Professor of Communication Catherine W. Phelan chaired a panel on “Censorship in the Digital Age” at the International Communication Association (ICA) conference held May 30 in Boston. Conference participants from Singapore, Israel and the United States presented a trans-national comparison of the cultural practices regarding censorship. A comparison of different approaches to censorship can reveal diverse ways of thinking about freedom and individual rights within different cultures.
ICA is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication. An international association with more than 4300 members in over 80 countries, ICA has been officially associated with the United Nations as a non-governmental association (NGO) since 2003.
The centrality of communication technologies in the 21st century offers an exciting and critically important moment for communication scholars. With the digital revolution far from over and new inventions repeatedly challenging assumptions that were themselves formed only yesterday, communication studies emerges more than ever before as central to the mission and focus of the academic universe.
