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Uncensored Library Project: a strategy to circumvent censorship in countries predatory of press freedom

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

The Uncensored Library is a virtual anti-censorship library, created in 2020 within the game Minecraft by Reporters Without Borders to circumvent censorship in countries where access to information is restricted.

Objective:

Its purpose is to discuss The Uncensored Library as a means of access to censored information in countries identified as limiting freedom of the press; examine their adequacy and the characteristics of virtual libraries and reflect on the application of content curation in their collection composition.

Methodology:

As a method, an exploratory study of a theoretical nature was undertaken, configured as a case study. Systematic observation, bibliographic and documentary research were used for data collection. Result: verifies it can be characterized as a virtual library with limitations. In the construction of the collection, it is noticed that a still rustic form of content curation has been applied, but that the process has the potential to be applied in other initiatives of this kind.

Conclusion:

The Uncensored Library has limitations on access to hosted items, however, it achieves the purpose of sharing censored articles in countries predatory of press freedom.

KEYWORDS
Censorship; Virtual library; Content curation; Information access strategy.

RESUMO

Introdução:

A Uncensored Library é uma biblioteca virtual contra a censura, criada em 2020 dentro do jogo Minecraft pela organização Repórteres Sem Fronteiras como meio para burlar a censura em países nos quais o acesso à informação é restrito.

Objetivo:

Discutir a Uncensored Library como meio de acesso à informação censurada em países identificados como limitadores da liberdade de imprensa; examinar sua adequação as características de bibliotecas virtuais e refletir sobre a aplicação de curadoria de conteúdo na sua composição do acervo.

Metodologia:

Como método empreendeu-se estudo de caráter exploratório, de cunho teórico, configurado como estudo de caso. Para coleta de dados foi utilizada a observação sistemática, pesquisas bibliográfica e documental.

Resultado:

verifica-se que pode ser caracterizada como uma biblioteca virtual, com limitações. Na construção do acervo percebe-se que uma forma ainda rústica de curadoria de conteúdo foi aplicada, mas que o processo tem potencial para ser aplicado em outras iniciativas do gênero.

Conclusão:

a Uncensored Library apresenta limitações no acesso aos itens hospedados, entretanto, consegue atingir o propósito de compartilhar os artigos censurados em países predadores da liberdade de imprensa.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE
Censura; Biblioteca virtual; Curadoria de conteúdo; Estratégia de acesso à; informação.

1 INTRODUCTION

The rights to free access to information and free expression of ideas, described in international pacts enacted by the United Nations (UN) such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 1948ORGANIZAÇÃO DAS NAÇÕES UNIDAS. Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos, 1948. Disponível em: https://uni.cf/2TsPK7X. Acesso em: 17 jul. 2021.
https://uni.cf/2TsPK7X...
) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Brazil, 1992BRASIL. Decreto nº 591, de 6 de julho de 1992. Brasília; 1992. Atos Internacionais. Pacto Internacional sobre Direitos Econômicos, Sociais e Culturais. Promulgação. Disponível em: http://www.jusbrasil.com.br/legislacao/113459/decreto-591-9. Acesso em: 17 jul. 2021.
http://www.jusbrasil.com.br/legislacao/1...
), adopted by several countries and ratified by Brazil, are basic pillars of democracy, guaranteed to individuals and the community. Both documents refer to the safeguarding of the right that every person has to create, issue, seek, obtain, and share information, be it of a scientific or artistic nature, in oral or written form. And although this is a right that refers to the most human of our characteristics, communication, it is often hindered by those who should provide it.

People, institutions, and countries can attack in different ways the narratives with which they disagree in an attempt to prevent the dissemination of divergent discourses in which they see some danger to the maintenance of their position of power. There is, then, one of the most common threats to freedom of expression and access to information: censorship, which can be seen in all places and times, from the most authoritarian regimes to those recognized as democratic (OTERO, 2003OTERO, M. M. D. Censura de livros durante a ditadura militar 1964-1978. 2003. 151 f. Tese (Doutorado) - Curso de Pós-Graduação em História, Departamento de História, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 2003. Disponível em: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/7262https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345678 Acesso em: 18 dez. 2020.
https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345...
; COSTA, 2016COSTA, M. C. C. Isto não é censura - a construção de um conceito e de um objeto de estudo. In: INTERCOM - CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS DA COMUNICAÇÃO, 39., 2016, São Paulo. Anais [...]. São Paulo: Sociedade Brasileira de Estudos Interdisciplinares da Comunicação, 2016. Disponível em: https://portalintercom.org.br/anais/nacional2016/resumos/R11-3448-1.pdf. Acesso em: 20 jun. 2021.
https://portalintercom.org.br/anais/naci...
; DARNTON, 2016DARNTON, R. Censores em ação: como os Estados influenciaram a literatura. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2016.).

We observe that the expansion of conservatism in the world has contributed to the increase of persecution and censorship of information professionals, especially journalists, through repressive acts that range from preventing the broadcasting of news to their persecution and death. To protect themselves from such acts and ensure access to free, diverse and safe information, the press professionals, as the most affected in this situation, count on the help of international organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ, 2021COMITÊ DE PROTEÇÃO AOS JORNALISTAS. Nossa história. disponível em: https://cpj.org/about/history/. Acesso em: 17 jul. 2021.
https://cpj.org/about/history/...
) and the Reporters Without Borders organization (RSF, 2021aREPÓRTERES Sem Fronteiras. Nossos Valores. 2021a. Disponível em: https://rsf.org/pt/nossos-valores. Acesso em: 6 jul. 2021.
https://rsf.org/pt/nossos-valores...
) that have as their mission: to inform, protect, and defend journalists, as well as, demand from governments effective actions to protect the category around the world (CPJ, 2021COMITÊ DE PROTEÇÃO AOS JORNALISTAS. Nossa história. disponível em: https://cpj.org/about/history/. Acesso em: 17 jul. 2021.
https://cpj.org/about/history/...
; RSF, 2021aREPÓRTERES Sem Fronteiras. Nossos Valores. 2021a. Disponível em: https://rsf.org/pt/nossos-valores. Acesso em: 6 jul. 2021.
https://rsf.org/pt/nossos-valores...
). CPJ and RSF, maintain annual updated reports on journalists killed, arrested, or missing, as well as guides and manuals for preventive training for eminently dangerous action, among other initiatives relevant to maintaining the safety of these professionals in carrying out their activities at risk.

Among the initiatives of RSF is the annual measurement and monitoring of the degree of press freedom that results in the World Press Freedom Index (CMLI), which is a list of countries ranked according to the degree of safety for the development of journalistic activity, constituting a tool that "allows RSF to provide information on advances and declines in press freedom in 180 countries. (RSF, 2021cREPÓRTERES Sem Fronteiras. Classificação mundial da liberdade de Imprensa. 2021c. Disponível em: https://rsf.org/pt/classificacao. Acesso em: 6 jul. 2021.
https://rsf.org/pt/classificacao...
, online, n. p.).

In this context, RSF made public in March 2020 the Uncensored Library (UL) project, an initiative against censorship used in countries predatory to freedom of expression and information, in partnership with the company Blockworks, to build a virtual library within the electronic game Minecraft. The UL initially had six sections all referring to countries selected from the CMLI, being the initial five: Russia, Vietnam, Egypt, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia; and later added sections for Brazil, Belarus, and Eritrea.

