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Censorship - Political

A Guide to Finding Government and Legal Information

Web version of this guide includes links to web resources.

Search Tips:

Mix and match these terms in searching the library catalog, WestCat , or use them to search journal articles and law reviews via the library's Databases page. You can also use them to search government information sites listed on our Starting Points page - click the tab and pay particular attention to the Top Six.

  • censorship
  • Federal Communications Commission
  • freedom of speech
  • freedom of the press
  • freedom of expression
  • freedom of information
  • net neutrality
  • political aspects
  • mass media
  • Internet or social media
  • free speech zones
  • access control
  • first amendment
  • government property
  • war or revolution
  • art or music
  • religion or education
  • television or advertising
  • journalism or radio
  • bias

Related Topics:
  • Bill of Rights
  • Free Press
  • U.S. Constitution

An important source for many research topics is Congress. Congressional committees and subcommittees hold hearings on a wide variety of controversial and timely subjects. Simply add the word "hearing?" to a search string in WestCat .

Search Engines

Google and StartPage
Use these search engines to search for government information by typing "site:gov" in the search box preceding your search terms:

  • site:gov "Freedom of Speech"
  • site:mil censorship
Law Review Articles and Annotations

Law reviews are an important resource for legal topics like this one. They can lead you to laws and cases as well as discuss legal theory. A few law journals are indexed in multidisciplinary databases, but the best bang for your buck will be to search LexisNexis Academic for full-text access to many hundreds of law reviews.

Federal Government Information
Another Brick in the Wall: What Do Dissidents Need from the Internet?

Yes, they can read your email. Coupled with built-in back doors and data access from the telecoms in return for market access, this makes it difficult for those fighting for freedom from repressive regimes to use social media to advance their cause.
http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo30493

China’s Censorship of the Internet and Social Media: the Human Toll and Trade Impact

While American companies, such as Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and Yahoo!, help create and enable China's Golden Shield Police Net, responsible for gross human rights violations, Congress ponders whether filing complaints with the WTO would help.
http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo23616
Y 4.C 44:C 33

Promoting Global Internet Freedom

The Global Online Freedom Act, a bill before the House not likely to pass, would make Tech companies traded on U.S. stock exchanges disclose how they conduct their human rights due diligence to the SEC, including the collection and sharing of personal information with repressive regimes. It would also block the sale of hardware and software that can be used for surveillance, tracking, and blocking Internet activity.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112hhrg71621/pdf/CHRG-112hhrg71621.pdf
Y 4.F 76/1:112-114

That Which Is Not Obligatory Is Prohibited: Censorship and Incitement in the Arab World

This pre-Arab Spring hearing looks at the state of journalism and journalists in Arab countries from the Middle East to North Africa.
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS94417
Y 4.F 76/1:110-156

Twitter Against Tyrants: New Media in Authoritarian Regimes

This hearing describes the successes and challenges of using social media in creating political change and what the international community can do to promote an unfettered Internet.
http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo32364
Y 4.SE 2:T 91

First Amendment and Campaign Finance Reform after Citizens United

Congress discusses Citizens United and its impact on corporate speech with Lawrence Tribe, et al. Among the issues: who decides what a corporation says politically?
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS122596
Y 4.J 89/1:111-71

Corporate governance after Citizens United

Corporate transparency, voting by all shareholders on political spending, and corporate 'stand by your bill' laws are discussed as possible responses to the Supreme Court decision.
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS125260
Y 4.F 49/20:111-109

Legal Information
Freedom of Speech, Press, & Assembly

This is a good primer on the history and development of many of today's First Amendment Issues. For each issue studied, a discussion, case decisions, and conclusion are presented. Every subject is approached from several directions. Includes an intro about philosopher John Stuart Mill and the development of the Supreme Court. 1994.
LEGL REF KF 4770 .M39 1994

Smolla and Nimmer on Freedom of Speech

This treatise offers a thorough examination of freedom of speech theory and doctrine and is kept current with supplements. Kept up-to-date through 2012.
LEGL REF KF 4772 .N 54 1996 vols. 1 & 2

http://www.wiu.edu/libraries/govpubs/guides/censorship.php

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