Essay on Global Issues: Media Control and CensorshipCensorship is the suppression of media or public communication deemed distasteful or even dangerous, by the government or some sort of control group . Even though freedom of expression, opinion, information and press is considered an individual human right and is anchored in democratic ideology, media censorship is not uncommon around the world and has been popular with authoritarian regimes such as the Soviet Union. However, how has censorship evolved from the Soviet Union to the modern world? Compared to censorship of the past, modern censorship has become more difficult due to the Internet and media is now mostly controlled by a group of individuals rather than the government. The countries we will reflect on for our topic are Turkmenistan, China and the United States. Even though most countries around the world have entered the 21st century with more modernized ideologies and technologies, some countries, such as Turkmenistan, choose to remain close to traditional government media censorship. From 1985 to 2006, Turkmenistan was governed in a personality cult by Saparmurat Niyazov, its president for life, after gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Under his repressive rule, intense Internet censorship, books and in particular national and foreign information. media, are strictly enforced by the government. Niyazov, who declared himself Türkmenbaşy (or Turkmenbashi, “Father of all Turkmens”), would personally approve the content of the front pages of all major national newspapers. All national media outlets reportedly feature prominent photos of him, whether on the cover of newspapers and magazines, or on the logo of Turkmenistan National Television. It's not easy for non-g...... middle of paper ......d Freedom of expression. Stanford University. April 30, 2014.3. “Media Censorship in China.” Council on Foreign Relations. February 12, 2014 .4. “The Great Firewall of China: Background.” » Stanford University. June 1, 2011 .5. “Turkmenistan”. Liberty House. May 1, 2014 http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/turkmenistan#.U2MGz_ldVyN>.6. Lankford, Ronald D. Censorship. Detroit, Michigan: Greenhaven Press, 2010.7. Merino, Christmas. Censorship. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Greenhaven Press, 2010.8. "Censorship." Wikipedia. April 24 2014 .