The Rising Occurrence of Self-Censorship and the Rising Need for Critical Thinking

It was a simple question posed by the Thai filmmaker.   What did these six film and TV productions have in common?  

• Spotlight, directed by Tom McCarthy
• JFK, directed by Oliver Stone
• Social Network, directed by David Fincher
• The Crown, created by Peter Morgan
• All the President’s Men, directed by Alan J. Pakula
• A Few Good Men, directed by Carl Reiner

They are all great productions. More importantly, they are all investigations into the shape and use of power – the very reasons, the filmmaker explained, these kind of films are not produced in Thailand.  

“Spotlight” exposes corruption in a religious organization. “JFK” and “All The President’s Men” expose the black underbelly of political systems and leaders. “The Social Network” portrays a business tycoon warts and all. “A Few Good Men” brings down a powerful general. And “The Crown” portrays a royal family as all too human.  

For whatever reason, compared to filmmakers in the West, the director explains, “we self-censor.” The result is a Thai film industry that produces only comedies, horror films and teen flicks, stories that make no attempt to question authority. “This is why we (the Thai film industry) cannot grow,” the director said.

Self-Censorship on the Rise

Self-censoring happens everywhere, not just in the Thai film industry.  

In the politically volatile and divided United States, we self-censor. On Facebook, I and my friends who have opposing views on sensitive topics have conspired silently not to push each other’s buttons and spark a flaming war.  

A 2023 Oxford University article entitled “Keeping Your Mouth Shut: Spiraling Self-Censorship in the United States,” states that since the unsettling days of McCarthyism in the 1950s, “the percentage of the American people not feeling free to express their views has tripled. In 2020, more than four in ten people engaged in self-censorship.”  

In organizations large and small, we self-censor. I’ve been in leadership meetings where people all agree with the leader or align to the groupthink, despite expressing reservations or differences of opinions outside the meeting. I’ve been told off by colleagues to not pursue an issue “unless I want to create more work for everybody.” In some organizations, people hunker down in self-defense. As Wharton organizational psychologist, Adam Grant explained in his book, Think Again, psychological safety disappears and self-defense manifests itself in self-censorship.  

In performance cultures, the emphasis on results often undermines psychological safety. When we see people get punished for failures and mistakes, we become worried about proving our competence and protecting our careers. We learn to engage in self-limiting behavior, biting our tongues rather than voicing questions and concerns. Sometimes that’s due to power distance: we’re afraid of challenging the big boss at the top. The pressure to conform to authority is real, and those who dare to deviate run the risk of backlash. In performance cultures, we also censor ourselves in the presence of experts who seem to know all the answers—especially if we lack confidence in our own expertise.

The Right Questions

We are at an inflection point in time, when psychological safety is at its lowest levels in society’s biggest institutions. It is a time for leadership and courage. The way leaders manifest courage is via the most powerful tool in one’s critical thinking toolkit: the almighty question.  

Question group think.      Question the status quo.      Question authority.  

There is, of course, risk in challenging authority. But as the Thai filmmaker explained, true artists have to push at the boundaries, sometimes very real, sometimes imagined and self-censored. Pushing enough, in the right measures, can have an effect, although you need to be patient. “Change comes slowly,” he said. “And then it comes quickly.”  

Questioning to drive change is not just about making big dents in the universe. It is about driving change at any level, in any institution or corporation. In Seth Grodin’s book, The Song of Significance, he provides a list of questions that can help people and teams get things done, and drive change. He says that “significant organizations” ask these questions, and all others avoid them:  

What’s the specific change this team is going to make? What’s my personal role in making that change happen? What do I need to learn to support or lead this change? Who needs to help me? Who needs my help? What is the risk – for us, for me, for the people we serve? What’s the timing of this project? What’s the budget? What am I afraid of? What is the benefit to each party involved?  

You may think those are ordinary questions on first read. But are you really asking them in your work? If you do, you will work towards a better outcome, but you may come up against the indomitable status quo, social inconveniences, and political barriers.  

Grodin also provides a list of post-mortem questions that significant organizations ask, including “Did we ship on time? Did we make big promises (to our customers, sure, but also to our coworkers) and keep them? Did we relentlessly make the work better?”  

