Media Censorship: Comparing Regulations in Pakistan and Australia

This essay undertakes a comparative analysis of media censorship in Pakistan and Australia, examining the nuances of censorship across various media platforms. It begins by defining censorship and its significance, followed by a detailed comparison of internet censorship practices in both countries, highlighting similarities such as content blocking and restrictions, and differences such as the extent of social media platform bans. The essay then transitions to a discussion of television censorship, exploring how both countries regulate content to align with ethical and moral standards, and the specific instances where content is censored. The analysis extends to video game censorship, where the essay identifies banned games in both countries and the reasons for the bans. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, emphasizing the shared goal of protecting children from harmful content and safeguarding societal values, while acknowledging the distinct approaches each country takes in its censorship practices. This essay provides a comprehensive overview of media censorship, offering valuable insights into the regulatory landscapes of Pakistan and Australia.

Running head: MEDIA CENSORSHIP IN PAKISTAN AND AUSTRALIA
Media Censorship In Pakistan And Australia
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1MEDIA CENSORSHIP IN PAKISTAN AND AUSTRALIA
In modern days, internet has been gaining popularity extraordinarily. It has become a
very important tool of communication that brings in significant efficiency and convenience
for the people. However although internet is comprehensive and is not that easy to limit, most
of the countries are working on its censorship. Censorship can be defined as the official
prohibition of any kind of communication that is considered to threaten the social, political
and moral order (Antonovsky 2017). Censorship is one of the heavily debated topics all
round the world. Every country has its own set of regulations and policies which vary
significantly. The issue of the internet censorship is a very controversial and complex one. It
is considered to be a double-edged sword. This essay will compare and contrast the media
censorship of Pakistan and Australia. Furthermore, it will elaborate on the discussion of
censorship issues and current regulation in both the countries.
Internet Censorship
Internet censorship is all about suppressing or controlling the things that can be
accessed or published on the internet that are enacted by the regulators or by their self
initiative. However, internet censorship basically takes place in order to stop people from
seeing the harmful and sensitive content and for promoting particular idea of religion or
politics and to control the internet related crimes (Clark et al. 2017). According to several
studies, people use to value the contents more that are usually restricted to access and the
maximum of them include political, sexual and social contents.
Similarities and dissimilarities in terms of internet censorship:
The similarities include that in both the countries, the contents on internet including
videos, images or tagline are either banned or blurred by the government if they seems to
violate any rule or regulation or promoted violence among the youths. In both the countries,
restrictions are prompted as well. They have the complete right to control the violence and

2MEDIA CENSORSHIP IN PAKISTAN AND AUSTRALIA
miscues that are happening through the social media platforms in order to protect the
countrymen from crimes and bomb threatening. They have blocked several websites. The
governments in both the countries have imposed compulsory filtering at the ISP (Internet
Service Provider) level. In Pakistan, the PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) is
responsible to control and maintain every communication technologies in the country
(Jahangir and Shah 2016). It has blocked the country access to more than 370 websites
including YouTube and twitter. A bill was also passed to ban using Facebook as well.
However, this is not the case in Australia. The Australian government too has banned many
of the websites in order to protect the children form harmful contents that are available on the
internet and has but the list is less than that of Pakistan. However, the list of banned websites
includes that of Yes Movies, Vumoo, Cartoon HD, The Dare TV, Watch Episodes etc.
The dissimilarities include that most of the popular social media platforms are
blocked in Pakistan, which is not the case in Australia. Pakistan government has blocked
access to YouTube, twitter and Facebook (Marchant et al. 2016). With the same,
downloading through torrent is censored and is illegal in Australia.
Television censorship
Since television has become official in 1930s, there have been several geographical
disparities related to the degree or level o which different countries watch television contents.
Hence, different processes have been implemented by the governments of different countries
in order to prevent these inappropriate contents from reaching the audiences and this is
known as censorship.
Similarities and dissimilarities in terms of internet censorship:

3MEDIA CENSORSHIP IN PAKISTAN AND AUSTRALIA
The similarities include: In Australia movies are banned that are considered to be
aggressive to the standards of ethics, courtesy and propriety. For example, the 2014 film
‘Children’s Island’ was banned by the Australian government as it contains Child
pornography. ‘Found’ was also banned in Australia as there were many aggressive and
inappropriate contents that promotes sexual violence (Rico 2015). The same is the case in
Pakistan. The Pakistan government too bans movies or shows that are considered to be
harmful for the children to be aired on television. If any movie directed which is exceptional
and disrespecting to the religion tor to any specific current political person so it is censored
by the government until they pass the permission to let be filmed in cinemas. For example, in
the year 2012, a film named ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ was banned by the Federal Government as the
role of the ISI agent was played by Katrina Kaif (Rehman 2016).
The dissimilarities include: In Pakistan they just censor and ban all the TV channels
which are related from India and Syria or related to the Muslims religious issues but this is
not the case in Australia.
Censorship of Video Games
The Video games are one of the major pastimes for adolescents worldwide. Regardless of
which country a child belongs to, he is likely to be a very big fan of video games. Video
censorship is all about decreasing the exposure of children to such video games that are
violent and contains anti-social behavior that may harm the mindset of young generation.
Similarities and dissimilarities in terms of video game censorship:
In both the countries of Australia and Pakistan the video games that are seen to be
harassing or contain any type of sexual scenes are banned by the governments. Three of the
best examples of such video games that are banned in Pakistan are Medal of Honor, Valkyrie

4MEDIA CENSORSHIP IN PAKISTAN AND AUSTRALIA
Drive and Call of Duty (Goerger 2017). Medal of Honor and Call of Duty were banned as
they portray Pakistanis negatively, while Valkyrie Drive was banned for the excessive themes
and sexual contents it contains. Similarly, in Australia, games like Bully, EverQuest was
banned because they are considered as showing harassment and violence in a school setting;
EverQuest was banned for the references of Australia’s X18+; and Grand Theft Auto was
banned as it had used the music of Hamilton da Silva Lourenco without his permission.
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that media censorship actions are taken
by both the countries and these are solely done to protect the children from the harmful
content that could ruin their innocence in a very early age. Secondly, it is done so that the
sense of violence could not be triggered in the heart and mind of the country men, as high
aggressive scenes and violence could affect the attitudes of the adolescents. With the same,
such decisions are also made to protect the privacy, and to defend the
media stores from corporate and political result.

5MEDIA CENSORSHIP IN PAKISTAN AND AUSTRALIA
References:
Antonovsky, A.Y., 2017. Technologies of the electoral process: A field study of the
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Clark, J.D., Faris, R.M., Morrison-Westphal, R.J., Noman, H., Tilton, C.B. and Zittrain, J.L.,
2017. The shifting landscape of global internet censorship.
Goerger, M., 2017. Value, violence, and the ethics of gaming. Ethics and Information
Technology, 19(2), pp.95-105.
Jahangir, M.N. and Shah, A.A., 2016. Tracing ICT Innovation Ecosystem of Pakistan. Bahria
University Journal of Information & Communication Technology, 9(2), pp.46-52.
Marchant, J., Sabeti, A., Bowen, K., Kelly, J. and Heacock Jones, R., 2016. # Iranvotes:
Political Discourse on Iranian Twitter During the 2016 Parliamentary Elections.
Rehman, M., 2016. Discourse on gender, religion, and culture in Pakistani films: A narrative
analysis of contemporary independent films from Pakistan.
Rico, A.R., 2015. Abu Ghraib and torture porn cinema: how the Saw, Hostel, and I Spit on
Your Grave series manifested social fears of torture following the release of the Abu Ghraib
photographs (Doctoral dissertation).