Regular online outrage about changed content in regional editions of video games has brought our attention to the concepts of censorship and localization. Game Rating Systems have their fair share of critics among those debating the details of localized content and prove to be in a peculiar position between developers and the end-user. The current state of the industry shows that alterations are made to regional versions of a game, especially with regards to sensitive topics such as violence, nudity, and sexualization. A survey to gauge end-users’ perception on these topics has been spread amongst residents of Japan and Western regions. Japanese respondents show to be more accepting of legislation surrounding video games whereas Western respondents tend to display a severe dislike for any sort of legislation, and often see not only censorship, but also localization in a negative context. Censorship, self-censorship, and localization are complicated and nuanced topics that turn out to be complexly intertwined with the practice of game production.

The purpose of this study was to look for tendencies that social media can contribute to exposing users to a stronger perception of opinion polarization, and further to see if the daily presence of social networking sites can put normative pressure on the users. The study was made using a survey with participants from Umeå University during the time frame of november-december 2014. The theoretical framework behind the study was mainly drawn from The Spiral Of Silence by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann and was further supplemented with more current research, studying the effects from The Spiral Of Silence in the modern and more fragmented media landscape that exists now then when her theory was written. Further theoretical tools for analysis of the results came from Michel Foucault and his discussions in Discipline and punish, specifically his views on how surveillance can be discontinous in practice, but still permanent in it’s effects. The results of this study indicates that social media users tend to isolate themselves from uncomfortable opinions, and do not follow or read opinions they do not already agree with. This indicates that social media plattforms can function as a contributor to opinion polarization among the users, and this study argues that the behavioural patterns of the most frequent users increases that tendency. Further more the study showed that a smaller network of friends seems to increase the users perception of normative pressures, and that user activity is correlated to how frequent they self-censor posts before- and after they are published.

Diploma thesis "An analysis of the media environment of the People's Republic of China" deals with the functioning of the media system of the PRC. The introductory chapter focuses on the evolution of the media system from the early beginning up to present, emphasis was placed on the period starting with the establishment of the republic in 1949. The main events which greatly influenced the current form of the media system were underlined. The evolution of the system is enriched by historical, political and cultural context. The periods of governance of both Mao Zedong and subsequent reformist Deng Xiaoping, who is known especially for his commencement of economic reforms in PRC, were analysed. A significant part of the diploma thesis is devoted to the basic characteristics features of the media environment of PRC, namely to the system of media regulation, self-censorship, censorship and propaganda. To demonstrate the significance and specificity of particular features of the media system, some main events were selected as examples and further analysed. In case of censorship, the relationship between PRC and Hong Kong and the 2009 Xinjiang protests were selected. Regarding propaganda, the Beijing Olympics games of 2008 were mentioned. Analysis of current media system with an emphasis on the main...

Social media are often referred to as democracy drivers in autocratic states, whereas in some countries, they appear as tools of the regimes that employ a wide range of mechanisms to restrict freedom of expression online. In authoritarian countries, political bloggers stand out as new political leaders or anti-regime actors, serve as alternative information sources, advocate for political action, or mobilize financial support for different initiatives. Political conditions in countries with established governments’ control practices complicate publishing routines for political bloggers and may increase incentives to self-censor. Employing the theory of the spiral of silence, this study analyzes self-censorship in social media among political bloggers in two neighboring post-Soviet autocratic countries - Belarus and Russia. The research is based on a comparison of media legislation in Belarus and Russia, textual analysis of political blogs, and survey among political bloggers in the two countries. The survey demonstrates that political bloggers face obstacles in forms of administrative or criminal sentences, forceful blocking of their pages, online threats, or experience pressure/ attention from secret services. Despite these challenges, political bloggers in Belarus and Russia demonstrate readiness to speak out and criticize political elites. According to the model suggested in this thesis, the majority of political bloggers practice self-censorship at the pre-publishing stages in forms of selecting topics and wording, avoiding particular names. The author argues that in autocratic countries, the spiral of silence, that engages more people to silence their opinion due to political obstacles, can be and is currently challenged by political bloggers, as decentralized political opinion leaders, who aim to break down the spiral of silence. The research contributes to media studies of social media and freedom of expression in autocratic countries. Political bloggers as neither ordinary social media users nor media in the non-democratic world require more attention among media and political scholars.

The goal of this work is to present the daily working routine of Czech journalists employed in newspapers in the years 1965-1974, with an emphasis on examining the institutional level of external pressure on journalists, in contrast to self- censorship. The Prague Spring is seen as a milestone, which divide the work into three stages: The 'thawing' period before 1968, a period of relative freedom of expression from January 1968 to mid-1969 and then the following period characterised by the stabilization of the 'normalization regime' in the first half of 1970s.

