Research Into Censorship

Should Music Videos Be Censored?

Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication, which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body. It can be done by governments and private organizations or by individuals who engage in self-censorship. An example of one of these organisations would be OFCOM (Office of Communications). OFCOM is a government approves regularity and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the UK.

Its statutory duty is to represent the interest of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from what might have been considered harmful or offensive material. Its main areas are licensing, research, codes and policies, complaints, competitions and protecting the radio spectrum from abuse. An example of a music video that has been censored is the video for `S83/1' by Rihanna. In the uncensored version of this video, there are many examples of things that may be considered offensive and inappropriate for young viewers. 

An example of this would be the word 'slut' running across the screen and a further example would be the sexual scenes in the video. The real video differs significantly from the censored, television version of the video, in order to make it more appropriate. An example of this would be the lyrics 'chains and whips excite me' are present in the original version, but are cut out in the censored version of the video. Another example would be the absence of the offensive words and overly sexual scenes.                      

This image is from the original, uncensored video for `S&M'. This scene does not appear in the tv version as it was deemed inappropriate for viewing by young, seemingly impressionable audience. OFCOM censored this primarily because the scene was deemed to sexual. 

Rap Artist MIA has also been censored for her shocking music video for 'Born Free', which depicts people with ginger hair getting shot. In 2010 it was decided by OFCOM that this video had to be censored as the use of violence and shooting of a young child is not appropriate and offensive.

A significant artist whose music is continuously censored is Eminem. This is fundamentally because his lyrics are abusive, violent and offensive to listeners, but also because his videos may also include some explicit scenes of a violent or sexual nature. As a class, we had a debate about the censorship of Eminem's material, each of us taking on a different, but important role. The artist argued that his music should not be censored because his lyrics are all true experiences of his difficult, poverty centred life, growing up in a trailer park in Detroit. He argued that as his music is informative, it could be considered educational, as it represents how he overcame the difficulties and obstacles in his life, and made a better, more successful life for himself, despite his poor background. The artist believes that his music should not be censored as it could be viewed as sending a positive message to listeners, about how life gets better, if you’re willing to make it happen and take risks. Some people in the class acted the part of Eminem’s fans and they also claimed that his lyrics should not be censored as they represent relatable, real life situations. It was argued that Eminem’s music is his way of preventing people from making the same mistakes as he did throughout his life. However, on the other hand, some fans argued that there should be some censorship, of the significantly strong language, although overall, censorship should be less strict. Furthermore, the record label supported the idea of little or no censorship of Eminem’s lyrics. They argued that, as his albums have been extremely popular, with ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ selling over 10 million copies overall, it is clear that his lyrics are not as offensive to audiences as they are portrayed to be. That album even won the award for ‘Album of the Year’, which supports the assumption that his music is incredibly popular to a variety of all audiences.

On the other hand however, some parents would claim that censorship of Eminem’s lyrics is extremely appropriate due to the fact that they are worried that their children will start to adopt his frequent and intentional use of strong language and his negative, violent attitudes to the people around him and society itself. They argue that he is a very bad role model for young listeners.  In contrast to this, some parents have argued that censorship is unnecessary, as it should be up to the parents to teach their children values, morals and manners and if the children are brought up properly, they will understand that they can enjoy the music without becoming like the artist themselves. These parents also believe that his music can have positive connotations, and that actions of delinquent children should not be blamed upon the music that they are listening to.

Radio stations also agree with the censorship of his lyrics, but believe that only the strongest and most violent lyrics should be censored, as they are offensive and inappropriate. They have the view that uncensored versions of his music should only be played after the watershed, so that only older audiences are available to listen to his music. Kiss 100 holds the strong belief that not everything should be censored, and that the majority of the time, radio stations censor completely unnecessary things, to the point where the song does not even make sense.

MTV also believes in the censorship of Eminem’s lyrics, as they want to uphold their incredibly good reputation, and are reluctant to offend or risk losing any of their significantly large audience. On the other hand however, Channel AKA does not believe in the censorship of his lyrics, as their aim as a music channel is to represent the true artist and their lyrics, and build a fan base for underground artists. Also, as the viewers call in to request music, the channel wants to give them the true version of the song they are requesting.

My personal opinion is that music videos should not be censored, as the artist ahs a right to represent their true views and beliefs through the music. I also do not belive that music has a bad influence on children, as children are intelligent enough to understand when something is wrong and therefore they know not to imitate words or actions that they view in music videos. If the children are too young to understand the difference between right and wrong, then it is very unlikely that they will even understand the messages being portrayed, so they will not take any offense or be caused any harm. Music videos should also not be censored because it is incredibly easy for audience to find the true versions of songs, so in reality, censorship does very little to protect the viewers and listeners from offensive material


This post on music censorship demonstrates some understanding of the music industry. You have started to consider the role of OFCOM, but this needs to be explored in a lot more detail. You also need to relate your examples back to the laws of censorship and discuss why certain lyrics and video's are censored. This can be achieved by relating to specific examples and by including screenshots to support your points in further detail. 

You also need to reference specific scenes, videos and lyrics to support the points that you are making within the debate. Also aim to include the video link from youtube, to support the points that you have made on Eminem and not censoring his music.