We've developed a bad habit.
When something frustrates us, we reach for the biggest word we can find.
'Censorship.'
The city turned off comments? Censorship.
A Facebook group removed a post? Censorship.
Someone asked us to take a conversation elsewhere? Censorship.
It's become one of the most overused words, and every time we misuse it, we make it harder to recognize when it actually matters.
Real censorship is serious. Historically, it has meant governments suppressing ideas, banning books, imprisoning journalists, silencing political opponents or punishing people simply for speaking their minds. Around the world, people still risk their freedom, and sometimes their lives, for saying what they believe.
That isn't the same thing as every disagreement we have.
Recently, I saw someone claim a city was censoring its citizens because comments were disabled on an official Facebook post.
That deserves a little more thought.
A government Facebook page exists primarily to communicate information. Road closures. Meeting notices. Water outages. Event announcements. Whether officials should allow comments is a fair topic for debate. Citizens can certainly argue that open discussion builds trust and transparency.
But if comments are turned off for everyone, that is very different from allowing discussion and then deleting comments simply because officials don't like the opinions being expressed.
If a government opens a public forum and removes criticism while leaving compliments, that's a genuine concern. Courts have repeatedly recognized that government officials cannot favor one viewpoint over another simply because it's more comfortable.
But choosing not to host a discussion on one particular social media post isn't automatically the same thing.
And this principle doesn't stop at Facebook.
The same misunderstanding often comes up at city council meetings, school board meetings and county commission meetings. A two-or-three-minute time limit during a public comment period isn't censorship. Requiring speakers to stay on topic isn't censorship. Asking people to wait until the designated public comment portion of a meeting isn't censorship.
Those rules exist so everyone has an opportunity to speak and so public business can actually be conducted.
Now, if officials consistently cut off only the people they disagree with while allowing supporters to speak freely, that's a different conversation. Just as online, the issue isn't that rules exist. The issue is whether those rules are applied fairly to everyone.
Here's what often gets lost: turning off comments doesn't silence anyone.
The world is full of places to speak. Community pages. Personal profiles. Local groups. Public meetings. Phone calls. Emails. Conversations with neighbors. Letters to the editor. There are countless ways to make your voice heard.
And if you've taken the time to think through an issue, I'd encourage you to write a letter to the editor. Whether someone agrees with you or not, thoughtful, respectful opinions help communities have better conversations. We'd love to publish more of them.
Being unable to comment in one specific place doesn't mean you've lost your voice.
Sometimes we've confused convenience with freedom.
We expect every conversation to happen exactly where we want it, and when it doesn't, we feel like something has been taken from us.
Usually, it hasn't.
That doesn't mean government should avoid criticism. Quite the opposite. Public officials should expect difficult questions. They work for the public, and accountability is part of the job. Listening to citizens is healthy for any community.
But accountability and censorship are not synonyms.
When we call every inconvenience censorship, we water down a word that should be reserved for something far more serious.
There are places in the world where people sit in silence instead of speak because they're afraid.
There are journalists sitting in prison cells.
There are citizens who disappear for criticizing their governments.
That's censorship.
A disabled Facebook comment section isn't.
A three-minute public comment limit isn't.
Being told to wait your turn to speak isn't.
Words matter because they shape how we think.
If everything becomes censorship, then nothing is.
Let's save the word for the moments that truly deserve it.
Be kind to your neighbors, Be kind to your pets, And be careful with words powerful enough to steer the conversation.