In recent years, there has been talk of a declining confidence and growing mistrust of the news media. Swedish media have been accused of obscuring certain topics, of letting the newspapers’ political orientation guide the selection of news and of having a news evaluation process that is influenced by the journalists’ personal opinions. With this as a starting point, and the assumption that a high ranking in the press freedom index does not automatically translate to a media landscape unaffected by restraining factors, this thesis investigates the reality of the press freedom in Sweden. Through the method of triangulation, combining a quantitative survey with qualitative semi-structured interviews, the thesis explores how Swedish journalists perceive their journalistic freedom, as well as if all topics are represented in Swedish journalism. The conclusion shows that although Swedish journalists perceive their journalistic freedom to be high, there are signs of self-censorship resulting in a lacking reporting of certain news topics.

According to reports from Reporters sans frontiers and Freedom House, the freedom of the press has declined during the recent years in the sub-Saharan country Tanzania. Using the human rights reports as an entry point, this study set out to investigate the working conditions for journalists in the capital de facto of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam. An important aim was to dig deeper and show the local and culturally specific conditions. The study supports that the press freedom, as well as the working conditions have declined during the last years for the journalists in Dar es Salaam. However, the study also shows that the new laws and government measures, described by the human rights reports as reducing the press freedom, is not considered by every journalist to be negative. The challenges differ among the corps of journalists, as their values of journalism differs. The greatest denominator among the informants was the high-degree of journalistic interventionism, directed at helping the society. In some cases, this took form as a practice of development journalism. The strong connections to the local community, the country and the religious affiliations are thought to contribute to these values. For journalists in private media, the press freedom was found to be the most acute problem, while for journalists in state-owned media it was economic issues. The press freedom was connected to the perceived job autonomy, and senior journalists and journalists working for international media were found to be more autonomous. Self-censorship was used by many in the private media sector as a tool to avoid both bureaucratic harassment from government, as well as violent repercussions. The main challenges included new restricting laws, economic issues which lead to the practice of brown envelopes, the parliament being located in Dodoma, gender-issues, scared sources and the advancement of social media. Theories and earlier research evolving from the values of journalism and journalism in Africa were used as tools to understand and compare with. The results are based on fieldwork conducted during a period of two months in the beginning of 2019, with qualitative interviews held with journalists in the city of Dar es Salaam.

A partir de l'étude des interactions quotidiennes entre Katangais et Kasaïens, après les violences de masse perpétrées contre les Kasaïens « non originaires» au début des années 1990, la thèse montre que les Katangais et les Kasaïens mettent en œuvre, dans le cadre de leurs interactions en face-à-face (Goffman), des pratiques de coexistence fondées sur l'évitement, le silence et les non-dits. Le silence sur les violences passées et l'évitement des sujets politiques interprétables en fonction du conflit entre les deux communautés constituent en fait une norme interactionnelle de coexistence pacifique, à rebours de l'injonction au dialogue et à la compréhension mutuelle, qui est au cœur des pratiques des ONG de pacification « par le bas». La thèse montre également que dans certains contextes politiques ou socio-économiques macros constituant des situations de crise (Dobry ; Vidal), se produit un phénomène de polarisation des identités collectives : les Katangais et les Kasaïens ne sont alors plus perçus que par rapport à leur origine ethno-régionale. L'anticipation du déroulement des situations d'interaction devient plus difficile, du fait de I' « incertitude structurelle» qui caractérise ces situations de crise; et les pratiques routinisées de coexistence fondées sur l'autocensure et l'évitement tendent à diminuer. A partir de ces conclusions, la thèse interroge les injonctions morales à la réconciliation et au dialogue, qui sont à l'œuvre dans les théories et pratiques de pacification «par le bas», et la possibilité même d'une réconciliation «par le bas», diffusant de proche en proche une « culture de la paix » qui finirait par imprégner toute une société. / Based on the study of daily interactions between Katangese and Kasaians, in the aftermath of the mass violence committed against the non-native Kasaians in the early 1990s, the dissertation shows that in their face-to-face interactions (Goffman), Katangese and Kasaians used practices of coexistence based on avoidance, silence, and self-censorship. Silence on the past violence and on political topics that can be interpreted with regard to the conflict between the two communities has indeed became an interactional norm of peaceful coexistence, unlike the injunction of NGOs specialized in the 'bottom-up' pacification to set up a dialogue that is deemed to foster a mutual understanding. The dissertation also shows that specific political or socio-economic contexts lead to 'crisis situations' (Dobry; Vidal). These crisis situations result in the polarization of collective identities: Katangese and Kasaians are viewed only by their ethno-regional origins. The expectations about interaction situations are made more difficult, because of the “structural uncertainty” that characterizes 'crisis situations'; and the routine practices of coexistence based on self-censorship and avoidance tend to disappear. From these findings, the dissertation questions the moral injunctions in favor of reconciliation and dialogue, which are at the heart of the theories and practices of 'bottom-up' pacification, and even the eventuality of a “bottom-up” reconciliation spreading step by step a 'culture of peace', which would eventually permeate society as a whole.