The creators of the library present as its fundamental purpose the promotion of access to censored articles and, with this, they intend to favor the empowerment of the next generation to defend their rights of access to information (RSF, 2021bREPÓRTERES Sem Fronteiras. Comunicado para imprensa. [release] 2021b. Disponível em: https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en. Acesso em: 6 jul. 2021
https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en...
).

In this scenario, this paper seeks to discuss the Uncensored Library as a means of access to censored information in countries identified by Reporters Without Borders as limiting press freedom and, consequently, the right of free expression and access to information.

In this discussion we seek to reflect on the suitability of the UL project to the minimum requirements of a virtual library identified in the analysis framework for virtual libraries proposed by Oliveira (2018)OLIVEIRA, G. S. de. Uma análise comparativa entre a Biblioteca virtual Paul Otlet e a Community Virtual Library no Second Life Virtual. 2018. 51 f. TCC (Graduação) - Curso de Biblioteconomia, Ciência da Informação, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 2018. Disponível em: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/30692. Acesso em: 05 jul. 2021.
https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345...
. In addition, we seek to identify, in a visit to its virtual environment, what content is available and the possibility of interaction with censored information; in addition, we reflect on possibilities for the challenge of selecting material to compose the representative collection of the thematic universe covered by the UL. In this sense, the reflections focus on content curation, a procedure applied by professionals with experience in the treatment of information to select, organize, add value and disseminate information to a particular audience, with specific needs and interests, in order to make available what is already known, under a new perspective, giving it a new meaning (SAAD, 2012SAAD, E (org.). Curadoria digital e o campo da comunicação. São Paulo: ECA/USP, 2012.; CASTILHO, 2015CASTILHO, C. A. V. O papel da curadoria na promoção do fluxo de notícias em espaços informativos voltados para a produção e conhecimento. 2015. 155f. Tese (Doutorado em Engenharia e Gestão do Conhecimento) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 2015.; SIEBRA; BORBA; MIRANDA, 2016SIEBRA, S. A.; BORBA V. R.; MIRANDA, M. K. F. O. Curadoria digital: um termo interdisciplinar. Informação & Tecnologia, v. 3, n. 2, p. 21-38, 2016. Disponível em: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11959/brapci/41848. Acesso em: 09 jul. 2021.
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11959/brapc...
; GONÇALVES; TEIXEIRA, 2017; SAAD; RAPOSO, 2017).

The relevance of this work is verified due to the fact that it discusses an initiative that has the premise of guaranteeing access to diverse information, for the largest possible number of people. And this is the role of researchers in Information Science, both as professionals and as citizens committed to building and maintaining informational practices that move towards effective environments for sharing information.

2 METHODOLOGY

The study presents exploratory character and theoretical nature, configured as a case study, which according to Gil (2010GIL, Antônio Carlos. Como elaborar projetos de pesquisa. 5. ed. São Paulo: Atlas, 2010., p. 37), "consists of the deep and comprehensive study of one or more objects, in a way that allows its broad and detailed knowledge.

A literature review and document analysis were conducted to deepen the understanding of the themes explored and to survey the library collection in question. Systematic observation of the virtual environment of the UL was conducted to identify its suitability to the characteristics and functions of a virtual library, according to the analysis framework for virtual libraries (chart 1), proposed by Oliveira (2018)OLIVEIRA, G. S. de. Uma análise comparativa entre a Biblioteca virtual Paul Otlet e a Community Virtual Library no Second Life Virtual. 2018. 51 f. TCC (Graduação) - Curso de Biblioteconomia, Ciência da Informação, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 2018. Disponível em: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/30692. Acesso em: 05 jul. 2021.
https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345...
, which lists essential elements to be observed in a virtual library.

Chart 1
Virtual library analysis framework

Thus, to carry out this work, the following steps were accomplished:

  1. Verification of access to the Uncensored Library, from the Minecraft map made available by RSF on its website for download;

  2. Literature review on censorship, right of access to information, virtual library, and content curation;

  3. Access to UL's virtual environment, (from 06/05/2021 to 07/26/2021), in order to identify the collection of journalistic materials available there and the possible mode of interaction;

  4. Discussion on the promotion of access to censored journalistic articles, by means of Minecraft, as a means to circumvent censorship within the UL;

  5. Verification of the adequacy to the characteristics of virtual libraries according to the framework of analysis of virtual libraries (table 1), proposed Oliveira (2018)OLIVEIRA, G. S. de. Uma análise comparativa entre a Biblioteca virtual Paul Otlet e a Community Virtual Library no Second Life Virtual. 2018. 51 f. TCC (Graduação) - Curso de Biblioteconomia, Ciência da Informação, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 2018. Disponível em: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/30692. Acesso em: 05 jul. 2021.
    https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345...
    ;

  6. Verification of the characteristics of the content curation process (CARVALHO, 2020CARVALHO, A. V.; Curadoria de Conteúdo: entre os desafios e as perspectivas da gestão da informação digital. In. CARVALHO, A. V.; BARBOSA NETO, P. A. (org.) Desafios e Perspectivas em Gestão da Informação e do Conhecimento. Natal: EDUFRN, 2020. pp 175-223.) in the composition of the UL collection.

The article is configured in seven sections: the introduction presents a brief contextualization of the theme; the second section describes the methods and instruments used to develop the study; the third section discusses the configurations of censorship and the right of access to information; the fourth section discusses about the Uncensored Library as an environment capable of promoting access to censored information; the fifth segment argues about the aspects of content curation identified in the composition of the UL collection; the sixth section exposes the analysis and, finally, the last segment presents the conclusions.

3 CONFIGURATIONS OF CENSORSHIP AND THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION

As a perennial and universal phenomenon, censorship distends or retracts according to the prevailing socio-historical and political context. Foucault (2014)FOUCAULT, M. A ordem do discurso: Aula inaugural no Collège de France pronunciada em 2 de dezembro de 1970. São Paulo: Edições Loyla, 2014. defines as its main forms the exclusion, limitation, and interdiction acting on discursive constructions, according to the moral conceptions of each socio-historical context, in a constant tension for authorization and legitimization of expressions and behaviors. However, censorship can also be perceived as stimulus, exaltation, and guidance of behaviors, actions, and perceptions immediately opposite to those intended to be censored (CARNEIRO, 2002CARNEIRO, M. L. T. Livros proibidos, ideias malditas: o DEOPS e as minorias silenciadas. São Paulo: Ateliê, 2002.; OTERO, 2003OTERO, M. M. D. Censura de livros durante a ditadura militar 1964-1978. 2003. 151 f. Tese (Doutorado) - Curso de Pós-Graduação em História, Departamento de História, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 2003. Disponível em: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/7262https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345678 Acesso em: 18 dez. 2020.
https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345...
; SILVA, 2010SILVA, D. da. Nos bastidores da censura: sexualidade, literatura e repressão pós-64. 2 ed. rev. Barueri: Manole, 2010.; DARNTON, 2016DARNTON, R. Censores em ação: como os Estados influenciaram a literatura. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2016.). At various times in history, acts of censorship have been undertaken both ostensibly and repressively, as well as subtly and subjectively with the intention of molding a culture to a particular form or under the claim of protecting society from its own cultural production.

In the context of the press, censorship manifests itself, as a rule, in an ostensive, violent, and repressive way, given the particularity of the journalistic text that presents a character of inspection and denunciation.

