Writing about Freedom of Speech and Censorship

Freedom of speech is an important and inalienable right, which determines the degree of liberation and democracy of the society. Voltaire wrote that people have no freedom without the right to express their thoughts. Now, freedom of speech, which was in oblivion for a long time, tends to rise again. 
This fact makes the topic of freedom of speech and the issue of censorship an extremely popular one in colleges and universities. If you want to write a decent censorship and freedom of speech essay, research paper, or even freedom of speech term paper, read this article to find out all the best writing secrets and tips.

Useful tips on how to write quality essays on freedom of speech 

We offer you to get acquainted with this part of the article to find out all the best tips on writing perfect essays about freedom of speech. 
•    Decide what type of essay you will work on. This aspect is important as each specific essay type has its features and may even differ in terms of structure.
•    Make an outline. It’s an important step in any paper writing because a well-structured plan will help you a lot during the writing process. 
•    Develop a strong thesis. Make sure it is brief, clear, and describes your main idea along with the points you will use to support it.
•    Research the topic. It’s a good idea to read some credible resources, such as journal articles on the topic, to have a clear understanding of the issue you are going to consider before actually writing about it. 
•    Check your spelling and grammar. These little details really make a difference. Even the greatest paper will look unprofessional with a great number of typos or improper grammar. 

Freedom of speech essay topics

Here are some really interesting freedom of speech essay ideas for your consideration: 
•    What does freedom of speech mean to me essay
•    Pros and cons of freedom of speech essay
•    Freedom of speech opinion essay: is it important for you to speak your mind? 
•    Freedom of speech in social media essay
•    Freedom of press essay
•    History of the freedom of speech essay
•    Censorship essay 
•    Free speech on college campuses essay
•    Essay about lack of freedom of speech
•    Defamation and freedom of speech essay
•    Essay on disadvantages of freedom of speech
•    Freedom of speech should be restricted essay
•    Freedom of speech and political correctness essay
•    Essay on the First Amendment freedom of speech
•    Against censorship essay
•    Regulations should be put on freedom of speech on social media essay
•    Freedom of speech limitations essay
•    Censorship persuasive essay: why censorship is dangerous? 
•    Freedom of speech argumentative essay: why there should be no censorship? 
•    Should freedom of speech be limited essay
•    Essay about freedom of speech and the Internet
•    The importance of freedom of speech at school essay
•    Why freedom of speech is important essay
•    Why are there laws limiting the freedom of speech essay
•    Should we change laws outlined in the First Amendment essay

Freedom of speech essay outline

Whether you have to write a short essay on freedom of speech or extensive research work on this topic, it will have a very clear structure that consists of the following items:
•    Freedom of speech essay introduction. The main goal of the introduction is to demonstrate your position on the question put forward (in the form of thesis or simple argumentation) and to set a rhythm for the whole paper. Before presenting the thesis statement, it is crucial to review basic facts about the topic to get a reader a better understanding of why it is important to research it. 
•    Freedom of speech essay thesis. Your position should be very clear so that the readers do not have any doubts about your personal attitude to the problem or the arguments you are going to use to support it.
•    The main part. All the important points of your essay should be discussed here in detail. In the first paragraph of the main part, you should use your strongest and most rigorous arguments, while the less obvious examples should follow after it. In order for the reader to form an integral picture of your paper, choose at least 1-2 relevant examples from real-life events that confirm your position. Tie all parts of the text to each other. Remember that you should not write separate sentences: all judgments must follow logically from previous statements.
•    Freedom of speech essay conclusion. Despite the fact that the conclusion is at the very end of the paper, do not write it as if you have a new thought in your head: this part should never include any new information. The final paragraph is the last chance to emphasize the depth of your reflections. It is also necessary to restate your thesis mentioned in the introduction. After this, you should draw logical conclusions based on examples and their explanations.
After you are done with the outline and the writing, choose a few suitable titles for freedom of speech essay and see which one matches the points you have reviewed best. Find a few freedom of speech essay examples to see how a title may be structured and understand what kind of words you may include to convey the main idea of the paper better.

