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| Censorship in the United States | |
|---|---|
| Name | Censorship in the United States |
| Jurisdiction | United States |
| Key legislation | First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Communications Decency Act, Patriot Act (United States), Children's Internet Protection Act, Obscenity Prosecution |
| Notable cases | New York Times Co. v. United States, Schenck v. United States, Brandenburg v. Ohio, Roth v. United States, Miller v. California, Reno v. ACLU, Packingham v. North Carolina, Elonis v. United States |
| Related topics | Freedom of speech in the United States, Freedom of the press in the United States, Prior restraint, Obscenity law in the United States, Hate speech |
Censorship in the United States is the suppression or regulation of speech, publication, and dissemination by actors including legislative bodies, courts, executive agencies, law enforcement, and private entities such as media companies and platforms. Tensions between suppression and protection arise across constitutional doctrine, statutory law, litigation, administrative regulation, and commercial policies, involving many actors and landmark disputes.
From the colonial era disputes over pamphlets by Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, and prosecutions like the Sedition Act of 1798, through antebellum restrictions such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and postal suppression of abolitionist literature including works by Frederick Douglass, debates about suppression have recurred. The Civil War era saw measures by the Lincoln administration and controversies involving Abraham Lincoln over military arrests and newspaper suppression. The Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918 prompted prosecutions of figures such as Eugene V. Debs and were tested in cases like Schenck v. United States. Mid‑20th century jurisprudence—decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States in New York Times Co. v. United States and Brandenburg v. Ohio—reshaped limits on prior restraint and incitement. The emergence of radio and television regulation involved the Federal Communications Commission and cases implicating RCA, NBC, and CBS. The digital era invoked statutes such as the Communications Decency Act and litigation including Reno v. ACLU and content disputes involving companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple Inc., Amazon (company), Microsoft, and platforms such as YouTube.
Constitutional analysis centers on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and precedents from the Supreme Court of the United States including Schenck v. United States, Brandenburg v. Ohio, New York Times Co. v. United States, Roth v. United States, and Miller v. California. Doctrines include prior restraint doctrine established against Nazi Party (Germany) march permits, the clear and present danger test, the incitement standard in Brandenburg v. Ohio, and obscenity definitions in Miller v. California. Statutory regimes such as the Communications Decency Act (notably §230), the Children's Internet Protection Act, and surveillance authorities under the Patriot Act (United States) and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act are adjudicated in courts including the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Administrative agencies like the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission regulate broadcast licensing, decency standards, and advertising, intersecting with cases involving Sony Corp. of America and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.
Censorship appears in multiple domains: print and newspapers involving entities like the New York Times and Washington Post; broadcast media regulated by the Federal Communications Commission and networks such as ABC (American Broadcasting Company); film and theater with history tied to the Hays Code and studios including Warner Bros.; literature and book banning in school districts and libraries implicated with cases involving Little Rock Central High School and school boards like the Beverly Hills Unified School District; academic speech controversies at universities such as Harvard University, Yale University, University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University; and digital speech on platforms including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Telegram (software), Discord (software), and Wikipedia. Content categories include obscenity (cases like Roth v. United States), national security leaks involving Daniel Ellsberg and Edward Snowden, campaign speech regulated by the Federal Election Commission, and misinformation debated during events like the 2016 United States presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Federal, state, and local officials have used licensing, criminal statutes, injunctions, gag orders, and surveillance to limit speech. Agencies such as the Department of Justice (United States), Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Homeland Security, and state attorneys general have pursued investigations or litigation. Military censorship during conflicts engaged the Department of Defense and mechanisms like the Espionage Act of 1917 in prosecutions of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden. Local law enforcement responses to protests involve municipalities like Ferguson, Missouri and Standing Rock Indian Reservation incidents, raising issues adjudicated in cases before federal courts including the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Private platforms exert content moderation through community standards and terms of service enforced by corporations including Meta Platforms, Inc., Twitter, Inc., Alphabet Inc., Amazon (company), Apple Inc., ByteDance, Snap Inc., and Microsoft. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shapes liability and moderation incentives. Publishers such as Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins adopt editorial policies that lead to controversies over acquisitions and cancellations involving authors like J. K. Rowling and editors associated with outlets like The New Yorker. Trade associations such as the Motion Picture Association influence ratings and distribution, while retailers like Barnes & Noble and libraries administered by the American Library Association face challenges and bans at local school boards and state legislatures including in Florida and Texas.
High‑profile incidents include the Pentagon Papers litigation in New York Times Co. v. United States, social media account suspensions of figures like Donald Trump (United States President) after the January 6 United States Capitol attack, platform liability litigation such as Zeran v. America Online, Inc. and Gonzalez v. Google LLC, and state laws targeting curriculum and library materials in legislative sessions of Georgia (U.S. state), Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. Cases over school speech include Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District and campus controversies at University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University (New York City). Obscenity and obscenity enforcement reached film distributors like Miller (film) controversies; surveillance and whistleblower prosecutions involve Daniel Ellsberg, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden.
Censorship practices affect political discourse during elections such as the 2020 United States presidential election, public health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, civil liberties debated in hearings before congressional committees like the United States House Committee on the Judiciary and United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and cultural production in industries represented by Hollywood and Broadway. Scholarly communities at institutions like Columbia University, Stanford University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology study effects on pluralism, polarization, and trust in institutions including the Library of Congress and archives like the National Archives and Records Administration. Ongoing litigation in courts including the Supreme Court of the United States continues to refine boundaries among national security, obscenity, defamation law (as in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan), and platform governance.
Category:Freedom of expression