On Censorship

A more expansive perspective on censorship than is typically found in the West, drawing upon the author's personal experiences in China:

"In discussions of censorship, it is often perceived as no more than an act of elimination -- a process of deleting or blocking an existing body of information, a form of filtration. But from Socrates in ancient Greece to the Chinese Warring States period, successive regimes and dynasties have consistently reshaped ideological narratives through a process of selection and reconstruction. Thus, censorship is not a passive act. It is something far more profound -- an indispensable social mechanism tied to the very existence of rulers and those in power.... What the censors focus on is the reconstruction show more of both societal and individual cognition, aiming to reshape people's ideological frameworks." show less

It`s not an objective book about censorship and its history, more like Ai Weiwei`s artistic thoughts and impressions about it including surveillance and the rise of AI.