedom group. And PayPal, as compared to other bank-like entities, seems also to be in the broader expression group.
Another near-human universal, found in all but the worst regimes, is that the censorship is inconsistent. That's good, since you can generally figure out a way to express your ideas while evading the censors.
I'm against censorship as much as the next person, so long as we don't demonize some group or country or religion which in reality allows a relatively wide range of expression.
P.S. Just to be clear, I understand WT Sharpe to be pro-Japan. My last sentence was an allusion to other contributions in this thread.