Today, it seems like everything is up for debate. People are always fighting to get their point across and prove to others that they are correct. Some people even resort to hate-filled speech and cyberbullying. When we censor things to hide controversial topics, we become naive about the world around us, which is why censorship isn’t needed.

Some people and news sources take censorship to the extreme. They delete a large chunk from the story to avoid controversy. News sources don’t realize controversy isn’t always bad: differences make us think about our own opinions and also let us develop even stronger opinions on that topic. Controversy is not always undesirable and censorship is not the answer.

Freedom of speech is something our country is built upon. It is a necessity in a democracy. Censorship restrains us from expressing our opinions and removes our right to believe what we want to believe. Censorship limits us and our perception of the world around us.

North Korea is an example of censorship taken too far. The government is removing truth from the news media, piece by piece, to trick the citizens into believing that their leader is some type of deity. According to the BBC, who covered a story about the internet in North Korea, “Every website, every program, every facet of the internet is rebranded to look like a new software made by the North Korean government.” North Korea extracts and deletes all of the opinions and all of the media surrounding the world to keep their citizens trusting and loyal to their government.

In America, where our government is ruled by the voice of the people, censorship isn’t needed. If we are allowed the right of free speech, we hold the right to express whatever religion, opinion, and belief without constraint. As long as it isn’t hurting others, we should live with the mentality that our opinions are to be shared and debated. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”  In a free society, even disturbing viewpoints have a place and must be aired, because a healthy society needs exposure to even deplorable ideas in order to inoculate against them.  Differences in opinion can lead to diversity, and diversity creates an interesting and vibrant society.