CENSORSHIP/PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

"Books won't stay banned. They won't burn. Ideas won't go to jail. In the long run of history the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.” A. Whitney Griswold

"Censorship is the tool of those who have the need to hide actualities from themselves and others. Their fear is only their inability to face what is real. Somewhere in their upbringing they were shielded against the total facts of our experience. They were only taught to look one way when many ways exist.” Charles Bukowski

"Censorship always protects and perpetuates every horror of the prevailing forms of oppression. With us, its subtle disguises increase its evils by creating delusions of safety, liberty and democracy. It precludes that intelligence which is necessary to hasten wholesome and natural social evolution.” Theodore Schroeder

If we were to start censoring explicit images of a violent nature, would we not be infringing on human rights? If violence happens, why should we play ignorant and not allow people to view it online if they so wish? Does ignorance automatically give us more moral high-ground than acknowledging that violence exists and some humans have a fascination with it?

Youtube is one of the websites which gets the most blame for violence being made and viewed for entertainment purposes. However, even this website has a strict guideline or what it does and does not tolerate:

1. YouTube is not for pornography or sexually explicit content. If this describes your video, even if it's a video of yourself, don't post it on YouTube. Also, be advised that we work closely with law enforcement and we report child exploitation. Please read our Safety Tips and stay safe on YouTube.
2. Don't post videos showing bad stuff like animal abuse, drug abuse, or bomb making.
   Graphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed. If your video shows someone getting hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don't post it.
3. Youtube is not a shock site. Don't post gross-out videos of accidents, dead bodies and similar things.
4. We encourage free speech and defend everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. But we don't permit hate speech, which is content intended to attack or demean a particular gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnic origin, veteran status, color, age, disability or nationality.
5. There is zero tolerance for predatory behavior, stalking, threats, harassment, invading privacy, or the revealing of other members' personal information. Anyone caught doing these things may be permanently banned from YouTube.
6. You may not like everything you see. Some of the content here may offend you—if you find that it violates our Terms of Use, then click "Flag as Inappropriate" under the video you're watching to submit it for review by YouTube staff. If it doesn't, then consider just clicking on something else—why waste time watching videos you don't like?
   
   Human beings are the most socially and intellectually intelligent creatures to have ever graced the planet. Do we not at least have a personal responsibility to stay aware from offensive internet footage? Are we so incapable of self-control that we would have to go to the extreme of banning websites?What would happen if we did start censoring certain websites and images that contained violent images? Who would decide where the boundary lies between the acceptable and the unacceptable? Wouldn’t we start to live in a ‘1984’ society where freedom of speech and freedom of thought no longer exists and every member of society has to think like the state wants them to?