Free speech & censorship
Should the State Ever Have the Power to Censor Art, Literature or Media?
LNAT Section B · Model essay
The essay prompt
Consider whether it is ever legitimate for the state to hold a power to suppress or ban creative work, writing or media. Argue a clear position.
The stance
The state should not hold a general power to censor art, literature or media. Proven, concrete harms (incitement, hatred, prejudicing a fair trial) are already reachable through narrow, harm-tethered law; beyond that line a standing power to censor is illegitimate, ineffective and dangerous.
The case for
Article 10(2) ECHR shows democracies lawfully restrain some expression.
The Convention right is qualified: restrictions 'necessary in a democratic society' for national security, public safety, health, or the rights of others are expressly permitted, disciplined by the four-stage proportionality test in Bank Mellat (No 2). So restraint is not inherently illegitimate.
The case against
Free expression is the precondition for democratic accountability.
Article 10 protects ideas that 'offend, shock or disturb' (Handyside v UK). A state that decides which voices may speak becomes the judge of its own legitimacy; sovereignty shifts from the people to the censor. R v Penguin Books Ltd (1960) shows a jury rejecting paternalistic suppression of a novel.
Elite unlocks every LNAT Section B model essay in full — the worked argument, steel-manned counters, verified authorities and the founder's own plan behind each one.
Sign up and unlockThe founder's own plan for this essay
The exact plan this essay was built from — the founder's working notes before the model answer was written.
Elite unlocks every LNAT Section B model essay in full — the worked argument, steel-manned counters, verified authorities and the founder's own plan behind each one.
Sign up and unlockGenerate a model essay from this plan
Turn this plan into a finished essay, instantly.
Elite turns the founder's plan into a complete, 500–600 word Section B model essay written to the structure above — a clear stance, distinct points, a steel-manned counter and a tight finish. Generate, read, regenerate.
Sign up and unlock