What is Censorship?
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Despite the guarantee implicit in the words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, there have been many attempts in the ensuing two centuries to censor or ban speech, both in print and in other media.
Censorship existed in the United States from its beginnings, the existence of the First Amendment notwithstanding. But although there were federal antiobscenity laws, censorship itself was not mandated by federal or state governments. What codified censorship was the 1873 Comstock Act, which called for the banning of literature deemed sexually arousing, even indirectly."
Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law, edited by Donna Batten, 3rd ed., vol. 1: American with Disabilities Act to First Amendment Law, Gale, 2013, pp. 779-783. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2760300162/GVRL?u=glen76009&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=18a3b783. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2760300162/GVRL?u=glen76009&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=18a3b783 Censorship."