I’m Not Allowed To Say XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Milen Osteicoechea

May. 20, 2018

Iran Is Ranked As The #1 Internet Censor

• 20 million. That’s the number of Iranians that are on the internet right now or have access to the internet.
• 40% of the content that the Iranian government blocks are political or government websites. Sometimes they even block their own websites.
• Another 20% of the content that is blocked has to do with sex or exploring one’s sexuality.
• 60% of the population has suffered in some way from locally increased censorship and restriction that have been put into place.
• Iranians self-restrict their use of the internet because of the forced restrictions that are in place.
• In China, more than 1 in 4 websites that are normally accessible through Google or other search engines is blocked through a four level filtering process.
• The number of media websites that are blocked by the Chinese government: 923.
• 1.72 billion. That’s the number of people that are affected by internet censorship on any given day.
• 25.3% of people encounter at least one form of internet censorship while using the internet.

And there I was with my eyes crystallized after once again hearing, “ You are not allowed to say that. We are in XXXXXXXXXXXXX ”.Once again, I felt this enormous frustration inside me that I couldn’t control. I felt that they were locking up my mouth and hiding the key somewhere I would never be able to find. So I ask myself the question, “What am I allowed to say then?” It feels like even breathing is  XXXXXXXXXXXXX ( XXXXXXXXXXXXX ). I understand that every country has its restrictions but XXXXXXXXXXXXX is overloaded with them.

 In China “Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the headquarters of a southern newspaper on Monday in a rare display of public anger over China’s draconian censorship regulations”

 In  Russia “Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Moscow on July 23 to protest Internet censorship and demand the resignation of the head of Russia’s state media regulator”

Just like this news, there are many more people all around the world protesting against censorship, protesting for the freedom of speech.

Censorship is what stops you from saying what you wanna say, or doing what you wanna do. It’s what stops you from being free, in XXXXXXXXXXXXX , they censor news to art, and as soon as they censor art (plays, paintings, photography) what are we left with? We are left with nothing, we are left with unrealistic truths, thoughts, and even perspectives because of censorship. it  changes perspectives because it only allows you to see and hear what they want you to see and hear, nothing more or nothing less.

“

Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.”

— Henry Louis Gates Jr

Censorship is making us live in a dystopian world. As a student, I know how many restrictions we have in school (dress code, language, “forbidden” topics, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, relationships), but something they can’t control is our thoughts. I strongly believe that a mind is a free place for thoughts. You cannot censor it. Many students in XXXXXXXXXXXXX feel that they can’t talk about XXXXXXXXXXXXX , like Tariq  M. (grade 11) said, “Most of the time everyone has the entitlement to speak of their beliefs or thoughts”. 

Silence becomes a pain, and every day the pain growths bigger and is unstoppable. I wanna be able to talk about XXXXXXXXXXXXX , without fear the consequences. I wanna feel free. I don’t seem to understand why am not allowed to talk about  XXXXXXXXXXXXX    or about XXXXXXXXXXXXX  or about XXXXXXXXXXXXX . Is it because I’m a girl? XXXXXXXXXXXXX has a lot of restrictions when it comes to women.

In the words of Abdurrahman E. (grade 9), “Women are very restricted XXXXXXXXXXXXX . Like when it comes to guys, we don’t have that much of it”.

One of the most common censorship XXXXXXXXXXXXX in XXXXXXXXXXXXX is Internet Censor, we are allowed to see what they want us to see, we don’t have freedom of anything no even the freedom to express yourself through clothing ” dress code ” , we study what they want us to study they control what we don’t it feels like we don’t have control our own life. 

Do you also feel that way?