How do you define censorship?

[netmouse]

Someone commented in another journal the idea that censorship is something only governments can do.

I had defined it as something people with power do to people (publications, performances, etc) they have power over.

ETA: by power I meant institutionally-based authority, not merely physical force. "Institution" can include social institutions, such as clubs, churches, or families.

How do you define censorship?

Comments

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

If your kid wanted to put on a play for his class, and the principal said that he couldn't because the play supported socialist notions, something the principal personally abhorred, would that be censorship?

Does that change based on whether that's a public (government-sponsored) school or a private one?