English for Academic Purposes: Media Censorship in Australia & China

This essay presents a comparative study of media censorship in Australia and China, examining censorship practices across various media forms. The analysis begins by highlighting the differing global censorship rankings of the two countries, with Australia allowing more press freedom than China. The essay then delves into specific areas of censorship, including art, music, and the internet. It identifies similarities, such as the censorship of explicit content in art and music, as well as differences, such as the stricter censorship laws and broader restrictions imposed by the Chinese government, particularly on the internet. The essay explores how both countries censor content deemed inappropriate, but the scope and enforcement vary significantly, painting a picture of differing approaches to media control and freedom of expression. The study concludes by summarizing the key dissimilarities between the censorship practices of the two countries, emphasizing the tighter control exerted by China across multiple media platforms, and the impact of these practices on freedom of information and expression.

Running head: MEDIA CENSORSHIP – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
MEDIA CENSORSHIP – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MEDIA CENSORSHIP – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Australia ranks 19th in the world censorship ranking (Rsf.org 2018). This reveals the
fact that the Australian media tends to censor a lesser amount of media that is circulated
within the country. The public media of the country is very strong and is majorly managed by
the two main media groups, Fairfax Media and the News Corporation (Freedomhouse.org
2018). The Australian government tends to allow more freedom to the press. China ranks
176th in the world censorship ranking and does not allow much freedom to the press media
(Rsf.org 2018). The Chinese government tend to pose a huge number of threats to the
freedom of the press media and tends to put a huge amount of restriction on the various news
that might get published in the press media. The journalism in China tends to be regulated by
the government on the basis of the various regulations that deal with the state secrets and thus
tend to be harmful for the future of the country. China is one of those countries that
implement very strict censorship rules (Theguardian.com 2018). The following essay deals
with the comparative study of the media censorship in the countries of Australia and China
with a major focus on the various arts, music and the magazines that are censored in the
countries.
Both the countries, Australia and China, tend to censor the pieces of art that might be
referred to as holding the content that might go against the standards that are set by the rules
of the country. The countries seem to censor the materials on the basis of the age of the
residents who have been viewing the same. The concerned authorities tend to ban the
exclusive and the dark materials that might be depicted in any art form. The censored
materials in both the countries might include the forms of the art that might depict sexually
explicit content as well as the content that might display extreme violence.
The Chinese censorship laws tend to be stricter than the censorship laws that are
practised in Australia. The Chinese government tends to implement the various censorship
laws on the circulation of the art forms within the country. The Chinese government tends to

2MEDIA CENSORSHIP – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
put ban on any art form that might prove to be a threat to the national integrity of the country.
The bans imposed by the Australian government are mainly observed in the instances
wherein the content displays the use of violent and explicit content. In case of the Chinese
government, however, the censorship is done on the basis of the threat posed and thus might
include all types of the art forms that are imported from the various foreign lands all over the
world.
The countries Australia and China impose censorship on the various music albums
and other musical productions in cases wherein the content of the music tends to be explicit
for circulation among the residents of the country. The Australian censorship board like its
Chinese counterpart exercises a ban on the music under the conditions wherein the content of
the music might be in strict disagreement with the laws of the country and the sentiments of
the residents (Musicinaustralia.org.au 2018). The musical pieces might be banned by the
countries if they do not comply with the terms in the laws of the country or might prove to be
demeaning for a certain section of the residents of the country.
The Chinese censorship laws for the musical items in circulation among the residents
of the country tend to be stricter than those that are implemented by their Australian
counterparts. The Chinese government is known to have imposed a ban on the musical pieces
that tend to portray a criticism of the concerned government. The Chinese government, unlike
the Australian government, tends to put a censorship on the circulation of the musical
compositions that point at the political affairs of the state. The Chinese government is also
reported to have put a partial censorship on the musical album X by the Australian singer
Kylie Minogue and to have permitted the release of the album un the country only after three
songs were removed from the concerned album (Osnos 2018).
There are found similarities among the censorships that are implemented by both the
Australian and the Chinese governments in the matters pertaining to the censorship of the

3MEDIA CENSORSHIP – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
various internet sources. The countries enforce a ban on the various websites that display any
kind of unwanted content or the content that is not suitable for viewing by the children. The
censored websites might include those that might put forth gruesome, violent and explicit
content.
The Chinese Government unlike their Australian counterparts have deemed certain
websites to be potentially dangerous for the members of the country. The various websites
are Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, some of the services by Google and YouTube. The
Chinese government tends to put either a permanent ban or a temporary one on these
websites during the various critical conditions that might occur within the country (Cfr.org
2018). The Australian Government however does not instill huge controls over the social
media handles that exist within the country. The citizens enjoy their freedom of expression
over the various social media handles and even use the same to bring a certain occurrence to
the limelight (Aph.gov.au 2018).
In lieu of the above discussion, it might be stated that there are major dissimilarities
between the censorship that is used by the concerned governmental bodies that have been
operational in the countries. The censorship laws that are practiced by the governments of
Australia and China tend to vary from each other in all the areas that are included in the
media. The censorship in case of the media on the internet is a practice that is observed to be
followed by all the countries in the world and is thus considered to be a usual occurrence in
the countries of Australia and China, the two countries that have been considered in the above
composition. It might be safely concluded that though both the countries exercise the media
censorship laws, the laws that are implemented by China are stricter than those implemented
by Australia.

