While under Saddam Hussein's rule, much of the media was blocked and/or censored in Iraq. Once he was out, the doors to new media regulations were open, and Iraq begun to see new things like: Provocative music videos, news castings from America and Israel, Pornography, and much more. Because certain media coverage was causing violence, the government decided to work on a new censorship law. In an article by the New York Times , Iraq's Deputy Cultural Minister stated:
“Our Constitution respects freedom of thought and freedom of expression, but that should come with respect for society as a whole, and for moral behavior, It is not easy to balance security and democracy. It is like being a tightrope walker.”
The article goes on to say that in the horrid times after Hussein was taken out of power, things needed to be controlled. the government supported freedom of expression but, did not want violation of "public order and morality." With such tight censorship, journalists are limited to the type of stories they can cover and the government has even tried to enforce stricter laws upon them. According to Jon Williams of BBC News:
"The Iraqi authorities want the BBC and other news organisations to disclose full lists of staff, an act we believe might endanger those who work for us. The Iraqi authorities are demanding journalists reveal their sources in response to complaints, in violation of the journalist's age-old responsibility to protect those who come to us with stories. And they want to prevent the international media from reporting stories that might incite violence or sectarianism, but have failed to clarify what constitutes "incitement" or "sectarianism"."
With such strict control over the press, how will Iraqis be exposed to other views of the news? Will the doors of Censorship open up again for Iraq?