ON CENSORSHIP

A prominent Chinese artist/activist in exile explores censorship by examining the role it has played in his life.

In this collection of 20 short essays, Ai muses on the “irreconcilable conflict” between the “human values and rights” he openly champions and the suppressive tactics employed by the Chinese government. The censorship he has experienced since 2009—and which he documents throughout the book with black-and-white documentary-style photographic images—has included having his name “disappeared” from public and artistic spheres throughout China. Yet he is quick to also point out that censorship is not exclusive to authoritarian regimes and “exists everywhere,” including liberalized democratic societies. In the United States, for example, it exists more subtly as “self-censorship.” American capitalism uses “wealth, safety and comfort” as “core values upon which to construct…public discourse”: Any expression that deviates from those values risks being called out as posing a “threat” to both social and personal liberty. Ai suggests that part of what makes censorship in any social context so insidious is the way it frames itself ideologically as normal, necessary, and justifiable. He further argues that the rise of Big Tech (and especially AI) has only magnified the power of censorship by enhancing and refining methods of surveillance. He writes, “[e]ffortless and precise, [new technologies hold] the potential to eliminate any dissenting thoughts and behaviours.” Perhaps most concerning of all is the way censorship creates a space for “fake news” meant to confuse citizens and rob them of confidence in both media and institutions. The end result is a society that “abandon[s] the pursuit of truth altogether.” As it defines censorship, Ai’s book eloquently defends self-expression as essential to both human freedom and the pursuit of a meaningful life.

Timely, important work about a concept key to understanding contemporary geopolitics.