In Brazil, under the Civil Military Dictatorship (1964-1985), it was evident the use of the modalities recognized by Foucault, in the persecution of authors and destruction of any publication with mentions of themes linked to communism or left-wing political orientation. It was up to the National Book Institute (INL), linked to the Ministry of Education, to determine which themes could be edited and distributed on national territory. The censorship structure in the Brazilian State also included the National Information Service (SNI), which investigated the dissemination of left-wing ideologies; the Department of Press and Propaganda (DIP), which disseminated the State's political ideology, and the Department of Political and Social Order (DOPS), which acted to demobilize any attempt of resistance or reaction from society. All these bodies worked in an articulated manner in the control of information by containment or stimulation of what was convenient to the State in that context (CARNEIRO, 2002CARNEIRO, M. L. T. Livros proibidos, ideias malditas: o DEOPS e as minorias silenciadas. São Paulo: Ateliê, 2002.; SILVA, 2010SILVA, D. da. Nos bastidores da censura: sexualidade, literatura e repressão pós-64. 2 ed. rev. Barueri: Manole, 2010.; SECCO, 2017SECCO, L. A batalha dos livros. Cotia: Ateliê Editorial, 2017.).

As for the phases of its imposition, officially, censorship can happen in pre-publication, during the conception (self-censorship) and editing of texts, or in post-publication, covering the moments of distribution and consumption. As for the entities that promote it, it can come from civil society, promoted by institutions, individuals, or organized groups and, in this context, it presents itself in an unstructured and unregulated manner, since it is based only on litigation for offense to honor, and dispersed, since there is no unicity in the origin of its imposition. Or it can come from the State, and, in this case, it can present itself as a State/Government policy regulated by means of legislation that favors it, focused on barring subjects that hurt the interests of those in power, prohibiting and limiting mention of specific people and subjects. When it occurs clandestinely, it can reach levels of violence involving threats, torture, and homicide (CARNEIRO, 2002CARNEIRO, M. L. T. Livros proibidos, ideias malditas: o DEOPS e as minorias silenciadas. São Paulo: Ateliê, 2002.; OTERO, 2003OTERO, M. M. D. Censura de livros durante a ditadura militar 1964-1978. 2003. 151 f. Tese (Doutorado) - Curso de Pós-Graduação em História, Departamento de História, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 2003. Disponível em: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/7262https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345678 Acesso em: 18 dez. 2020.
https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345...
; SILVA, 2010SILVA, D. da. Nos bastidores da censura: sexualidade, literatura e repressão pós-64. 2 ed. rev. Barueri: Manole, 2010.; DARNTON, 2016DARNTON, R. Censores em ação: como os Estados influenciaram a literatura. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2016.; SECCO, 2017SECCO, L. A batalha dos livros. Cotia: Ateliê Editorial, 2017.).

Regarding the political context, the more autocratic the political regime is, the greater its perception will be, as it will present itself ostensibly with limitation, repression, seizure, and interdiction of subjects, people, and institutions. The more inclined to democracy the political regime is, the more subjective its performance will be, and it will be supported by discursive ways of promoting the thought of the dominant classes and discouraging the immediately opposite thought, consequently, it will have its perception reduced by most of the population (CARNEIRO, 2002CARNEIRO, M. L. T. Livros proibidos, ideias malditas: o DEOPS e as minorias silenciadas. São Paulo: Ateliê, 2002.; OTERO, 2003OTERO, M. M. D. Censura de livros durante a ditadura militar 1964-1978. 2003. 151 f. Tese (Doutorado) - Curso de Pós-Graduação em História, Departamento de História, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 2003. Disponível em: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/7262https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345678 Acesso em: 18 dez. 2020.
https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345...
; SECCO, 2017SECCO, L. A batalha dos livros. Cotia: Ateliê Editorial, 2017.).

It is a common characteristic of totalitarian regimes the increase of hostility and censorship directed to the press as a State/Government policy regulated by laws that prevent, limit, or prohibit the access and dissemination of information with punishments that can reach imprisonment and even death. (CARNEIRO, 2002CARNEIRO, M. L. T. Livros proibidos, ideias malditas: o DEOPS e as minorias silenciadas. São Paulo: Ateliê, 2002.; OTERO, 2003OTERO, M. M. D. Censura de livros durante a ditadura militar 1964-1978. 2003. 151 f. Tese (Doutorado) - Curso de Pós-Graduação em História, Departamento de História, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 2003. Disponível em: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/7262https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345678 Acesso em: 18 dez. 2020.
https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345...
; SECCO, 2017SECCO, L. A batalha dos livros. Cotia: Ateliê Editorial, 2017.). The professionals who most suffer and perceive the censorial action are those in the field of information and communication, namely, librarians, archivists and, especially, journalists. Against the latter, censorship usually occurs in a violent and ostentatious way, even when disguised as protection of the rights of the community. It tends to manifest itself under the forms employed in totalitarian regimes such as suppression, impediment, and restriction of the production, circulation, or access to news; limitation and imprisonment, or even death of journalists. In regimes with greater political openness, it generally acts on the content already produced and tends to bureaucratization and judicialization, in order to impede its circulation and access.

The rights of free access to information and free expression of ideas are basic pillars of democracy. For, it is in the confrontation of ideas coming from opposing and sometimes conflicting points of view that arguments capable of promoting advances in society are built. Both are described as basic rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 1948ORGANIZAÇÃO DAS NAÇÕES UNIDAS. Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos, 1948. Disponível em: https://uni.cf/2TsPK7X. Acesso em: 17 jul. 2021.
https://uni.cf/2TsPK7X...
) and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 (BRASIL, 1992BRASIL. Decreto no 592, de 6 de julho de 1992. Atos Internacionais. Pacto Internacional sobre Direitos Civis e Políticos. Promulgação. Disponível em: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/decreto/1990-1994/d0592.htm. Acesso em: 17 jul. 2021.
https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/de...
), of which Brazil is a signatory, which makes them equivalent to constitutional amendments since their ratification.

In Brazil, this right is assured by the Federal Constitution of 1988 in art. 5, item XXXIII, as well as in item II of § 3 of art. 37, in § 2 of art. 216, and in art. 220 (BRASIL, 1988BRASIL. [Constituição (1988)]. Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil. Brasília, DF: Senado Federal: Centro Gráfico, 1988. 292 p. Disponível em: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/constituicao/constituicao.htm. Acesso em 15 jul. 2021.
http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/con...
). Besides many other legal devices such as Law n. 12.527 (BRASIL, 2011BRASIL. Lei n° 12.527, de 18 de novembro de 2011. Regula o acesso a informações. Dispõe sobre os procedimentos a serem observados pela União, Estados, Distrito Federal e Municípios, com o fim de garantir o acesso a informações. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, 18 nov. 2011b. Disponível em: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2011-2014/2011/lei/l12527.htm. Acesso em: 20 jul. 2021.
http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_at...
) - Law of access to information (LAI) - which provide the right of access to information and expression of ideas as a premise for the progress of knowledge and for the development of the nation. It is understood, therefore, that censorship when imposed on the press acts directly on the rights to freedom of expression and access to information and, consequently, may affect other instances and professionals who find at the core of their profession dealing with information as archivists and librarians.

