The suppression of speech, writing, images, or other expression by an authority that judges it dangerous, offensive, or forbidden — a practice every society uses and every society fears, so that the enduring argument is never whether to limit expression but where the line falls and whose hand draws it.
Almost no one believes expression should have no limits at all. Child abuse images, true incitement to violence, military secrets, and libel are restricted nearly everywhere, by societies that call themselves free. And almost no one trusts the state with unlimited power to silence. So the real fight over censorship has never been whether to draw a line. It is about where the line falls, and whose hand is allowed to draw it.