To ban certain materials from being printed.
The Espionage Act, passed in 1917 after the United States entered the World War I, prohibited the http://www.answers.com/topic/disclosure of government and industrial information regarding national...
so the government would know who is against America
It punished anyone who spoke out against the war.
The congress passed the espionage act in 1917 to find out if anyone giving false reports or interfering with the war effort.