In this scenario, we realize that, even if censorship and violence against information professionals will not be extinguished, neither will the resistance against it fade away, and new initiatives for freedom of access to information, such as the Uncensored Library, emerge every day.

4 THE UNCENSORED LIBRARY AS AN ENVIRONMENT PROMOTING ACCESS TO CENSORED INFORMATION

The Uncensored Library is a specialized-themed virtual library project developed by Reporters Without Borders together with the company Blockworks. It was designed within the game Minecraft and opened to the public on March 12, 2020, the World Day Against Online Censorship.

Virtual libraries are not necessarily something new, and neither are libraries within Minecraft, since its players can build anything within the game, including libraries designed to hold incantations or any other written text. However, the latter are not really digital or virtual libraries, but visual representations of them, since they lack the features required for a digital or virtual library.

The UL is a massive construction in neoclassical style, destined to store a collection of digital informational objects in book Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image format, with a specific thematic focus: journalistic articles written by censored reporters and with a well-defined purpose: to give access to the censored material to the largest number of people, even in countries where access to this type of information is restricted.

Thus, the choice for Minecraft as the location to host UL was a strategic decision, due to the game's characteristics and the size of its player community, because this game is among the most played games in the world as pointed out by the British newspaper The Guardian of September 15, 2019, that lists it in the first place among the fifty best games of the 21st century. (STUART; MACDONALD, 2021STUART, K.; MACDONALD, K. The 50 best video games of the 21st century. The Guardian: Best culture of the 21st century. Disponível em: https://bit.ly/2mqSymF. Acesso em: 9 jul. 2021.
https://bit.ly/2mqSymF...
). The game has over 175 million copies sold and 145 million active players every month (RSF, 2021bREPÓRTERES Sem Fronteiras. Comunicado para imprensa. [release] 2021b. Disponível em: https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en. Acesso em: 6 jul. 2021
https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en...
).

Moreover, initially released for Personal Computer (PC), soon after it became a multiplatform game, when versions for Xbox, PlayStation, and smartphones were introduced, expanding its reach and ability for new audiences to join. In constant updating, in 2016 the version Minecraft: Education Edition was released, which provides educational resources for various areas of knowledge (HALL, 2019HALL, C. Why Minecraft is the most important game of the decade: […] Polygon, 7 nov. 2019. Disponível em: https://bit.ly/3UP4Xw1. Acesso em: 5 jul. 2021.
https://bit.ly/3UP4Xw1...
).

The versatility of the game, inspired by building blocks like Lego toys, brought to the world of games an exploration and construction game composed of three-dimensional "pixelated" blocks in an open world eight times the size of planet Earth. There are two main gameplay modes: "survival" mode, in which players collect resources and build structures to protect themselves and battle creatures, feed themselves, and explore the world in order to develop and survive; and "creative" mode, in which unlimited resources are made available so that players can unleash their creativity in developing the most diverse projects. There are also the "adventure" modes, in which there may be limited access to some areas of the map and the need for more elaborate tools to break blocks; and the "spectator" mode, with the possibility to move around the map, interact with some objects, without permission to break or build anything. (MINECRAFT WIKI, S/DMINECRAFT Wiki. Edição Education. [s.d]. Disponível em: https://bit.ly/3hDLcZA. Acesso em: 12 jul. 2021.
https://bit.ly/3hDLcZA...
).

In the wake of Minecraft's success emerged professionals such as streamers and youtubers, as well as institutions and companies that saw in the versatility of the game a world of entertainment, educational and new business possibilities. In this context, Minecraft consulting and design companies such as Blockworks, which develops maps and structures in Minecraft worlds on demand, have emerged.

One must also consider questions about the penetrability of the game in countries with closed political regimes, because as RSF (2021bREPÓRTERES Sem Fronteiras. Comunicado para imprensa. [release] 2021b. Disponível em: https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en. Acesso em: 6 jul. 2021
https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en...
, p. 1) states in the UL release, that these "[...] countries, where websites, blogs, and the free press in general are strictly limited, Minecraft can still be accessed by everyone [...]" because it does not primarily feature objectionable topics. In other words: there is no reason to ban the game when it does not feature aspects of intense violence, eroticism, threat to any religious beliefs, or political activism linked to the original scope of the game. What we identified, in the context of this work, was the existence of maps on servers that can or cannot be accessed from anywhere in the world, as long as one has a Mojang/Microsoft account and an address for the desired server. These addresses for Minecraft worlds on servers are disseminated to players by the owners of the projects, as in the case of UL, or can be shared on discussion forums, or by any other communication software, as they are shareable links.

The game servers have moderators who report any inappropriate behavior and can prevent a player from accessing the game via commands controlling a ban list on a server in the official Minecraft fandom. This ban list is defined as "[...] a blacklist (sic) is a list of players or IP addresses that are not allowed to connect to the server.

Bans override any current permission list." (MINECRAFT WIKI, 2021). The player can also be "kicked" off the server immediately after some inappropriate in-game behavior of the player has been identified.

Considering the previous clarifications, the Uncensored Library was developed by Blockworks in creative mode and employed five months of work, between planning and construction, with the collaboration of 24 builders from 16 different countries dedicating over 250 hours to design and create the library with 12.5 million blocks (RSF, 2021bREPÓRTERES Sem Fronteiras. Comunicado para imprensa. [release] 2021b. Disponível em: https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en. Acesso em: 6 jul. 2021
https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en...
, p. 2). The construction is an imposing building in neoclassical style chosen because it is "[...] a style often used in the design of public buildings around the world, such as museums, galleries, and libraries" and because it refers to the representation of "[...] freedom of knowledge and the power that truth has over oppressive authorities and government regimes." (RSF, 2021bREPÓRTERES Sem Fronteiras. Comunicado para imprensa. [release] 2021b. Disponível em: https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en. Acesso em: 6 jul. 2021
https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en...
, p. 3). It also has open area available for expansion. Ten wings were defined within the library, seven in the initial design and three added after updating in July 2021. They are: Reporters Without Borders; a wing of articles on the Covid-19 pandemic; and another eight wings for some of the countries that are in the critical area (above the hundredth position) of the World Press Freedom Index (CMLI) ranking, namely: Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Vietnam, Russia, and Egypt, originally, and later added: Brazil, Belarus, and Eritrea. In addition to the wings, there is a central Dome dedicated to the World Press Freedom Classification exhibition.

At the bottom, under a glass floor, there is a map of the world and on it, right in the center, the book that contains an index listing the countries classified in increasing order according to the degree of danger they present to press freedom. Towards the ceiling, there are three sectors that group the flags of the 180 countries monitored by RSF, with books in which their individual order in the CMLI is listed.

In the Covid-19 area you can read ten articles about how some countries dealt with information in this period. There are articles from the following countries: Thailand, Russia, China, Myanmar, Hungary, North Korea, Brazil, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Egypt.

The RSF wing features symbolic elements regarding the work of the press. A welcome book asks the player to fly to the end of the room on the right side and stand facing the book there so that he or she can view the message. Inside the room, when looking from any position other than the one indicated by the book at the entrance of the ward, one notices a profusion of randomly suspended blocks, as can be seen in figure 2 (right side). However, when the player positions himself as indicated in the welcome book, it is possible to read the word 'Truth' (figure 1).

