Banned books library inside Minecraft
On March 12 2020, the “World Day Against Cyber Censorship”, The Uncensored Library opened its doors.
The Uncensored Library is a Minecraft server and map released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and created by BlockWorks, DDB Berlin, and .monks as an attempt to circumvent censorship in countries without freedom of the press.
"In many countries, websites, social media and blogs are controlled by oppressive leaders. Young people, in particular, are forced to grow up in systems where their opinion is heavily manipulated by governmental disinformation campaigns." Reporters Without Borders (RSF) uses this loophole to bypass internet censorship to bring back the truth – within Minecraft. "Where almost all media is blocked or controlled, the world’s most successful computer game is still accessible."
Journalists from five different countries now have a place to make their voices heard again, despite having been banned, jailed, exiled and even killed. Their forbidden articles were republished in books within Minecraft, giving readers the chance to inform themselves about the real political situation in their countries and learn the importance of press freedom.
"Let’s empower the next generation to stand up for their right to information and give them a powerful tool to fight oppressive leaders: knowledge. Together with the ever-expanding gaming community, we will show the world that the truth will never be silenced!"
You can share the project with the hashtag #TruthFindsAWay
The non-profit Reporters Without Borders has experience on this front with projects like the audio-centric Uncensored Playlist, which evaded censors by operating through music streaming services.
The library consists of around 300 books distributed between twelve wings, most of them represented by a country where information may be limited. Visitors can explore the library and read banned articles in the form of Minecraft books. The design makes finding material easier, and allows for other forms of creation and interaction as well, such as a memorial to murdered journalists housed within the library’s walls.
The design of the library by Blockworks was no small feat, taking a team of 24 people from 16 different countries around 250 hours to construct. James Delaney, Managing Director of the design company, told the BBC that the aim was to create a classical design which was "on the border of fantasy".
“The style is Classical and formal, the kind of architecture you’d see in the British Museum and New York Public Library… this architectural style is usually used by governments to reinforce their own positions of authority.” The design team “wanted to take that and turn it on its head. Yes, we’re using this formalistic, authoritarian style, but instead it’s filled with free information.”
The countries in the library were selected with the help of Google Analytics, by looking at countries with an active Minecraft community, as well as the RSF’s Press Freedom Index. Journalists from each of these countries then provided the library with their articles so that they could be transformed into Minecraft books.
Each wing of the library is dedicated to a country where press freedom is under threat. The library contains banned reporting from Mexico, Russia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Brazil, Belarus, Iran and Eritrea.
Inside, players can read real articles that were once silenced, as Minecraft books in both English and the original language. These articles discuss censorship, unjust punishment, and other critiques of the writer's government.
The library contains a central room listing the Press Freedom Index and state of freedom of the press of every country covered by the index, and the Mexican section contains memorials for reporters who were killed due to their writings.
COUNTRIES PUSH BACK
Not all countries are taking this lying down — some are pushing back, trying to get the main server banned. But anyone can download and re-upload the entire library to another server, at any time. One player calls it "ingenious in many ways", adding that, as the library may be downloaded and reuploaded by other users, "it is easy to replicate and therefore hard to kill".
Nick Feamster, Neubauer Professor of Computer Science at the University of Chicago, told the BBC that the library could be effective at beating the censors, but he was concerned about how governments may respond. "It's an interesting idea," he said, "But I think there are still some issues. Governments will know about this - the articles are going across the internet. It's not going to be foolproof against a determined adversary."
He said that the strength of the library came from its use of entanglement - mixing up the censored material with the video game in the eyes of the censors. "By entangling these two things you force them to share content," he said. "You can't censor this one without the other."
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
"It started out as a project in an online forum and turned into the best-selling video game of all time, but now Minecraft is being used for something even its creator would not have dreamt of." - Tom Gerken, BBC News.
"Created with over 12.5 million Minecraft blocks, this beautifully detailed neoclassical-style library is more than a visual marvel—it’s a powerful act of digital resistance." - This How Things Work.
"A form of the commons - that's cool." - Lukekohen
The two ways to access the library are to download a map from the official website or to connect to their Minecraft server.
