U.S. Office of Censorship
The U.S. Office of Censorship was a government agency established on December 19, 1941, shortly after the United States entered World War II. Its primary function was to manage voluntary and mandatory censorship measures to safeguard military secrets and ensure national security during wartime. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, recognizing the necessity of censorship in conflict, emphasized the importance of withholding sensitive military information from potential adversaries. The office introduced the Code of Wartime Practices in 1942, which served as a guideline for the press to voluntarily restrain from publishing information about troop movements, military fortifications, and other sensitive topics.
In addition to promoting media restraint, the Office of Censorship was responsible for inspecting mail and communications entering and leaving the country to prevent the dissemination of information that could jeopardize national security. The press largely cooperated with the office’s censorship efforts, particularly regarding the development of the atomic bomb, although some leaks did occur. The agency operated until September 28, 1945, after which its influence and the cooperative relationship with the media did not carry over to subsequent conflicts, reflecting a shift in public and media attitudes toward government-imposed censorship.
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U.S. Office of Censorship
- FOUNDED: December 14, 1941
- TYPE OF ORGANIZATION: Government agency office created when the United States entered World War II
SIGNIFICANCE: This office coordinated voluntary and mandatory censorship policies, seeking to prevent the disclosure of US military secrets
Nine days after the United States entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared the necessity of censorship in times of war. “All Americans,” he stated, “abhor censorship, just as they abhor war.” However, the president continued by noting that censorship was inevitable in a time of war and observing that America was, indeed, at war. He concluded that national security required military information of possible use to the enemy to be “scrupulously withheld at the source,” and that laws prohibiting dissemination of such information had to be “rigidly enforced.” To this end, he established the Office of Censorship by executive order on December 19, 1941. The office operated until abolished by an executive order on September 28, 1945.
The Office of Censorship’s most important role in restricting the publication of sensitive military information was to propose in 1942 a voluntary system of media restraint in the form of a Code of Wartime Practices. This code consisted of guidelines to be adopted by the press. The code urged that information not be published that related to troop, ship, and plane movements, fortifications, weather conditions, casualty lists, damage to various military targets, transportation of war materials, and the movement of US officials traveling abroad. In addition to promulgating this code, the Office of Censorship was responsible for inspecting mail and cable entering and leaving the United States and censoring items that threatened national security.
The Code of Wartime Practices included a provision restraining news stories about new or secret military weapons. Perhaps the most dramatic and successful application of this provision was to news regarding the development of the atomic bomb. Members of the press, generally in support of US involvement in World War II, were the main willing partners with the government in maintaining voluntary censorship rules formulated by the Office of Censorship. This willingness included censorship of stories relating to research concerning atomic weapons. Although the blanket over this information was not complete and was occasionally pierced, leaks concerning the bomb were relatively infrequent and never rose to a level sufficient to persuade government officials to elevate wartime censorship to the level of a mandatory code. The overwhelming willingness of the press to cooperate in this suppression of sensitive war-related news did not replicate itself in the wars that followed, perhaps because World War II was a conflict in which the nation’s combative role was readily accepted by members of the media and the general public.
Bibliography
Eastman, Cari Lee Skogberg. Free Speech and Censorship: A Documentary and Reference Guide. Greenwood, 2022.
"Records of the Office of Censorship." National Archives, www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/216.html. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Silvera, Ian. "Oppenheimer, Atomic Bill and the Explosive Birth of Science Journalism." Tech, Power, and Media, 24 May 2023, www.news-future.com/p/oppenheimer-atomic-bill-and-the-explosive. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Sweeney, Michael S. Secrets of Victory: The Office of Censorship and the American Press and Radio in World War II. University of North Carolina P, 2001.