Figure 1
View of contextualized (true) and decontextualized (meaningless) facts

An analogy to say that scattered and loose information in a space without analytical treatment can cause more confusion than information, not allowing a safe angle for the construction of a consistent narrative. On the other hand, when information is properly grouped and contextualized, a solid, fact-based narrative message is built, and this is one of the roles of the information professional.

The mode chosen by the producers of UL to provide access in Minecraft was "spectator", so any visitor, especially the one not used to the commands of the game, does not risk modify anything on UL. Therefore, the visitor will be able to interact, but without interfering in the environment, which contributes to the preservation of originality and provides security for the digital objects contained in the library.

5 ANALYSES OF THE UNCENSORED LIBRARY AS A VIRTUAL LIBRARY

Marchiori (1997)MARCHIORI, P. Z. "Ciberteca" ou biblioteca virtual: uma perspectiva de gerenciamento de recursos de informação. Ciência da Informação, Brasília, v. 26, n. 2, 1997. DOI: 10.18225/ci.inf.v26i2.696. Disponível em: https://revista.ibict.br/ciinf/article/view/696. Acesso em: 17 jul. 2021.
https://revista.ibict.br/ciinf/article/v...
and Segundo (2013)SEGUNDO, S. J. S. Biblioteca virtual Paul Otlet: uma experiência não imersiva no Second Life. 2013. 75 f. TCC (Graduação) - Curso de Biblioteconomia, Departamento de Ciência da Informação, UFPB, João Pessoa, 2013. differentiate between electronic, digital, and virtual libraries, according to the degree of technology involved in the design and use of these resources in the daily activities of a library. An electronic library is any library that makes use of electronic devices to perform technical processing and management tasks for storing, organizing, consulting, searching, and retrieving informational records. In other words, computers in this context are auxiliary tools that contribute to enhance the librarian's work. For the aforementioned authors, a digital library is one that contains information stored only in digital media and can be accessed remotely by devices with Internet access. The virtual library relies completely on virtual reality to reproduce the physical environment of a library, in an interactive environment with total immersion, being possible to use the furniture, consult a librarian, promote events, pick up a book from a shelf and read it. Which is endorsed in the speech of Oliveira (2018)OLIVEIRA, G. S. de. Uma análise comparativa entre a Biblioteca virtual Paul Otlet e a Community Virtual Library no Second Life Virtual. 2018. 51 f. TCC (Graduação) - Curso de Biblioteconomia, Ciência da Informação, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 2018. Disponível em: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/30692. Acesso em: 05 jul. 2021.
https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345...
when he states that in the digital library it is possible to access information without interacting with the environment from a remote equipment, whereas once inserted in the environment of a virtual library, we exist in it.

In this sense, the UL can be seen as a virtual library, because it promotes the experience of immersion of the frequenter in a completely simulated environment of an open access library available twenty-four hours for circulation of its visitors who exist as avatars within this world. For a better analysis of the UL, aspects that should be considered when conceiving a virtual library were verified. During the months of June and July 2021, visits were made to the UL's virtual environment and information was gathered through systematic observation, taking as a guide the recommendations identified in Oliveira's (2018) virtual library analysis framework (chart 1). The result of this analysis is presented in table 2.

Chart 2
Uncensored Library analysis based on the virtual library analysis framework proposed by Oliveira (2018)OLIVEIRA, G. S. de. Uma análise comparativa entre a Biblioteca virtual Paul Otlet e a Community Virtual Library no Second Life Virtual. 2018. 51 f. TCC (Graduação) - Curso de Biblioteconomia, Ciência da Informação, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 2018. Disponível em: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/30692. Acesso em: 05 jul. 2021.
https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/12345...

In addition to what is shown in table 2, from the systematic observation, advantages and limitations were identified. As for the advantages: the choice for the library's disclosure in "spectator" mode contributes to the preservation of the authenticity and originality of the documents it contains; the documents can be accessed at any time and place; and contributes to the purpose of its creators to provide a means for access to censored information, even in places where internet monitoring is more intense.

The limitations occur as a function of Minecraft's characteristics. The following were noticed: the limitation of document typologies; the absence of links for sharing documents; the book format (.png) does not allow text selection and, by game rule, documents can only be downloaded, transferred, or translated by those who created them in the Minecraft world. The only possible visitor interaction is reading.

Additionally, it was observed that the UL was not created to be a place for interaction between users, as would be common in any physical or virtual library, perhaps for visitor security reasons and to remain a place to allow unsuspecting access to censored information.

6 COMPOSITIONS OF THE UNCENSORED LIBRARY COLLECTION: REFLECTIONS ON THE CURATION OF ITS CONTENTS

The accelerated production and sharing of online information in the current era are already a perception corroborated by researchers from various fields of expertise (SAYÃO 2009; SAAD, 2012SAAD, E (org.). Curadoria digital e o campo da comunicação. São Paulo: ECA/USP, 2012.; CASTILHO, 2015CASTILHO, C. A. V. O papel da curadoria na promoção do fluxo de notícias em espaços informativos voltados para a produção e conhecimento. 2015. 155f. Tese (Doutorado em Engenharia e Gestão do Conhecimento) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 2015.; SIEBRA; BORBA; MIRANDA, 2016SIEBRA, S. A.; BORBA V. R.; MIRANDA, M. K. F. O. Curadoria digital: um termo interdisciplinar. Informação & Tecnologia, v. 3, n. 2, p. 21-38, 2016. Disponível em: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11959/brapci/41848. Acesso em: 09 jul. 2021.
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11959/brapc...
; GONÇALVES; TEIXEIRA, 2017; SAAD; RAPOSO, 2017; SIEBRA, 2020SIEBRA, S. A.; SILVA, F. de M. O. e; VEGA, R. G. de la. O planejamento na Curadoria Digital. Informação & Sociedade: Estudos, João Pessoa, v. 30, n. 4, p. 1-22, 2020. DOI: 10.22478/ufpb.1809-4783.2020v30n4.57263. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufpb.br/index.php/ies/article/view/57263. Acesso em: 09 jul. 2021.
https://periodicos.ufpb.br/index.php/ies...
; CARVALHO, 2020CARVALHO, A. V.; Curadoria de Conteúdo: entre os desafios e as perspectivas da gestão da informação digital. In. CARVALHO, A. V.; BARBOSA NETO, P. A. (org.) Desafios e Perspectivas em Gestão da Informação e do Conhecimento. Natal: EDUFRN, 2020. pp 175-223.). This fact leads to the identification of the also growing demand for methodologies, techniques, and equipment capable of providing selection, organization, storage, and access to this large volume of information in order to meet the informational needs of various users in different contexts, giving rise to thematic repositories of information, websites about specific content, among others.

To this end, the so-called content or information curation is often employed, which "[...] can be understood as the systematic process of filtering, assigning meaning, and sharing quality information in order to meet the informational needs of a particular target audience on a specific topic." (CARVALHO, 2020CARVALHO, A. V.; Curadoria de Conteúdo: entre os desafios e as perspectivas da gestão da informação digital. In. CARVALHO, A. V.; BARBOSA NETO, P. A. (org.) Desafios e Perspectivas em Gestão da Informação e do Conhecimento. Natal: EDUFRN, 2020. pp 175-223., p. 175-176). It is defined by Castilho (2015CASTILHO, C. A. V. O papel da curadoria na promoção do fluxo de notícias em espaços informativos voltados para a produção e conhecimento. 2015. 155f. Tese (Doutorado em Engenharia e Gestão do Conhecimento) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 2015., p. 48) as "[...] a procedure developed by a person or group of people, with experience in dealing with information, who perform selection, filtering, adding value, and diffusion of information focused on the interests and needs of social communities.

