Skill Level: đž Intermediate
What It Is
Censorship isnât always a bonfire of booksâitâs often quieter, sneakier, and dressed up in bureaucratic nonsense. This guide teaches you how to recognize the signs of state-sponsored censorship, from canceled art exhibits to banned books to silenced social media voices. Whether itâs your local library, your school board, or a national museumâwhen fascists fear the truth, they come for the storytellers.
Why It Matters
Right now, Trumpâs regime is trying to memory-hole anyone who doesnât fit the white Christian nationalist mold. Just this week, the Smithsonian pulled a trans portrait series under political pressure. Book bans are sweeping red states. Educators are being fired for teaching history accurately. Artists and journalists are being shadow-banned, slandered, and surveilled. If we canât recognize censorship as itâs happening, we canât fight it.
What Fascist Censorship Looks Like
- âCivilityâ rules used to silence protest or performance
- Sudden cancellations of public events without explanation
- Museums and libraries pulling programming under âreviewâ
- Social media pages throttled or mass-reported
- Politicians or PACs targeting educators, authors, and artists
- Local laws banning âcontroversialâ content (usually about race, gender, or sexuality)
- Vague statements about âcommunity standards,â âinappropriate themes,â or âsecurity concernsâ
What You Can Do About It
Step 1: Document Everything
When censorship happensâscreenshot, film, or save receipts. Get the original event description, cancellation notice, social media posts, and who issued the decision.
Step 2: Ask Who Benefited
Censorship isnât randomâit protects the powerful. Follow the money, the politics, or the outrage machine that made it happen.
Step 3: Share the Silenced Work
If an event or artist is censored, help amplify it. Link to their work. Host digital gallery nights. Share banned books. Invite the silenced speaker to your own platform.
Step 4: Raise Hell
Petitions, op-eds, sit-ins, protestsâcensorship is fragile. When they cancel something, make it un-cancelable by refusing to shut up. Loud resistance turns erasure into exposure.
Step 5: Build Protective Infrastructure
Create or support networks that defend artistic, journalistic, and academic freedomâlike the National Coalition Against Censorship, PEN America, or your local banned book club. Donât just fight censorshipâbe the reason it fails.
Example in Action
Amy Sheraldâs trans portrait series âTrans Forming Libertyâ was yanked from the Smithsonian after political complaints. Instead of backing down, activists turned it into a viral protest, projecting the images onto the museumâs exterior, flooding socials with the artwork, and making it the most-viewed exhibit they never showed.
Resistance Reminder
Censorship isnât about âoffenseââitâs about control. And nothing terrifies a fascist more than people thinking freely and loudly. Keep your eyes open, your receipts saved, and your megaphone charged.