Video games can and have been used in a lot of creative ways. Whether it’s a trick speedrunners use to get past a certain level or part that seems impossible to the endless possibilities of creations that have been developed with Dreams, to whatever else you can think of, video games have the function to do a lot. Minecraft is a game that is also filled with many ways to get creative just like a new project called The Uncensored Library that uses the game to give users access to articles that have been banned in five countries that rank poorly on the nongovernmental organization’s World Press Freedom Index: Egypt, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam.
The library was launched on the World Day Against Cyber Censorship and the works in the library are available in English and the original languages that they were written in. The project was launched by Reporters Without Borders, Blockworks, DDB Germany, and MediaMonks.
Works found in the library come from Khashoggi, a former Washington Post columnist who was allegedly killed and dismembered on October 2, 2018, for being critical of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s policies. Javier Valdez was a Mexican journalist killed by gunmen in 2017. He founded the Riodoce newspaper dedicated to crime and corruption. Also found in the library are texts from Nguyen Van Dai, an exiled human right lawyer and blogger, and articles that have been blocked from Russia’s grani.ru website, and Egypt’s blocked Mada Masr portal plus many more.
Managing Director of Reporters Without Borders Germany Christian Mihr said: “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 server can be accessed by searching visit.uncensoredlibrary.com in the server browser.