Edited Clean Version

This book explores how modern media technology, like V-chips and Internet filters, empowers consumers to self-regulate their media experiences, shifting censorship from regulatory bodies to individual users.

In Edited Clean Version, Raiford Guins explores the evolving nature of censorship in the digital age. He highlights how contemporary media technology is often marketed based on what it lacks rather than its capabilities. This shift in focus raises questions about the implications of purchasing devices like televisions, DVD players, and game consoles that are designed to limit the content users can access.

Guins points out that modern technologies, such as V-chips, internet filters, and parental controls, empower consumers to filter and control their media experiences. This creates a new dynamic in which individuals actively shape their viewing, listening, and gaming habits according to personal values and morals. Rather than being subjected to external censorship imposed by regulatory bodies, users now engage in self-censorship through the tools provided by the technology itself.

The author argues that these control technologies reflect a broader ethos of neoliberal governance, where the responsibility for regulation has shifted from institutions to individuals. By framing this shift as a form of empowerment, Guins encourages readers to reconsider their relationship with media and the ways in which they navigate issues of security and choice in their consumption habits. Ultimately, Edited Clean Version offers a critical examination of how technology influences personal agency and the nature of censorship in our lives.