A group of media freedom activists at Minecraft has been successful in building a whopping 12.5 million block digital library setup on the respective Minecraft map [1]. The respective digital library has been referred to as the ‘Uncensored Library.’ This advanced digital library boasts containing an entire world’s worth of valuable information. To top it all, the library has been made available for the users to read the same conveniently using the digital platform. The library “Uncensored Library” is especially dedicated to the users who are currently under successive oppressive regimes that would otherwise censor this type of information online or offline.
The massive digital library worth 12.5 million storage capacity has been unveiled to commemorate the World Day against all forms of censorship by a leading organization named “Reporters Without Borders.” The famous Uncensored Library serves to be the latest manifestation of an ultimate internet quote as expressed by John Gilmore –one of the leading founders of EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) [2]. The quote goes as, “The Internet interprets censorship as potential damage and effectively routes the same.”
Censorship Laws in Different Nations
Even after continuous efforts by the governments of the world towards censoring free information from the respective citizens, the citizens are known to always come up with a proper way to come across a dedicated route around the given censorship by making use of the Internet & its services. Whether it is achieved with the help of VPNs or the utilization of proxies, Tor, or even with the help of innovative concepts like the Uncensored Library, in the end, it does not matter at all. It is the spirit of human beings to be free. As such, humans will always find a way to be free at all times and under any given circumstance.
For instance, in nations like China, seekers of freedom of speech are known to make use of made-up languages like Tolkein Elvish or Klingon for bypassing automatic censorship of the respective keywords in any content or document. In such countries, even texts in private groups or group chats are under the radar of censorship and are deeply screened for the same [3]. As such, messages that might be discussing forbidden or restricted topics will be instantly removed. Moreover, the senders of such messages are punished as well.
What is Uncensored Library?
There are several wings of the given digital library. These separate wings are known to represent valuable work from the leading news portals or individual journalists that might have been restricted or banned in the native countries.
For instance, in the library, the specialized Egypt wing is known to feature articles from Mada Masr –a journal that has been banned in the country and remains inaccessible to the citizens of Egypt since 2017. At the same time, the Russian dialect of the library is known to feature impressive works from the famous “grani.ru” –being a part of the block list of Roskamnadzor since the time of 2014. There is also a separate Vietnamese section in the library. Under this section, you can come across the works completed by Nguyen Van Dai –the person who received imprisonment for his controversial work through his writing against the Vietnamese Government.
Similarly, the Mexican section of the digital library is known to present pictures belonging to journalists who were murdered for their controversial work in the country. At the same time, there is a specialized Saudi Arabian section in the digital library as well. This section represents works of the famous Jamal Khashoggi –who was murdered in 2018 by the government here.
The Uncensored Library
For creating this digital masterpiece, around 24 creators from up to 16 different nations have delivered their services through the respective screens for over 250 hours. To embrace their hard work, Minecraft has been successful in generating over 112 million active players on a monthly basis. As such, Minecraft has become one of the most online games being played across the globe. A portion of the millions of players at Minecraft are from countries featuring strict censorship laws [4]. The library map can also be downloaded by the respective users for offline use.
References
- Chen, Caleb, “Activists in Minecraft made a digital library to bypass government censorship” Privacy News Online 24th march 2020 https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/activists-in-minecraft-made-a-digital-library-to-bypass-government-censorship/ ,PrivacyNewsOnline/.
- “Activists Created a 12.5 Million Block Digital Library in Minecraft to Bypass Censorship Laws” Business Insider, 14th March 2020. https://www.businessinsider.in/slideshows/miscellaneous/activists-created-a-12-5-million-block-digital-library-in-minecraft-to-bypass-censorship-laws/slidelist/74627618.cms”
- Meisenzahl, Mary, “Activists created a 12.5 million block digital library in ‘Minecraft’ to bypass censorship laws” Flipboard, 14th March 2020, https://flipboard.com/topic/jamalkhashoggi/activists-created-a-12-5-million-block-digital-library-in-minecraft-to-bypass-/a-2X520PHLSOW79ylQ4ahGKQ%3Aa%3A48159484-55e38a2aba%2Fbusinessinsider.com,
- “Activists created a 12.5 million block digital library in ‘Minecraft’ to bypass censorship laws” Reddit,https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/fihocf/activists_created_a_125_million_block_digital/,
