I think most of us agree that censorship is a bad thing. Even though I personally disagree with a lot of things people say, I do not believe it is correct for a governing body to force the silence of people with disagreeable or offensive viewpoints.

I've always felt like self-censorship is not a bad thing, however- it is a choice that people (or businesses, whatever) make freely because they feel it is in their best interest to do so. Not because a governing body forces them, but because there is external pressure that they feel is strong enough to warrant modifying their statements or public opinions. It seems to me, though, that if a person or business weighs their options and decides that self-censorship is the better choice to meet their goals, there is no ethical issue there. But perhaps some would disagree?

I was thinking about this because TheDailyWTF.com just changed its name to WorseThanFailure.com. The reason stated is because the owner of the site didn't want to be offensive, and felt like the original name was more offensive than he really intended it to be. There was an extreme backlash against this change (of course), and several people accused him of censorship. Of course, this change was his own choice, whether because of marketing or personal views, and not the censorship of a governing body. I think he'll probably lose traffic because of the name change (his old name had a lot of branding and would generate interest all by itself), but I don't see it as an ethical issue.

Personally, I actually prefer the name change, but the old one didn't bother me too much. While I'm not a big fan of swear words, even in acronyms, I live in the real world and realize that I can read WTF a few times and the world will keep turning. To me the new name is a bit more respectful, which I appreciate, though I doubt the little bit of respect I feel will make up by the tons of people who have lost all respect because of the self-censorship.

So, any thoughts? Is self-censorship bad/evil, or is it a natural and acceptable result of respect for others and market forces?