This thesis examines how librarians, in their own point of view, can and do handle influences on their daily work routines. The main focus is on whether the librarians’ experiences suggest that these influences lead to self-censorship in how media and information is acquired, handled and distributed. The contrast between the librari-ans’ actual and ideal situations, regarding their perceived freedom to act, are also examined. Seven librarians from different fields and different parts of Sweden are questioned using semi-structured interviews. The results are analyzed using models of self-censorship from Bar-Tal and Beckman as well as an influential article on selection and censorship in libraries from Asheim. A closer reading of the librarians’ stories finds four recurring themes: Perceived autonomy and freedom, Motives and context, Examples of influence and self-censorship and Ideals and reailty. The themes are analyzed in depth, with key quotes from the librarians serving as illustrations, using the aforementioned theoretical models as tools. From these analyses, the following conclusions are drawn: Preceptions of autonomy and workload in-fluence how librarians view their freedom to propose new ideas and handle media and information in accordance with their ideals. There also seems to exist a discrepancy regarding the librarians’ expected flexibility with rules and routines, leading to confusion among the librarians. Furthermore, disinclinations towards discussion in the workplace are common when the topics are controversial, such as the removal of racist material, and attempts at discussion are often ignored. Lastly, proximity to the end users also influence the librarians, leading to an increased risk of bias in selection and weeding processes. Together these things influence how librarians cope with management of collections and activities, as well as how they treat colleagues and end users, in the context of self-censorship. The conclusions, as well as their effects on librarians, libraries and society as a whole, are then discussed. This is a two years master's thesis in Library and information science.

Die vorliegende Arbeit liefert einen Beitrag zur Erforschung der institutionalisierten Zensur von literarischen Texten im Franquismus anhand der Untersuchung von Werken Ana María Matutes. Als repressives Instrument diente die Zensur der Kontrolle, dem Schutz vor ‚kritischen‘ Inhalten sowie der Propagierung, Durchsetzung und Konsolidierung des franquistischen Dogmas. Zensiert wurden ‚bedrohliche‘ Werke aufgrund ihres kommunikativen Gehalts, aber auch wegen der sie charakterisierenden materiellen Fixierung, konnte die ‚gefürchtete‘ Aussage ihre Wirkung doch an vielen Orten noch lange nach dem Moment ihrer Entstehung entfalten. Die originale unzensierte Textfassung vieler Werke ist deswegen für den Leser bis heute oft unzugänglich. Das gilt auch für das Œuvre Matutes, einer der bedeutendsten spanischen Autorinnen der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Anhand der erhaltenen Zensurakten zu vier Romanen – „Los Abel“, „Luciérnagas“/„En esta tierra“, „Los hijos muertos“ und „La trampa“ – wird zunächst deren unterschiedliches ‚Schicksal‘ zwischen staatlicher Zensur und forcierter Selbstzensur rekonstruiert. Die daraus gewonnenen Erkenntnisse dienen als Ausgangsbasis für die literaturwissenschaftliche Analyse der individuellen Auswirkungen dieser Eingriffe auf inhaltlicher, struktureller, figürlicher und formal-stilistischer Ebene sowie zur Feststellung des Grads an ‚Co-Autorenschaft‘ der Zensoren, die die Texte im Hinblick auf ihre Konformität mit den etablierten moralischen, politischen und religiösen Normen rezipierten. Darüber hinaus werden Funktionsweise, Irrtümer und Grenzen der literarischen Kontrollinstanz anhand von vier weiteren Werken dargestellt, zu denen „Fiesta al Noroeste“, „Pequeño teatro“, „Los niños tontos“ und „Los soldados lloran de noche“ zählen. Auf diese Art und Weise kann ein umfassender Einblick in die Arbeits- und Funktionsweise der franquistischen Zensurbehörde innerhalb des machtstrukturellen Kontextes des Franco-Regimes gegeben werden. / This research paper contributes to the study of institutionalized censorship of literary texts under Francoism by examining the works of Ana María Matute. As a repressive instrument, censorship served to control, protect against 'critical' content and propagate, enforce and consolidate Francoist dogma. 'Threatening' works were censored because of their communicative content, but also because of the material fixation that characterized them, since the 'feared' statement could continue to have its effect long after the moment of its creation and in many places. The original uncensored text version of many works is therefore often inaccessible to readers even today. This also applies to the oeuvre of Matute, one of the most important Spanish authors of the second half of the 20th century. Using the surviving censorship files for four novels – “Los Abel”, “Luciérnagas”/“En esta tierra”, “Los hijos muertos” and “La trampa” - we first reconstruct their different 'fates' between state censorship and forced self-censorship. The insights gained from this serve as a starting point for the literary analysis of the individual effects of these interventions on the level of content, structure, characters and formal style, as well as for determining the degree of 'co-authorship' of the censors, who only received the texts with regard to their conformity with established moral, political and religious norms. In addition, the functioning, errors and limits of the literary control authority are presented on the basis of four other works, which include “Fiesta al Noroeste”, “Pequeño teatro”, “Los niños tontos” and “Los soldados lloran de noche”. In this way, a comprehensive insight can be given into the working and functioning of the censorship authority within the power structure context of the Franco regime.