Censored!

Sue Curry Jansen missed her father. He was serving with the US Navy in the Second World War, and when his letters arrived home, she was excited – and puzzled as to what had happened to them on the way.

“They’d been censored,” she says. “They cut little holes in the letters to remove anything that didn't pass the rules. I remember being fascinated by those holes as I held the letters up to the light. I’ve been thinking about censorship ever since.”

In my role as Editor-in-Chief of IQ magazine, I tend to share the goodies around with my highly talented team of writers. However, for the latest issue, I nabbed the cover feature for myself and took a deep dive into the history of censorship.

I loved speaking to Sue, one of the world’s great experts on censorship, and to Julian Petley with his fascinating reflections on the era of video nasties. Together we looked at how the shape of censorship has evolved from burning books and banning films to the more subtle impact of PR, corporate marketing, social media shaming, and the smoke and mirrors created by ‘fake news’.

Plus, as Katherine Inglis (co-author of the book Censored) told me, we should also consider the dangers that society now faces from “strategic lawsuits against public participation, non-disclosure agreements, and the surveillance and harassment of writers”.

Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, much historic censorship seems laughable today. Look at how the Church cracked down on The Bible being translated into English between the 14th and 16th centuries. Or how the 1963 single Puff The Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul and Mary received radio bans due to assumptions that ‘puff’ and ‘dragon’ were drug references.Yet I wonder how future generations will reflect on what we refuse to tolerate today.

•Hats off to Matthew Ball for the stunning cover design.