Content curation establishes opposition to the generality and excess of information dispersed online, provides guidance and context to information that is arranged according to determined criteria, to meet needs, desires or expectations of a specific target audience, as reinforced by Gonçalves and Teixeira (2017GONÇALVES, S. V.; TEIXEIRA, C. S. Ação humana na curadoria como forma de produção do conhecimento. In: CONGRESSO INTERNACIONAL DE CONHECIMENTO E INOVAÇÃO - CIKI, 2017, Florianópolis. Anais [...]. Florianópolis: [UFSC], 2017. Disponível em: https://proceeding.ciki.ufsc.br/index.php/ciki/article/view/309.
https://proceeding.ciki.ufsc.br/index.ph...
, p. 14) when stating that "[...] content curation in the digital medium distances itself from the logic of mass communication, integrating a mediation scenario." The authors further state that contextualization establishes a narrative on thematic niches aiming to meet a certain audience.

6.1 Stages of the Content Curation Process

Content curation makes use of information/content already published and, therefore, published, taking as a base several sources of information. The resulting content has as main characteristic the aggregation of value through the arrangement given to the content, according to the value of use for a community, increasing efficiency and assertiveness in searches, offering the user relevant and verified information, and guidance for the consumption of content in a more profitable way (CASTILHO, 2015CASTILHO, C. A. V. O papel da curadoria na promoção do fluxo de notícias em espaços informativos voltados para a produção e conhecimento. 2015. 155f. Tese (Doutorado em Engenharia e Gestão do Conhecimento) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 2015.; GONÇALVES; TEIXEIRA, 2017; SAAD; RAPOSO, 2017).

We emphasize that, in content curation, it is not about repeating the information, but about presenting a new look on the content, always maintaining the originality of the facts, aggregated by the correlation between the selected documents, guided by the relevance to the audience to which the curated set of information is intended (SAAD, 2012SAAD, E (org.). Curadoria digital e o campo da comunicação. São Paulo: ECA/USP, 2012.; SAAD; RAPOSO, 2017). For, "good curation is a process of perception of informative opportunities and results, therefore, from authorial singularity and an unprecedented informative arrangement. (SAAD, RAPOSO, 2017SAAD, E.; RAPOSO, J. F. Curadoria de conteúdo na comunicação contemporânea: muito além do ctrl+c e ctrl+v. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO CIENTÍFICO DE COMUNICAÇÃO, 11., 2017, Belo Horizonte. Anais [...]. Belo Horizonte: Organizacional e Relações Públicas (Abrap), 2017. p. 1-15. Disponível em: https://bit.ly/3TAvsDV. Acesso em: 16 jul. 2021.
https://bit.ly/3TAvsDV...
, p. 10)".

The development process of content curation involves three to five stages, depending on the author consulted, but it is emphasized that there is already some consolidation of the way of conducting the content curation process (PEREIRA, 2017PEREIRA, J. V. T. A curadoria de conteúdos em bibliotecas: proposta de aplicação na Biblioteca Central do IFRN campus Natal-Central. 2017. 95f. Trabalho de Conclusão de curso (Monografia) - Curso de graduação em Biblioteconomia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Natal, 2017.; CARVALHO, 2020CARVALHO, A. V.; Curadoria de Conteúdo: entre os desafios e as perspectivas da gestão da informação digital. In. CARVALHO, A. V.; BARBOSA NETO, P. A. (org.) Desafios e Perspectivas em Gestão da Informação e do Conhecimento. Natal: EDUFRN, 2020. pp 175-223.). Santos (2014)SANTOS, T. N. C. Curadoria digital: o conceito no período de 2000 a 2013. 2014. 165 f., il. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ciência da Informação) - Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, 2014. Disponível em: https://repositorio.unb.br/handle/10482/17324. Acesso em: 17 jul. 2021
https://repositorio.unb.br/handle/10482/...
lists three: research, contextualization, and sharing. Castilho (2015)CASTILHO, C. A. V. O papel da curadoria na promoção do fluxo de notícias em espaços informativos voltados para a produção e conhecimento. 2015. 155f. Tese (Doutorado em Engenharia e Gestão do Conhecimento) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 2015. adopts four stages: filtering, selection, value addition, and dissemination. Gonçalves and Teixeira (2017)GONÇALVES, S. V.; TEIXEIRA, C. S. Ação humana na curadoria como forma de produção do conhecimento. In: CONGRESSO INTERNACIONAL DE CONHECIMENTO E INOVAÇÃO - CIKI, 2017, Florianópolis. Anais [...]. Florianópolis: [UFSC], 2017. Disponível em: https://proceeding.ciki.ufsc.br/index.php/ciki/article/view/309.
https://proceeding.ciki.ufsc.br/index.ph...
adopt the division indicated by Zhong et al. (20131 1 Zong, Changtao. et. al. (2013). Sharing the Loves: Understanding the How and Why of Online Content Curation. In: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Weblogs and social media, ICWSM 2013, 2013. 2013. p. 659-667. Apud GONÇALVES, S.; V. TEIXEIRA (2017). apud GONÇALVES, TEIXEIRA, 2017GONÇALVES, S. V.; TEIXEIRA, C. S. Ação humana na curadoria como forma de produção do conhecimento. In: CONGRESSO INTERNACIONAL DE CONHECIMENTO E INOVAÇÃO - CIKI, 2017, Florianópolis. Anais [...]. Florianópolis: [UFSC], 2017. Disponível em: https://proceeding.ciki.ufsc.br/index.php/ciki/article/view/309.
https://proceeding.ciki.ufsc.br/index.ph...
) that encompasses filtering, selection, contextualization, and sharing. Leão (2019)LEÃO, G. V. Curadoria de conteúdo: proposta de um método para plataformas digitais. 2019. 134 f. Relatório (Mestrado) - Universidade Católica de Pernambuco. Programa de Pós-graduação em Indústrias Criativas. Mestrado Profissional em Indústrias Criativas, 2019. Disponível em: http://tede2.unicap.br:8080/handle/tede/1223. Acesso em: 19 jul. 2021.
http://tede2.unicap.br:8080/handle/tede/...
adopts three steps: search, select, and present. Carvalho (2020)CARVALHO, A. V.; Curadoria de Conteúdo: entre os desafios e as perspectivas da gestão da informação digital. In. CARVALHO, A. V.; BARBOSA NETO, P. A. (org.) Desafios e Perspectivas em Gestão da Informação e do Conhecimento. Natal: EDUFRN, 2020. pp 175-223., taking Pereira's (2017) research as a basis, summarizes all the steps found in his bibliographic survey about the content curation process in the steps of search, selection, aggregation, and editing, sharing, and evaluation.

We noticed in the reading of the theoretical reference that, although the number of stages and their nomenclature change, the procedures share similarities.

The "search stage" covers the identification of the source(s) of information from which the content to be worked on in the curation will be extracted, considering the relevance to the theme and the objective that were previously defined, as well as the temporal period of interest. It involves a more generalized, automated collection submitted to a first, broader cut.

