Reporters Without Borders opens a new virtual library inside Minecraft to share banned news stories


A new virtual library in Minecraft will let people in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Russia and Vietnam read stories from banned journalists

  • Reporters will be able to use Minecraft as a workaround for censorship
  • The popular videgame will host a new virtual library filled with censored news stories in both English and the language they were originally written in
  • To start, work banned in five countries will be featured: Mexico, Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam 

Reporters Without Borders has found a radical new platform for distributing banned journalism in some of the world’s most repressive countries: Minecraft.

The advocacy group has opened a new virtual space on a dedicated server for the popular video game called ‘The Uncensored Library,’ accessible to any of Minecraft’s 145 million monthly players.

Inspired by the neoclassical architecture of ancient Rome and Greece, the library will be filled with books containing the text of news stories that have been censored in their countries of origin.

The Uncensored Library is a new virtual library in Minecraft, created in part by Reporters Without Borders to host the work of journalists banned or censored in their home countries

To begin with, the library will be stocked with stories from five countries that rank near the bottom of Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, including Egypt, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam.

The stories will be published in English and whichever language they were originally written in.

The text of the stories can’t be edited or altered, but anyone with access to the Minecraft server hosting the library will be able to read them.

The project is backed by several prominent international journalists who’ve had their work, or the work of someone they loved, censored, including Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Van Dai, Russian journalist Yulia Berezovskaia, and Hatice Cengiz, fiancée of the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

‘In many countries around the world, there is no free access to information,’ Reporters Without Borders’ Christian Mihr said in a statement on the group’s website.

‘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.’

To start with, the library will feature the work of journalists banned in five countries, including, Egypt, Vietnam, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico

To start with, the library will feature the work of journalists banned in five countries, including, Egypt, Vietnam, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico

The library was created by 16 people using 125 million blocks and inspired by the neoclassical architecture of ancient Rome and Greece

The library was created by 16 people using 125 million blocks and inspired by the neoclassical architecture of ancient Rome and Greece

The library is currently supported by several prominent international journalists, including Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Van Dai, Russian journalist Yulia Berezovskaia, and Hatice Cengiz, who was fiancée the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The library is currently supported by several prominent international journalists, including Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Van Dai, Russian journalist Yulia Berezovskaia, and Hatice Cengiz, who was fiancée the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Reporters Without Borders partnered with creative agency DDB German, design studio BlockWorks, and the production company Media Monks to complete The Uncensored Library

Reporters Without Borders partnered with creative agency DDB German, design studio BlockWorks, and the production company Media Monks to complete The Uncensored Library

The stories will be available in both English and the language they were originally published in, and users will be unable to alter or edit the text in any way

The stories will be available in both English and the language they were originally published in, and users will be unable to alter or edit the text in any way

The library’s virtual opening was timed to coincide with World Day Against Cyber Censorship, an annual observance that began in 2008 as a collaboration between Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.

The Library was assembled by 24 ‘builders’ from 16 countries, using 125 million blocks, and features a large central rotunda that measures 984 feet across.

The project was the result of a collaboration between Reporters Without Borders, the creative agency DDB German, design studio BlockWorks, and the production company Media Monks.

WHAT IS THE WORLD PRESS FREEDOM INDEX?

The World Press Freedom Index is an annual list assembled by Reporters Without Borders to rank the most open countries in the world, as well as identify the most authoritarian. 

The list is based on a questionnaire sent to media professionals, lawyers, and sociologists in each country in the index. 

Each answer in the questionnaire is assigned a numeric value and all of the answers for a given country are blended into an average score indicating its relative press freedom.  

 The 10 LEAST restrictive counties in the world for media are:

  1.  Norway
  2. Finland
  3. Sweden
  4. Netherlands
  5. Denmark
  6. Switzerland
  7. New Zealand
  8. Jamaica 
  9. Belgium
  10. Costa Rica 

The MOST restrictive countries in the world for reporters are:

  1. Turkmenistan
  2. North Korea
  3. Eritrea
  4. China
  5. Vietnam
  6. Sudan
  7. Syria
  8. Djibouti
  9. Saudi Arabia
  10. Laos 

Source: World Press Freedom Index 2019