4MEDIA CENSORSHIP – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
References
Aph.gov.au 2018. Censorship and Classification in Australia – Parliament of Australia.
[online] Aph.gov.au. Available at:
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/
Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/archive/censorshipebrief [Accessed 6 Mar.
2018].
Cfr.org 2018. Media Censorship in China. [online] Council on Foreign Relations. Available
at: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/media-censorship-china [Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].
Freedomhouse.org 2018. Freedom of the Press 2017 | Freedom House. [online]
Freedomhouse.org. Available at: https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/freedom-
press-2017 [Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].
Musicinaustralia.org.au 2018. Freedom of Expression - Music in Australia - Knowledge Base.
[online] Musicinaustralia.org.au. Available at:
http://musicinaustralia.org.au/index.php/Freedom_of_Expression [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].
Osnos, E. 2018. Opinion | China’s Censored World. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/03/opinion/sunday/chinas-censored-world.html [Accessed
8 Mar. 2018].
Rsf.org 2018. Australia : Surveillance threat | Reporters without borders. [online] RSF.
Available at: https://rsf.org/en/australia [Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].
Rsf.org 2018. China : World’s leading prison for citizen journalists | Reporters without
borders. [online] RSF. Available at: https://rsf.org/en/china [Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].

5MEDIA CENSORSHIP – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Theguardian.com 2018. The world's most censored countries. [online] The Guardian.
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/may/04/pressfreedom
[Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].

6MEDIA CENSORSHIP – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
English for Academic Purposes
Plan & Outline
Compare and contrast the media censorship in two
countries.
Introduction
Australia ranks 19th in the world censorship ranking. This reveals the fact that the
Australian media tends to censor a lesser amount of media that is circulated within the
country. The public media of the country is very strong and is majorly managed by the two
main media groups, Fairfax Media and the News Corporation. The Australian government
tends to allow more freedom to the press. China ranks 176th in the world censorship ranking
and does not allow much freedom to the press media. The Chinese government tend to pose a
huge number of threats to the freedom of the press media and tends to put a huge amount of
restriction on the various news that might get published in the press media. The journalism in
China tends to be regulated by the government on the basis of the various regulations that
deal with the state secrets and thus tend to be harmful for the future of the country. China is
one of those countries that implement very strict censorship rules. The following essay deals
with the comparative study of the media censorship in the countries of Australia and China
with a major focus on the various arts, music and the magazines that are censored in the
countries.
Body Paragraph 1
Subtopic: LITERATURE AND ART
Name:
_________________________________

7MEDIA CENSORSHIP – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Similarities: Both the countries, Australia and China, tend to censor the pieces of art
that might be referred to as holding the content that might go against the standards that are set
by the rules of the country. The countries seem to censor the materials on the basis of the age
of the residents who have been viewing the same. The concerned authorities tend to ban the
exclusive and the dark materials that might be depicted in any art form. The censored
materials in both the countries might include the forms of the art that might depict sexually
explicit content as well as the content that might display extreme violence.
Differences: The Chinese censorship laws tend to be stricter than the censorship laws that
are practised in Australia. The Chinese government tends to implement the various
censorship laws on the circulation of the art forms within the country. The Chinese
government tends to put ban on any art form that might prove to be a threat to the national
integrity of the country. The bans imposed by the Australian government are mainly observed
in the instances wherein the content displays the use of violent and explicit content. In case of
the Chinese government, however, the censorship is done on the basis of the threat posed and
thus might include all types of the art forms that are imported from the various foreign lands
all over the world.
Body Paragraph 2
Subtopic: MUSIC
Similarities: The countries Australia and China impose censorship on the various music
albums and other musical productions in cases wherein the content of the music tends to be
explicit for circulation among the residents of the country. The Australian censorship board
like its Chinese counterpart exercises a ban on the music under the conditions wherein the
content of the music might be in strict disagreement with the laws of the country and the
sentiments of the residents. The musical pieces might be banned by the countries if they do

8MEDIA CENSORSHIP – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
not comply with the terms in the laws of the country or might prove to be demeaning for a
certain section of the residents of the country.
Differences: The Chinese censorship laws for the musical items in circulation
among the residents of the country tend to be stricter than those that are implemented by their
Australian counterparts. The Chinese government is known to have imposed a ban on the
musical pieces that tend to portray a criticism of the concerned government. The Chinese
government, unlike the Australian government, tends to put a censorship on the circulation of
the musical compositions that point at the political affairs of the state. The Chinese
government is also reported to have put a partial censorship on the musical album X by the
Australian singer Kylie Minogue and to have permitted the release of the album un the
country only after three songs were removed from the concerned album.
Body Paragraph 3
Subtopic: INTERNET
Similarities: There are found similarities among the censorships that are
implemented by both the Australian and the Chinese governments in the matters pertaining to
the censorship of the various internet sources. The countries enforce a ban on the various
websites that display any kind of unwanted content or the content that is not suitable for
viewing by the children. The censored websites might include those that might put forth
gruesome, violent and explicit content.
Differences: The Chinese Government unlike their Australian counterparts have
deemed certain websites to be potentially dangerous for the members of the country. The
various websites are Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, some of the services by Google and
YouTube. The Chinese government tends to put either a permanent ban or a temporary one
on these websites during the various critical conditions that might occur within the country.

9MEDIA CENSORSHIP – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
The Australian Government however does not instill huge controls over the social media
handles that exist within the country. The citizens enjoy their freedom of expression over the
various social media handles and even use the same to bring a certain occurrence to the
limelight.
Conclusion
In lieu of the above discussion, it might be stated that there are major dissimilarities
between the censorship that is used by the concerned governmental bodies that have been
operational in the countries. The censorship laws that are practiced by the governments of
Australia and China tend to vary from each other in all the areas that are included in the
media. The censorship in case of the media on the internet is a practice that is observed to be
followed by all the countries in the world and is thus considered to be a usual occurrence in
the countries of Australia and China, the two countries that have been considered in the above
composition. It might be safely concluded that though both the countries exercise the media
censorship laws, the laws that are implemented by China are stricter than those implemented
by Australia.