Filtering" and/or "selection" contemplates the treatment to which the result of the "search/research" collection is submitted, under a more accurate human eye, with the aim of filtering quality content on the curated theme, considering the peculiarities of the documents. It refines the search product. We emphasize that in this stage it is important to review and filter the really relevant sources and pay attention to the authenticity, quality, and relevance of the content retrieved.

The next step, which may be gathered in a single action or encompass more than one, such as "organization/ contextualization/value addition/editing", refers to the technical treatment to which the set of information selected in the previous step is submitted. For Carvalho (2020CARVALHO, A. V.; Curadoria de Conteúdo: entre os desafios e as perspectivas da gestão da informação digital. In. CARVALHO, A. V.; BARBOSA NETO, P. A. (org.) Desafios e Perspectivas em Gestão da Informação e do Conhecimento. Natal: EDUFRN, 2020. pp 175-223., p. 187), this is the core of content curation, as it aims to "adapt the content in order to broaden its appropriation by the target audience". Thus, it is possible to specify metadata; describe; merge the selected content giving it a new format; add comments; create original content from the selected content; make relevant adaptations to the viewing environment; credit the original sources; define the relationship between different documents in order to build a narrative line; among others.

The phase identified as "presentation/distribution/dissemination/sharing" considers aspects for the promotion of access to information, aspects related to the dissemination of the curated content, taking into account the criteria "how", "where" and "duration" to indicate platforms through which the content will be shared (social networks, virtual libraries, blogs, repositories, etc.); geographical delimitation (language and language) and duration (update periodicity, fixed availability time). (SANTOS, 2014SANTOS, T. N. C. Curadoria digital: o conceito no período de 2000 a 2013. 2014. 165 f., il. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ciência da Informação) - Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, 2014. Disponível em: https://repositorio.unb.br/handle/10482/17324. Acesso em: 17 jul. 2021
https://repositorio.unb.br/handle/10482/...
; CASTILHO, 2015CASTILHO, C. A. V. O papel da curadoria na promoção do fluxo de notícias em espaços informativos voltados para a produção e conhecimento. 2015. 155f. Tese (Doutorado em Engenharia e Gestão do Conhecimento) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 2015.; GONÇALVES; TEIXEIRA, 2017; LEÃO, 2019LEÃO, G. V. Curadoria de conteúdo: proposta de um método para plataformas digitais. 2019. 134 f. Relatório (Mestrado) - Universidade Católica de Pernambuco. Programa de Pós-graduação em Indústrias Criativas. Mestrado Profissional em Indústrias Criativas, 2019. Disponível em: http://tede2.unicap.br:8080/handle/tede/1223. Acesso em: 19 jul. 2021.
http://tede2.unicap.br:8080/handle/tede/...
; CARVALHO, 2020CARVALHO, A. V.; Curadoria de Conteúdo: entre os desafios e as perspectivas da gestão da informação digital. In. CARVALHO, A. V.; BARBOSA NETO, P. A. (org.) Desafios e Perspectivas em Gestão da Informação e do Conhecimento. Natal: EDUFRN, 2020. pp 175-223.).

In Carvalho's (2020) research, an evaluation stage is also presented, in which it is verified if the objectives defined for content curation were achieved, and if there are improvements that can be implemented. In this step the involvement of the target audience with the curated and made available content can also be verified.

Therefore, the content curation stages aim at searching and selecting, with the use of technological resources and under human supervision, enough information so that a content curator may define what is important, why it matters, and who is interested in a certain set of organized and contextualized information, composing a narrative pertinent to the originality of the documents, thus adding value to it. Much of what was described in this subsection refers to what is observed at the Uncensored Library in the formation and availability of its collection, as described below.

6.2 Content Curation Process Actions Observed at UL

Guallar and Leiva-Aguilera (2014)GUALLAR, J.; LEIVA-AGUILERA J. El content curator: guía básica para el nuevo profesional de Internet. Barcelona: Editorial UOC, 2014. state that content curation is at an intersection point between Communication and Information Science. Carvalho (2020)CARVALHO, A. V.; Curadoria de Conteúdo: entre os desafios e as perspectivas da gestão da informação digital. In. CARVALHO, A. V.; BARBOSA NETO, P. A. (org.) Desafios e Perspectivas em Gestão da Informação e do Conhecimento. Natal: EDUFRN, 2020. pp 175-223. illustrates this, when he reflects on experiences of application of the content curation process in the fields of communication, education, marketing, and libraries. It stands out among these, for the study of UL, the scope of Communication, since Castilho and Coelho (2014CASTILHO, C.A.V.; COELHO, C.C.S.R. Curadoria de notícias e jornalismo na produção de conhecimento. Estudos em Jornalismo e Mídia, v. 11, n. 1, p 305-313, jan./jun., 2014. DOI https://doi.org/10.5007/1984-6924.2014v11n1p305
https://doi.org/10.5007/1984-6924.2014v1...
, p. 310) highlight that content curation can expand "[...] the use value of news and gives journalism a role in generating socially relevant knowledge."

As well as in the scope of libraries, since the application of content curation in libraries can be carried out to "[...] produce the contents they share in social media in the scope of their performance as libraries 2.0", since these contents "confer new dimension and actuality to library collections and services, expanding their visibility and social relevance" (CARVALHO, 2020CARVALHO, A. V.; Curadoria de Conteúdo: entre os desafios e as perspectivas da gestão da informação digital. In. CARVALHO, A. V.; BARBOSA NETO, P. A. (org.) Desafios e Perspectivas em Gestão da Informação e do Conhecimento. Natal: EDUFRN, 2020. pp 175-223., p. 192).

We noticed, from the use of the Uncensored Library, the use of steps pertinent to content curation with the exception of automated search. This is due to the specificity of the material selected, relative to a section of reality that is constantly monitored by those responsible for the project, the RSF. We emphasize that all the material available at the UL was not originally written for this library, which only refers to external information sources to compose its collection. Thus, as for the filtering and selection stage we observed that the following clippings were applied:

  1. Central theme: censorship of journalistic information in countries that predate press freedom.

  2. Geographic: articles originating from countries identified as predators of press freedom above the hundredth position in the CMLI with ostensible censorship practices, which delimits to eighty countries in the list. We emphasize that all articles are housed in sections exclusively destined for their country of origin within the UL.

  3. Subject of the documents: journalistic articles by professionals who have been censored for their work, free or imprisoned, living or dead. For example, the Saudi Arabia section contains only articles written by Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist living in the United States, who was murdered for his political coverage of his home country. In the Mexico section, biographies of journalists killed for their coverage of organized crime are available. In addition to the sections focused on the countries with more ostensive censorship, there is also the Covid-19 section where there are journalistic articles related to the performance of a group of ten countries in terms of information about the Covid-19 pandemic; and technical information such as: frequently asked questions, index with the complete list of the CMLI and the classifications with brief justifications for each of the one hundred and eighty countries monitored by the RSF.

  4. Chronological cut-off: articles published from the year 2017 and, at the time of this study, the most recent document was from the second half of 2020,

Regarding organization, contextualization, and adding value: regarding the descriptive elements of the documents, the following were adopted: title, author, date, news portal where the article was originally published or is hosted. The organization of the collection is geographic since the groupings are by the country of reference of the news in wings. Within each country's wing, the organization is temporal, by news date when it is available. It is verified that the specification of the date of the news does not follow a standard in all the documents and many of them are undated, which should not occur.

