Okaz

The Court of Appeals of Kuwait has canceled the decision of the Kuwaiti ministry of information to prevent the circulation of a number of books. The court justified its decision by stating that censorship was no longer feasible in these changing times and this open world!

In my opinion, the Kuwaiti court based its decision on the current reality in dealing with the issue of banned books. The traditional tools used to ban published opinion no longer work, as the barriers between countries are eliminated because of the Internet and developments in technology and communication.

Today, all decisions issued by supervisory departments to ban material are useless. Readers are now able to access any content that is published and to easily go around all forms of barriers by using the Internet. These departments can hold authors accountable for what they have written but can do little to prevent the public from reading what they want. This is happening in the West where those spreading hate material or glorifying Nazi ideology are prosecuted. Readers, however, have every right to access such content through their computers.

Traditional content supervisors in Arab countries now stand helpless after the giant wall of censorship has fallen. Readers are now more aware of what they want. Minds are formed away from the grip of censorship and only time will tell where future generations are heading.