"In some countries, television and radio programs are carefully censored for offensive language and behavior. In other countries, there is little or no censorship."

In your view, to what extent should government or any other group be able to censor television or radio programs? Explain, giving relevant reasons and/or examples to support your position.
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Forbidding certain content to be aired on television or radio is censoring the content to public. Censorship of the content varies from Country to Country and should be controlled to the right extent in order to maintain peace and harmony among various communities of the country. I opine that the censorship should be controlled by the government or any other group based on the composition of its population and emotions of the people.

Television and Radio are a medium for spreading information and for entertainment. They are one of the methods for expression of freedom. Several categories of programs are aired on television such as sports, news, movies, music. The content needs to be screened based on the time of the telecast and based on age of viewership. People tend to get influenced by the content they see or to the news they hear. There were several incidences of misinterpretation of news which led to outcries in countries leading to communal violence or disturbing the peace of the nation.

The depictions of Mohammed, in one of the newspapers in Denmark lead to a huge outcry among the Muslim community. The editor of the newspaper was threatened to be killed as it was against the community rules to portray Mohammed in a picture. This lead to violence in the community and disrupted the peace in lives of several people in Denmark.

Also, people tend to imitate their favorite sports stars or movie actors. This is especially true among children. There were several incidents where children tried imitating stars while watching dangerous sports such as wrestling which lead to severe injuries or in some cases lead to death. Censorship of such content or providing caution information can stop such untoward incidents.

Although censorship is necessary, it should not be to such an extent where people are suppressed and the right to information is violated. Radio and television are a medium of propagation of information and should be used in the positive way.

Therefore, the government or any other group should be allowed to censor the content based on the maturity of the people in the country, the emotional quotient of its people and the timing at which the programs are aired, as applicable to the situation in the specific country.