Afghan Press Says Gag is Unconstitutional: They Could be Right

There isn't, I think, a fine line between censorship and national security. It's a broad zone wide with fuzzy borders.

Except for chauvinists,¹ for whom it's:

• 'We are concerned with
  • National security
  • Equal opportunity
  • The Environment
  • [This year's Great Cause]
• You want to
  • Censor a free press
  • Stifle debate
  • Hide the truth
• They want to
  • Enslave us all
  • Destroy the rainforests
  • Whatever

Afghanistan's government doesn't want the Taliban to get help from the press, before and during the upcoming election. At least, that's a best-case scenario.

The Afghan press doesn't like it.

"Afghan journalists on Wednesday rejected a Foreign Ministry demand that they suspend the broadcasting of news about attacks or violence on election day, accusing the government of unconstitutional censorship...."
(AP)

As I wrote in this post's title: They could be right.

Related post:

• "Afghanistan Government Threatens Free Press: Maybe For Good Reason"
  (August 19, 2009)

In the news:

• "Afghan media refuse to censor election reporting"
  The Associated Press (August 19, 2009)

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¹ Remember: Chauvinist means "a person with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind" or "an extreme bellicose nationalist". (Princeton's WordNet)

The dominant culture in America tends to think of chauvinism and conservatism as synonymous, but I think it can be argued that a person with non-conservative views can exhibit a sort of "prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind" - although in that case "his or her own kind" is somewhat more likely to be defined by political views or philosophical stances.

Posts related, sort of, to this footnote:

• "William Felkner vs. College Conformity: Traditional Information Gatekeepers Face Another Challenge"
  (December 16, 2008)
• "The New York Times, Insularity, and Assumptions"
  (October 21, 2008)
• "DC Gun Ban, Online Censorship, Individual Rights, and Power to the People"
  (June 27, 2008)
  • Dangerous technology isn't
    • Always a weapon
    • Bad by itself
• "A Xenophobic Remark by a Gun-Toting Religious Small Town Person"
  (April 12, 2008)
• "The Effect of Information Technology and Media Preoocupation with Urban Events on the Relative Sophistication of Urban and Rural Populations"
  (April 13, 2008)