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Here's how to make it SiT-related: in regimes that have extensive censorship (North Korea, China, Burma/Myanmar, etc.), what are the words used to describe "censorship"? "Censorship," at least in English, has negative connotations. Is there a neutral or positive word that such regimes might use?
Anyway, toned way down, the gist was that in the Humpty-Dumpty world of totalitarian systems words that read as "negative" in the Free World are generally given positive valences. "Ministry of Propaganda" = hunky-dory in China. (In English they now call it the "Ministry of Publicity," but the Chinese hasn't changed.) Similarly, here in Saudi, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (colloquially called mutaween by the rest of us) is very proud of its name and its role, even though the vast majority of the population despises them. Ergo, mutaween in Arabic can either be a term of highest praise or vilest imprecation depending on context and who's doing the talking.
TT, of course, will never cop to "censorship," only "moderation" (sounds so moderate!) even though what's happening now on TT compares in most particulars to what the Chinese experience on a daily basis on Weibo.
I agree with zashibis that "moderation" is a nice, neutral-sounding term compared to anything in 1984, for instance: "We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves."
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Trying again
Seeing how my previous post got removed just after stefo came in (now you saw it, too, stefo!)Here's how to make it SiT-related: in regimes that have extensive censorship (North Korea, China, Burma/Myanmar, etc.), what are the words used to describe "censorship"? "Censorship," at least in English, has negative connotations. Is there a neutral or positive word that such regimes might use?
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Online thesaurus brings up words with similar/worse connotations: blackout, blue pencil, bowdlerization, control, forbidding, hush up, infringing on rights, iron curtain, restriction, suppression, thought control. My favorite being thought control, of course. Promotion of the worthy sounds better until it occurs to you that you're post is being called unworthy if it's taken out.4
Oh, snap! My first response to this thread appears to have been deleted. Because the last thing you can do in 1984-world is impute the moral integrity of Big Brother.Anyway, toned way down, the gist was that in the Humpty-Dumpty world of totalitarian systems words that read as "negative" in the Free World are generally given positive valences. "Ministry of Propaganda" = hunky-dory in China. (In English they now call it the "Ministry of Publicity," but the Chinese hasn't changed.) Similarly, here in Saudi, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (colloquially called mutaween by the rest of us) is very proud of its name and its role, even though the vast majority of the population despises them. Ergo, mutaween in Arabic can either be a term of highest praise or vilest imprecation depending on context and who's doing the talking.
TT, of course, will never cop to "censorship," only "moderation" (sounds so moderate!) even though what's happening now on TT compares in most particulars to what the Chinese experience on a daily basis on Weibo.
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In Cuba, which I pick on because I have some familiarity, censorship is or was the responsibility of the PCC's Department of Revolutionary Orientation. This is in keeping with the constitutional acrobatics many governments go through, recognizing freedom of expression but only when it's consistent with the narrow goal of "building socialism," keeping to prescribed topics and modes of expression, limiting (or eliminating) private interactions, or whatever.12
The censor uses modern technology and official resources to boost the comparative visibility of desired opinions, and to deflect, redact or suppress information and points of view deemed contrary to the official line (or in less severe cases, those deemed to diverge too far from an arbitrarily chosen, intentionally undefined limit of acceptability). It's often necessary to project an illusory responsiveness to criticism and questioning of authority, in order to achieve the official goal.I agree with zashibis that "moderation" is a nice, neutral-sounding term compared to anything in 1984, for instance: "We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves."
