Key Highlights:
- A Minecraft server has been banned from 7 countries.
- The server contains restricted content that has been deemed illegal by the government.
- It stands as a treasure trove of information and a way to fight back against censorship.
Minecraft has grown in popularity by a large margin since its initial release back in May 2009, after which it exploded in popularity.
The game has since been released across a multitude of platforms (including a few unconventional ones), and offers a creative world where your imagination is only what limits you from creating massive worlds and towering structures within the game.
To this extent, players can also host specific servers that act as game hubs, carrying forward a treasure trove of interactive objects and more. One such Minecraft server has managed to gain a fair deal of notoriety, thanks to its use of some restricted content, resulting in it being banned in seven countries.
Minecraft’s ‘Uncensored Library’ Has Been Banned in 7 Different Countries
Known as ‘The Uncensored Library’, this particular Minecraft server has been described as a ‘digital haven for independent information’, and is even wholly represented by the official Minecraft website.
The server was created with the organization known as ‘Reporters without Borders’, along with BlockWorks, a Minecraft design collective. It was first unveiled in 2020, as a means for persecuted authors to publish their works without fear of reprimand.
Since then, the server has grown phenomenally, with over 300 books being made available across 12 different wings. The library is monitored and carefully crafted by the RSF and the general Minecraft community, making it perhaps one of the more important servers to ever exist.
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That being said, The Uncensored Library has not been without its fair share of controversy, either. The public server has been banned across 7 countries, and the list could potentially increase down the line.
After all, a majority of the texts contained within the server contain some rather sensitive reports that have caused multiple governments across the globe to ban it. Countries in the list include Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.
While it is hoped that the ban gets removed eventually (along with a full restoration of said texts in these countries), it is quite unlikely to ever happen.
There is a workaround though. Interested players can choose to download fully featured maps of the server and browse them at will, which remedies the ban by a bit. However, this is in no way an acceptable compromise, and the ideal solution would be to have the bans overturned entirely.
This Is a Testament to the Freedom of Speech and the Impact of Video Games as a Medium
Video games are a curious artistic medium, that does not conform to the usual tonality and presentation (as one would expect from movies or books). Video games are far more interactive, offering powerful experiences that help elevate them further.
Choosing Minecraft as the host for The Uncensored Library is most certainly a curious decision, as video games aren’t ordinarily associated with resistance movements and things like the freedom of speech.
That being said, the effort put in here is most certainly commendable, and stands as a testament to what talented developers can conjure up together when given full rein and no restrictions.
The project has also since earned the Peabody Award in 2022, proving once more how powerful video games can be as an artistic medium, leading the storm of change and individual voices.
Censorship is a very real threat, especially in modern times – and having on demand access to such a creative archive is something that should be celebrated, and given way more recognition than it currently has.