Here is a particularly good Grodin question: “Did we ask hard questions that led to new insights?” In other words, did we recognize our self-censoring biases, and challenge group-think, the status quo, or authority?  

Let’s put it another way. You certainly expect experts in fields important to you to be asking these questions. In the book, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, film producer Brian Grazer talks about the importance of experts asking the right questions in order to ensure our health and safety.  

You certainly want your doctor to be able to look at the world through your eyes. You want her to understand your symptoms so she can give you what you need to feel better. You also want a doctor to be curious about new approaches to disease, and to care and healing. You want someone willing to listen to colleagues and researchers with views that may disrupt her comfortable, routine ways of taking care of patients. Medicine is filled with disruptions that change the typical ways doctors practice it, starting with handwashing and sanitation, and coming all the way forward to laparoscopic and robotic surgery, saving and improving the lives of millions of people. Medicine is one of those arenas that sometimes steadily, sometimes radically, advances precisely because of curiosity. But you need a doctor stepping outside of her comfortable point of view in order to benefit from those improvements herself.

The Right Skills

Hard questioning is at the heart of critical thinking done well. Hard questioning requires leadership, and takes courage, particularly in today’s world where political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal trends and changes make the world around us more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. This is particularly true with the rise of AI, and the growing insecurity humans are beginning to have about AI.  

Visionary entrepreneur, Peter Diamandis, writes of his two children in this blog post. He believes that the current education system for kids their age is outdated, and that instead of memorizing “facts and figures, we need to cultivate key mindsets and tools that will empower them to thrive in the age of AI.”  

Of the eight he lists in this blog post, he includes:  

• Debate: Our kids must learn to engage in respectful, constructive debates, sharpening their critical thinking skills and fostering a deeper understanding of diverse perspectives.
• Leadership: As the leaders of tomorrow, our children need to develop the skills and confidence to guide others through an ever-changing world.
• Asking Great Questions: Instead of merely memorizing answers, students should be taught to ask insightful questions that challenge assumptions and spark innovation.
• Curiosity: Encouraging curiosity and a love for exploration will drive our kids to continually seek out new knowledge and experiences.
• Critical Thinking and First Principles Thinking: Developing critical thinking skills and learning to break down complex problems into their fundamental principles will empower our kids to tackle the challenges of a rapidly evolving world.

So whether you are a parent, a doctor, a middle manager, a filmmaker – anyone really – you have to ask yourself: Are you asking the right questions, the hard questions? Are you creating a safe environment that allows people to ask those questions?  

If you are, thank you. We need you. Please continue to help us solve important problems at all levels, and to drive change for Good.

ARTICLE FAQS

1. What is self-censorship?
Self-censorship occurs when individuals withhold their true opinions, questions, or creative ideas because they fear backlash, judgment, or negative consequences. It happens in industries, organizations, and everyday social interactions.

2. Why is self-censorship increasing today?
Several forces contribute: political polarization, fear of social conflict, organizational cultures that punish mistakes, and performance pressures that erode psychological safety. Surveys show that large numbers of people in the United States and other countries now feel less free to express their views than in past decades.

3. How does self-censorship affect organizations and creativity?
When people stay silent, groupthink becomes the norm, critical problems remain unaddressed, and innovation stalls. Industries that avoid questioning authority, such as the Thai film industry described in the article, often fail to grow or challenge themselves. Inside organizations, silence leads to conformity rather than improvement.

4. What role does questioning play in overcoming self-censorship?
Questioning is central to critical thinking. It challenges groupthink, tests assumptions, and opens space for alternative perspectives. Leaders and professionals who ask hard questions foster cultures that are more innovative, resilient, and adaptive.

5. What kinds of questions break through self-censorship?
Questions that focus on change and accountability are effective. Examples include: What is the risk if we stay silent? What assumptions are we making? Did we ask questions that led to new insights? Am I avoiding a difficult question because of fear or conformity?

6. How can we build the skills to resist self-censorship?
Developing habits of curiosity, debate, and first-principles thinking helps. Encouraging psychological safety within teams is essential. Education systems, organizations, and leaders need to reward not just correct answers, but also insightful questions and thoughtful challenges to authority.