Every single day, governments around the world try to censor the info that’s coming to their country by blocking the internet access to news and specific social media sites. However, there is one group that’s using a popular game in order to trick the restrictions.
Many organizations, like Reporters Without Borders – a non-profit organization that promotes press freedom – are continually looking for creative workarounds in order to spread the news that’s banned in certain countries.
For example, Reporters Without Borders stated that they used Minecraft, which is owned by Microsoft, and that’s played by more than 145 million people from all around the world, in order to deliver the news. They are using it in order to build The Uncensored Library, which is a virtual library meant for hosting news articles that have been banned in some countries, like Russia and Vietnam.
Christian Mihr, from Reporters Without Borders Germany, stated that: “In many countries around the world, there is no free access to information. Websites are blocked, independent newspapers are banned, and the press is controlled by the state. Young people grow up without being able to form their own opinions. By using Minecraft, the world’s most popular computer game, as a medium, we give them access to independent information.”
The library opened on Thursday and comes with a lot of banned articles from Egypt, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. The library keeps growing, and more and more books are continuously added. The best example would be an article from 2018, from Mada Masr, an Egyptian website that has been censored. Also, an article by Mexican journalist Javier Valdez, who was killed back in 2017 after reporting important news in his country.
Reporters Without Borders also stated that the articles are hidden in a computer game and that the books can be ready by everyone on the server.
