2025-05-21 11:43:04 +01:00
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---
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2025-05-23 20:12:19 +01:00
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title: The Context
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2025-05-21 11:43:04 +01:00
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sidebar_position: 10
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---
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Censorship has been a tool for controlling information and suppressing dissent throughout history. It is often employed
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by authoritarian regimes to maintain power and control over their populations. The roots of censorship can be traced
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back to ancient civilizations, where rulers sought to suppress dissenting voices and control the narrative surrounding
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their reigns, through to recent history and the modern day:
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- **Ancient Rome**: Emperor Augustus, who reigned from 27 BCE to 14 CE, implemented strict controls over literature to
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promote his image.[^1] From around 29 BC "the explosion in the number of Augustan portraits attests a concerted
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propaganda campaign aimed at dominating all aspects of civil, religious, economic and military life with Augustus's
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person."[^2]
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- **Middle Ages**: The Catholic Church worked to suppress novel ideas, including heliocentrism, by banning books and
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punishing dissenters.[^3] The first _Index Librorum Prohibitorum_ was published in 1559 by the Sacred Congregation of
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the Roman Inquisition.[^4] The final index was published in 1948. While it was abolished in 1966, the official
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gazette of the Holy See published, from Pope Paul VI, that the index "retains its moral force despite its
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dissolution".
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<figure style={{"text-align": "center"}}>
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<img src="/img/censorship/Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum.jpg" style={{"max-width": "100%", "max-height": "500px"}} />
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<figcaption style={{"font-weight": "bold"}}>
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The master title page of Index Librorum Prohibitorum (in Venice, 1564).
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Credit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum_1.jpg">Wikipedia</a>.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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- **Russian Empire**: Censorship was systematically developed by the tsars late in the eighteenth century, partly as a
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frightened response to the excesses of the French Revolution. From 1976 the government set up censorship committees to
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determine which foreign books may be allowed to enter the country.[^5]
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- **Nazi Germany**: The Nazi party used extreme measures to control information, including media monopolisation. During
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the first weeks of 1933, the Nazi regime deployed the radio, press, and newsreels to stoke fears of a pending
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"Communist uprising". By 1944, the newspapers that remained operated in strict compliance with government press laws
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and published material only in accordance with directives issued by the Ministry of Propaganda.[^6]
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- **Arab Spring**: During the Arab Spring, from 2010 to 2012, governments across the Middle East employed extensive
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censorship measures to suppress dissent and control the narrative surrounding protests.[^7] For instance, the Egyptian
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government initially blocked access to social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and later cut off all
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internet access nationwide to stifle communication among protesters.[^8]
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The [Open Observatory of Network Interference](https://ooni.org/) (OONI) is dedicated to measuring internet censorship
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and promoting transparency in online communications. Their 2024 report on Russia[^9] highlights the systematic
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suppression of independent media between September 2023 and September 2024. Key findings indicate a significant increase
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in censorship efforts, including widespread blocking of news websites and the restriction of access to independent
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journalism, reflecting a growing trend of media control aimed at stifling dissent and limiting public discourse.
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[Reporters Without Borders](https://rsf.org/en) (RSF) is an organization focused on defending press freedom globally.
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The 2025 World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) indicates that economic fragility has emerged as the primary threat to press
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freedom, affecting numerous countries.[^10] The report highlights a significant increase in censorship and violence
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against journalists, particularly in regions facing economic instability, which has further compromised the ability of
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the media to operate independently and effectively.
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<figure style={{"text-align": "center"}}>
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<img src="/img/censorship/wpfi_2025.png" style={{"max-width": "100%", "max-height": "500px"}} />
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<figcaption style={{"font-weight": "bold"}}>
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In 2025, the conditions for journalism are poor in half the world’s countries.
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Credit: <a href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/22640582/">Reporters Without Borders</a>.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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[^1]: Rudich, V. (2006). Navigating the Uncertain: Literature and Censorship in the Early Roman Empire. _Arion: A
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Journal of Humanities and the Classics_, _14_(1), 7–28. http://www.jstor.org/stable/29737288
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[^2]: Walker, S., & Burnett, A. (1981). _The image of Augustus_. British Museum Publications. ISBN 978-0-7141-1270-1.
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[^3]: Fabio Blasutto, David de la Croix, Catholic Censorship and the Demise of Knowledge Production in Early Modern
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Italy, _The Economic Journal_, Volume 133, Issue 656, November 2023, Pages
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2899–2924, [https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/uead053](https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/uead053)
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[^4]: Brown, H. F. (1907). _Studies in the history of Venice_ (p. 70). New York, NY: E.P. Dutton and Company.
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[^5]: Rogers, A. R. (1973). Censorship and Libraries in the Soviet Union. _Journal of Library History, Philosophy, and
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Comparative Librarianship_, _8_(1), 22–29. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25540391
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[^6]: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "The Press in the Third
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Reich". https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-press-in-the-third-reich. Accessed on 19th May 2025.
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[^7]: Al Jazeera. (2021, January 27). _The social media myth about the Arab
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Spring_. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/1/27/the-social-media-myth-about-the-arab-spring. Accessed 19th May 2025.
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[^8]: Time for the People. (2020, December 17). _What happened to the internet since the Arab
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Spring?_ https://timep.org/2020/12/17/from-free-space-to-a-tool-of-oppression-what-happened-to-the-internet-since-the-arab-spring/.
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Accessed 19th May 2025.
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[^9]: Open Observatory of Network Interference. (2024). _The systematic suppression of independent media in
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Russia_. https://ooni.org/post/2024-russia-report/. Accessed on 19th May 2025.
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[^10]: Reporters Without Borders. (2025). _RSF World Press Freedom Index 2025: Economic fragility a leading threat to
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press freedom_. https://rsf.org/en/rsf-world-press-freedom-index-2025-economic-fragility-leading-threat-press-freedom.
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Accessed 19th May 2025.
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