NCAC Launches Censorpedia

This past weekend, the National Coalition Against Censorship launched Censorpedia, a crowdsourced database that collects censorship cases from around the world to facilitate the research and awareness of some of the most notorious violations of the right to free expression.

In observance of the United Nation’s annual Human Rights Day, NCAC showed their support for civil rights by launching the tool to help broaden public knowledge of particular cases in which free expression has been challenged.

Whether you are interested in researching particular censorship subjects, such as nudity, violence, or sexual/gender orientation, or are seeking more information about censorship in particular geographical regions, as the site explains, “Censorpedia aids the fight for free expression by providing a repository of incidents involving information about what is vulnerable to censorship, and about the strategies and tactics that have defeated previous’ censorship attempts.”

Collecting over 1,200 individual incidents and built upon the 1994 art project The File Room, Censorpedia’s collaborative model allows for a dynamic and interactive dialog between contributors and browsers. As NCAC writes, “Censorpedia’s database is crowdsourced, and its userbase includes anyone researching censorship, such as activists working for freedom of expression, journalists, academics, students, artists, and all cultural producers whose expression has been subject to or threatened by censorship.”

As we have pointed out many times before, one of the best ways to combat censorship is to be empowered by knowledge. Censorpedia is just that tool, and with its continued development will prove to be an important resource in the fight for everyone’s right to free speech.

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Contributing Editor Caitlin McCabe is an independent comics scholar who loves a good pre-code horror comic and the opportunity to spread her knowledge of the industry to those looking for a great story!