At the entrance of each country's wing, there is the flag of the country represented, a book that presents its placement in the IWC and the reason for the country's position in that placement. It is noteworthy that the contextualization of censorship is made, including by visual elements, leading the user to experience the form of censorship most practiced in each country through the decoration of each wing in the stage of presentation and sharing of information.

The decoration of each environment refers to some cultural element of the country to which the wing refers, and to an element that represents the censorship practices that occur there. For example, the Saudi Arabia wing (CMLI:170th): in the middle of the hall there is a huge black cage with books inside (figure 2), representing the fact that Saudi Arabia is among the three countries that most imprison journalists in the world.

Figure 2
Cell in the center of the Saudi Arabia ward

In the Mexico wing (CMLI:143rd) there are twelve totems that simulate gravestones (figure 3), each with the photo of a murdered journalist and his or her biography, reminding us that Mexico is one of the most lethal countries for journalists.

Figure 3
Tombstones in the Mexico section

In the Vietnam area, (CMLI: 175th), one sees an information labyrinth that takes up part of the floor in the center of the hall (figure 4). In allusion to the growing effort to make it increasingly difficult to get independent information in that country.

Figure 4
Maze to access information in Vietnam

In the Russia wing (CMLI:150th) there is a Kraken (giant mythological octopus) on top of a representation of binary data (figure 5), as a representation of the Russian censorship action on several fronts to contain information, mainly, the systematic control over the dissemination of journalistic content on the Internet.

Figure 5
Kraken in the center of the Russian wing

Egypt's wing (CMLI: 166th) features a huge, unbalanced scale (figure 6), in allusion to the large number of prison sentences handed down against journalists.

Figure 6
Unbalanced scale in the Egypt section.

In the Brazil wing (CMLI: 111º) there is a giant mallet smashing a book (picture 7), in allusion to the most used form of censorship in the country: the judicialization to prevent access imposed, not only to the press, but also to literary works.

Figure 7
hammer on a book in the Brazil wing

Belarus (CMLI: 158th) are three large fire circles surrounding a black box. The welcome book reports that traditional media such as television and print media are heavily controlled by the state and that only a few online news sites, produced from abroad, are able to get information to the citizens of that country. The Eritrean section (CMLI: 180th) is still under construction and remains without access.

Given the above, we understand that the design of the decoration works as a symbolic narrative element that contributes to add value to the information.

Still on the presentation and sharing stage, also known as distribution or diffusion, we realize that the use of Minecraft as an environment to house the library without censorship was a strategic choice, due to the numbers, already presented, related to the universe of this game. There are about 140 million active players per month (WAKKA, 2021WAKKA, W. Minecraft tem 140 milhões de usuários […]. Canaltech [site]. Disponível em: https://bit.ly/3A88jBB. Acesso em: 10 jul. 2021.
https://bit.ly/3A88jBB...
). On just one of its many servers, Hypixel, it is possible to see 80,375 simultaneous online players. Although, it is worth noting that UL's capacity is much smaller, 100 simultaneous players. The Uncensored Library was visited by 167,528 players as of July 10, 2021.

Moreover, we understand that the use of a game that does not present in its original scope nothing that justifies its censorship, is a guarantee of presence in countries that adopt the orientation of banning violent games or with any reference to political or religious content. The way of sharing links to access servers also has advantages: there is no need to commit by buying the server directly, what you buy is a Mojang/Microsoft account to access the Minecraft environment and then log into the server of your choice. The security in the environment was also thought of from the point of view of being able to block users who make incorrect or disrespectful use within the servers.

We identified that there is no possibility of sharing the articles in loco. For, the documents distributed on Minecraft maps can only be edited by their creators and, due to the only format available (image in PNG format), so far there is no way to copy the text, download it or even use active links that refer to the original location of the content. It is only possible to capture the screen to search later for those who are online, typing the information read. We evaluated this option and found at least ten articles on different sites. UL can also serve as a starting point for further research on censorship related topics.

We also note that the UL is publicized by RSF, which hosts a specific page for the Uncensored Library project, where you can find the link to access the server in Minecraft. In the month of its launching, news articles were published informing about the new space destined to the access to censored information.

Finally, we can say that content curation steps were adopted and executed, even if still in a manual and rustic way, perhaps due to the technical limitations imposed by Minecraft's own constitution. Thus, the Uncensored Library is considered a specialized virtual library, even though it is quite limited. However, it is an initiative that deserves to be highlighted and that has informative potential and access to information, and it has been gaining space, in little more than a year of existence, despite the much that can still be done.

7 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

The struggle against censorship is a daily reality for information professionals, whether they are journalists, librarians, or archivists. When attentive, we perceive the small attitudes of impediment to one subject, the exaggerated exaltation of another, prohibitions, limitations and, when in unfavorable scenarios, repression is practiced without restrictions.

As recognized, censorship can be identified in any place and period, however, the less aligned to democratic principles a political regime is, the greater are the chances of resulting in repression, imprisonment, and death. The latter is a reality that mainly frightens press professionals, who are victimized every year and need to develop strategies for protection and survival. Once these immediate needs are overcome, it is necessary to get the information to those for whom it is intended, to the public for whom these professionals risk themselves on a daily basis.

The current global political scenario is prone to censorship with the expansion of authoritarian political regimes and the emergence of extreme right-wing leaders and using an electronic game that does not present "objectionable" characteristics and with a huge community of players is configured as a good strategy, at least quite creative, to enable access to censored information. Especially when the point of dissemination of information refers to the idea of a virtual library, even if this idea is still explored in a limited way, due to limitations inherent to the attributes of Minecraft itself. It is worth highlighting the dedication to contextualize the information conveyed in the library, because it should be part of the work of the information professional to present the context of the information conveyed, inform who are the actors involved, what are the circumstances and, sometimes, compose scenarios of possible futures.

In this paper we seek to show and reflect about how the content curation is still done in a rustic way in the Uncensored Library, however, this process can be improved and enrich the expansion of this project that has the potential to contribute to other initiatives of access to information.

We emphasize that another limitation of the UL, besides the format in which the articles are made available (PNG images), is the effort required outside the game to know the articles in the hosting sites in which these documents are found, because the hyperlink for tracking the information from the game is non-existent. Despite the limitations and difficulties, Uncensored Library succeeds in achieving its purpose of making known the articles of censored journalists, in countries that predate press freedom in the world.

We recognize the unprecedented nature of the discussion held here and, consequently, the need for more in-depth analysis and reflection on the effectiveness of this initiative in favor of maintaining the right to inform and to be informed. Besides the limitation of the analysis performed, which was based on both the theoretical framework and the documental analysis, as well as UL's systematic observation.

  • Funding: This study was partially funded by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel - Brazil (CAPES), Financial Code 001.
  • 1
    Zong, Changtao. et. al. (2013). Sharing the Loves: Understanding the How and Why of Online Content Curation. In: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Weblogs and social media, ICWSM 2013, 2013. 2013. p. 659-667. Apud GONÇALVES, S.; V. TEIXEIRA (2017).
  • Availability of data and material:

    Not applicable.

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Data availability

Not applicable.

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    23 Jan 2023
  • Date of issue
    2022

History

  • Received
    07 May 2022
  • Accepted
    31 Oct 2022
  • Published
    13 Nov 2022
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