Censorship in WW1

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death

your right to say it"

What is censorship?

Censorship

Government restrictions on speech or writing

Discuss in groups

• When, if ever, is Censorship acceptable in your opinion?

Why do governments censor information?

• To protect secrets (e.g. battle plans, where troops are etc)

• To cover up mistakes• To prevent opposition• Decency reasons (e.g. swearing,

nudity etc)• To control peoples actions and

opinions

Censorship in WW1

• Troops had their letters & postcards home censored.

• However most soldiers exercised ‘self censorship’. This is where people know that saying certain things is not allowed so they don’t say/write them at all in the first place.

• News at home was heavily censored to cover up mistakes and terrible defeats.

Individually

• Now you are going to censor your own trench letters.

• Stick your trench letter into the middle of an A3 piece of paper

• Now cross out with a pencil any sections that you think would be censored

• Next to each censored section explain why this would have been censored

• When you have finished on a separate piece of paper write a 250 word response to the question ‘Can censorship ever be justified?’

Plenary – when might censorship be justified? (if

ever)

Bibliography

http://www.tatteredcoat.com/images/censorship.jpg