How Does Censorship Affect People?

As an irish republican I witnessed censorship being openly practised by the british state. In order to prevent people voting for the now largest nationalist party, they would not let their words be heard on television. The media got fed up with this so they hired actors to repeat word for word each interview while dubbing it over the actual pre recorded interview. Eventually the government gave up on this. It affected people to the point that even voters who would normally vote for other parties, as a protest, voted for the republicans. Most catholics were aggrieved as it further demonstrated the double standards of the government of the day. It led to protests which erupted into rioting and helped swell the ranks of the republican movement. I think the appropriate addage is, they shot themselves in the foot.

In my case, it depends on the context in which the censorship is applied. For example, the censorship here at Blurtit is frustrating, because it's frequently applied without regard to what members are trying to say. The nickname for Richard is hardly offensive language, yet it can't be used on this site. There are a lot of other examples of words that have very innocent uses but are considered offensive in limited contexts.

On the other hand, the reaction to the full-page ad that "moveon.com" placed in the NY Times about General Petreaus, infuriates me. It doesn't make any difference whether or not I agree with the ad. What matters is that there are those in the government who think it should have been censored. The press has been the target of much criticism by the current administration for reporting what the government views as objectionable. I'm sorry, but that's a form of censorship and violates the first amendment. The citizenry is entitled to know what's going on with our government, warts and all.