{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.censorship","code":"thing-q543","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q543/","name":"censorship","alternateNames":["bleep censor","Financial censorship","ban on a person's works","author book ban","censorship in Spain","censorship in North Korea","censorship in Indonesia","censorship in Latvia","censorship in Turkey","censorship in Colombia","censorship by copyright","censorship of Snapchat"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Information and virtual systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"INF","domain":["INF.KNW"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"The suppression, restriction or control of speech, publication, art or other expression, by governments, institutions, platforms or other authorities, on grounds such as security, morality, politics or religion.","purpose":"Let an agent explain censorship neutrally, describe legal standards on freedom of expression, attribute characterisations of specific cases to sources, and distinguish censorship from lawful restrictions and content moderation.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Restricts expression","Can be state or private","Measured against human rights standards","Characterisation is often contested"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"standards","name":"Standards","description":"Law.","layers":[{"id":"rights","name":"Rights","description":"Freedom of expression.","findings":[{"id":"rights-finding","name":"Rights","description":"Freedom of expression.","questions":[{"text":"What do international human rights standards say about restricting expression?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which restrictions are permitted and under what tests?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"national","name":"National","description":"Domestic law.","findings":[{"id":"national-finding","name":"National","description":"National law.","questions":[{"text":"What does national law allow or forbid here?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which courts have ruled on it?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"cases","name":"Cases","description":"Specific cases.","layers":[{"id":"case","name":"Case","description":"What happened.","findings":[{"id":"case-finding","name":"Case","description":"Case facts.","questions":[{"text":"What was restricted, by whom, and on what stated grounds?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources report it?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"attribution","name":"Attribution","description":"Contested labels.","findings":[{"id":"attribution-finding","name":"Attribution","description":"Attribution.","questions":[{"text":"Who describes this as censorship, and who disputes it?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Are views attributed rather than asserted?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"distinctions","name":"Distinctions","description":"Related practices.","layers":[{"id":"moderation","name":"Moderation","description":"Platforms.","findings":[{"id":"moderation-finding","name":"Moderation","description":"Content moderation.","questions":[{"text":"Is this a platform moderation decision under its own rules?","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"How can it be appealed?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"ratings","name":"Ratings","description":"Age ratings.","findings":[{"id":"ratings-finding","name":"Ratings","description":"Age ratings.","questions":[{"text":"Is this an age rating or classification rather than a ban?","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Which body issues it?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"support","name":"Support","description":"Help.","layers":[{"id":"organisations","name":"Organisations","description":"Watchdogs.","findings":[{"id":"organisations-finding","name":"Organisations","description":"Watchdogs.","questions":[{"text":"Which press freedom or digital rights organisations cover this issue?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"What do their reports say?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"limits","name":"Limits","description":"Agent conduct.","findings":[{"id":"limits-finding","name":"Limits","description":"Agent limits.","questions":[{"text":"Does the request seek to bypass restrictions that protect people from harm?","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"How should the agent respond?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain international standards on freedom of expression and their permitted limits, citing the instruments.","Report sourced cases of censorship, attributing the characterisation to the source that makes it."],"mustNot":["Label a contested restriction as censorship in its own voice without attributing the claim.","Help someone evade restrictions that protect people from harm, such as rules on child abuse material.","Silently suppress or alter lawful speech it has been asked to relay or summarise.","Present outdated bans or restrictions as current without stating their date."],"requiresHuman":["Removing or restricting content on a platform the agent moderates.","Reporting a person to an authority for their expression."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Censorship decides who may speak and what the public may know; misuse silences dissent and minorities.","Calling every restriction censorship can discredit lawful protections against real harm."],"affectedParties":["Writers, journalists and artists","Audiences denied information","People targeted by harmful speech"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns the concept; the authority or platform that imposes a restriction answers for it.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q1920219","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q192581","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q6805989","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"media regulation","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"freedom of expression","type":"related","note":"right"},{"target":"content moderation","type":"related","note":"related practice"},{"target":"press freedom organisation","type":"related","note":"watchdog"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.censorship","Wikidata: Q543 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q543)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Bans, blocks and redactions","Pre-publication review","Private editorial choices are not always censorship","Banned books, blocked websites, redacted documents, bleeped audio and removed content."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain international standards on freedom of expression","find sourced information on censorship cases","distinguish censorship, lawful restrictions and moderation","find press freedom and digital rights organisations"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Agents labelling contested decisions as censorship without attribution","Helping evade lawful safety restrictions","Outdated information on bans"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 19","ICCPR article 19 on permissible restrictions","National constitutional free speech provisions"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["A topic in law, human rights, media and history.","state censorship","self-censorship","internet censorship and blocking","book bans","broadcast standards and bleeping"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q543: censorship","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q543","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Censorship","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should censorship in each country be a separate entry?","How should index rankings be attributed?","How should moderation be distinguished?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q543/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q543/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-11T12:12:48Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:52:00+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane INF: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}