Called “The Uncensored Library”, contains articles blocked in countries with no proper press freedoms
Written by Aqil Nasri
Who would’ve thought that one of the most popular video games in the world could house a virtual library that contains censored news articles from all over the world?
The Uncensored Library is a new virtual library that’s been launched in Minecraft to celebrate March 12’s World Day Against Cyber Censorship, and if you think that this is just another super complicated sculpture built in Minecraft just for impression’s sake, then you’re definitely wrong.
This library is literally a genuine virtual library that’s built inside Minecraft in order to house journalism from countries where complete press freedom might not exist for the people, or from places where selective censorship denies access to certain articles that the government might find threatening to the institution.
So, the trick with putting this virtual library inside Minecraft? The game isn’t blocked in most countries.
It’s an ingenious loophole, allowing users to enter the game, load up The Uncensored Library server, and scour through hundreds if not thousands of books that houses republished articles that are blocked from social media and news outlets in several different countries.
Now, each country represented in the library has its own rooms, dressed up with sculptures and statuary that speak to each country’s specific censorship campaigns. For example, Saudi Arabia does not allow independent journalism, so its wing features a singular cage at the centre, which symbolizes the arrests of journalists and how they’re likely to be tortured for their criticism of the government.
This project was done by Reporters Without Borders, a group that’s fully dedicated to ensuring the freedom of press globally, and BlockWorks, a collective of designers and artists that have come together and made a business out of creating elaborate scenes in Minecraft.
In order to browse the library, users will need version 1.14.4 of the Java edition of Minecraft. Now, once that’s installed, open the multiplayer menu and enter “visit.uncensoredlibrary.com” as the server IP. Also, you can download a copy of the library here to host locally or even explore the library by yourself.
