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CENSORING AND DESTROYING INFORMATION IN THE
INFORMATION AGE
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By J. R. Clark and Dwight R. Lee
Almost everyone knows the importance of information and
communication to economic progress. The more information we have

the more productive we can be, both individually and collectively. The
easier it is for us to communicate our information to others and to
receive their information, the more likely we will make production and
consumption choices that serve the interests of all. No wonder people

are so impressed with the recent breakthroughs in information and
communication technology that have moved us into what has become
known as the “information age.” Who could possibly condone, much

less recommend, policies that destroy and distort valuable information
by censoring its communication? Far more than you might think! Large
amounts of information or knowledge, which could be used to improve

the lives of billions of people by improving economic decisions, are
being systematically suppressed and destroyed by government
censorship that is supported enthusiastically by many who claim to be

outraged by government censorship of any type.
One reason for this enthusiasm is that censorship can be used to
concentrate benefits on politically organized groups by imposing far
greater, but highly dispersed, costs on the general public. This standard

public choice argument of concentrated benefits trumping dispersed
costs, as useful as it is at explaining the success of many perverse
policies, cannot adequately explain the pervasive censorship we discuss

in this article. Much of this censorship harms not only the general public
but also many well-organized interest groups. The problem is that few
people recognize some of the most harmful forms of government
censorship as being censorship. And since they don’t recognize it for

what it is, many erroneously see censorship as the most effective and
least costly way for government to achieve social objectives that almost
everyone claims to support, such as protecting the environment,

reducing waste, ensuring an adequate food supply, reducing our

34
Clark J. R. Censoring and Destroying Information in the Information Age / J. R. Clark,
R. Lee Dwight. – Available at: http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-
journal/2008/11/cj28n3-3.pdf