Here is a historical item about an investigation conducted by the House Judiciary Committee on telegraphic censorship.
On March 20, 1862, the Judiciary Committee reported:
First: A telegraphic censorship has been established in this city.
Second: The censorship existing at the time the investigation was directed by the House, was originally established upon the basis of the agreement between representatives of the press and Gen. McClellan, but was enlarged in its scope by the Secretary of State.
Third: At the time the inquiry was directed by the House, and for some months prior to that time, and until the 25th of February last, the censorship was controlled by the Secretary of State.
Fourth: The original design was to prevent the publication of military information which might be of advantage to the rebel authorities.
Fifth: Despatches [1860s spelling], almost numberless, of a political, personal, and general character, have been suppressed by the censor, and correspondents have been deterred from preparing others because they knew they could not send them to their papers by telegraph.
The telegraph has become a most important auxiliary to the press of the country, and should be left as free from government interference as may be consistent with the necessities of the government in time of war. These necessities cannot extend beyond what may be legitimately connected with the military or naval affairs of the nation, and to these should the government interference with the transmission of intelligence be confined, for it is this character of information alone which can be of importance to the enemy, and which may be properly withheld from the press and the public in order that it may not reach the enemy. The committee, therefore, recommends the adoption of the following resolution by the House:
Resolved, That the government shall not interfere with free transmission of intelligence by telegraph, when the same will not aid the enemy in his military or naval operations, or give him information concerning such operations on the part of the government, except when it may become necessary for the government, under the authority of Congress, to assume exclusive control of the telegraph for its own legitimate purpose, or to assert the right of priority in the transmission of its own despatches.