Freedom of speech research paper topics 

Here are the top 10 topics for your freedom of speech research paper:
•    Research paper on media censorship
•    Censorship in the USSR
•    Censorship in North Korea
•    The Charlie Hebdo attack: the flip side of freedom of speech 
•    Freedom of speech in the US before the First Amendment 
•    Is anonymity possible on the Internet? 
•    How important is censorship in today’s world? 
•    The Arab Spring
•    Media censorship in China
•    Gitlow v. New York case

Freedom of speech research paper outline

•    Introduction. Here, you need to develop a strong thesis statement and give a brief introduction to the problem under consideration. Your main task here is to present the topic of your paper and emphasize its importance. If necessary, justify why you have decided to focus on this specific topic instead of a variety of others.
•    Main part. In this part, you have to make a literature review, presenting the ideas of the outstanding researchers. Show how you have searched for the material, why you have chosen specific sources to consider, and what you have found in them. You may compare and contrast the ideas of different researchers and explain the differences in their findings if any. 
•    Conclusion. In the final section, you need to recap the review made in the body of the text and reemphasize the importance of the issue you considered in the paper. You also have to restate your thesis here. 

Interesting facts for freedom of speech and censorship research papers and essays

The topic of freedom of speech and censorship is vast and versatile, and, sometimes, it is easy to get lost among interesting ideas. That is why we have decided to collect the most interesting historical facts concerning this topic:
•    The survey conducted in 2002 in the USA by the Freedom Forum Center for First Amendment showed that 42% of the respondents thought that too much freedom was given to the US media. 
•    More than 2/3 of the US citizens believe that freedom of speech is crucial, even if people who use it only have something offensive to say.
•    In China, there is a censorship police that monitors people activities and punishes those who say something unpleasant about the government.
•    In the 50’s, the word “pregnant” was censored by the media as it was considered improper.
•    Turkey is the first in the list of countries when it comes to the number of jailed journalists.
•    In Cuba, Internet access is heavily monitored and, as it is very expensive, only ¼ people actually use Internet actively on a daily basis.
•    Government in Iran blocks about 40% of the content on the Web for their citizens.

Historical overview for censorship and freedom of speech college essay or research paper 

Once you are assigned to write a freedom of speech and censorship essay or a research paper, it is crucial that you choose what specific idea to focus on. In order to do it, we suggest that you learn more about the history of the subject in question and see if any events prompt you to choose a certain topic to research.

Church censorship

The problem of access to information and control over it became relevant after the collapse of the slave society and growth of the movement against the tyranny of the Roman emperors, as well as the subsequent rise of the Christian church. Today, we would say that people of those times tried to establish social justice. 
The Church carried out noble activities at that time, defended the poor, destitute, and oppressed people. Nevertheless, it sought to protect the Bible from distortion to preserve the canonical text. And, accordingly, a framework was introduced for those ideas that people were allowed to preach. When there were a lot of gods, the problem of censorship and access to certain texts did not exist. When one universally recognized Creator appeared, Christianity began to claim the role of the dominant religion, standing against the old gods and proclaiming that there is only one God who has a great plan for each of its creatures. 

State and university censorship 

At the same time, various monarchies emerged in Europe. The first of them arose in France, Spain, and England. In Germany and Italy, the situation was more complicated, as there were many different states in these countries. Spiritual limitations were based on censorship enforced by the state represented by monarchs. First, the functions of censorship were placed on the church, and then on universities. The latter were a kind of intermediary link between the government and the church in the implementation of censorship.
The first universities arose on the basis of theological research centers. For example, the Sorbonne was located in the temple, where the local teachers studied theology. Therefore, when the French kings entrusted control over the sacred books to the professors, they knew that these people were faithful Catholics acting within the church laws.

Inquisition

Censorship was initially created with an intent to preserve the original texts. Later, it turned into a means of persecuting dissenters. People began to divide into those who had the right to censor (kings and priests) and those who had to obey their decisions.
During the development of censorship, the institution of the Inquisition was established. People were subjected to double punishment for having another point of view. Firstly, their books were taken away and destroyed. Secondly, citizens accused of heresy were burned.

Reformation and Renaissance

The Protestant Church opposed the Inquisition and censorship. Its representatives, who appreciated Christian ideals, began to advocate for freedom of speech. To a certain extent, Luther and some other leaders of the Reformation fought for liberation from the hierarchical structure and subordination to authority.
The idea of freedom of speech was reinforced by philosophical concepts born in the Renaissance when questions of humanism and human rights became extremely relevant. Further development of the human rights concept is associated with the activities of English and French philosophers: Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Diderot, and others. They put forward a number of important thoughts that changed the idea of what the world should be like. 
For example, the concept of civil society was created. The division of powers into administrative, governmental, legislative, and judicial was proposed by Montesquieu. And, within the framework of these philosophical doctrines, a new understanding of humanism has emerged.