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Minecraft 'loophole' Library Of Banned Journalism

Minecraft 'loophole' library of banned journalism By Tom Gerken BBC News, Washington DC

13 March 2020

It began as an online forum project and has since grown to become the most popular video game ever. However, now Minecraft is being played in ways that its creators could never have imagined.

The iconic game based on the placement of Lego-like blocks and more than 145 million people playing every month has been transformed into a center for free speech.

To host journalistic articles that were censored online, a virtual library was meticulously designed.

The work of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist killed by Saudi agents in 2018, can be read among the plethora of books available in the library.

Minecraft declined to make a comment.

Reporters Without Borders, a non-profit organization that seeks to safeguard the freedom of information around the world The project was created by the non-profit organization. Blockworks, the design studio responsible for the Minecraft library, built it. Minecraft servers

Christian Mihr, the executive director of Reporters Without Borders Germany, said that Minecraft was a worthy project because he doesn't believe that it poses a threat to governments that control their media.

"We have chosen Minecraft because of its reach," he said. "It is accessible in every country. The game is not censored like some other games which are under suspicion of being political.

"There are large communities in every country included, which is the reason why it was suggested that it's a loophole for the censorship."

The authors were chosen to represent countries where press was censored, so that people from these communities would be able to access their work.

He did clarify, however, that permissions had to be sought before republishing in a library.

"We have not uploaded any content into the library without the consent of the authors involved in the event that they're still alive.

"In the case of Jamal Khashoggi we spoke with family members - with respect for those who were killed, and the security of their families."

Nick Feamster, Neubauer Professor of Computer Science, at the University of Chicago, stated to the BBC that the library could beat the censors but was concerned about the reaction of governments.

He said that it was an interesting concept however there were still issues. Governments will know about this - the articles are going all over the internet. It's not foolproof against a determined enemy.

He said that the strength of the library stemmed from its use of entanglement - mixing up the censored material with the game of video in the eyes of censors.

He said, "By entangling the two things you force them all to share content." "You cannot censor this one without the other."

Helmi Noman who is a Research Associate at the Berkman Klein Centre for Internet & Society He said that he thought the library would only have only a small number of patrons.

He added that "censored content is constantly changing and diverse" and that users prefer to use strategies that don't preselect or separate content from specific spaces online.

"Any strategy that doesn't result in a seamless and secure browsing experience of the entire web as well as social media, direct messaging apps will likely be ineffective."

The server, which hosts 100 users at a time was frequently unavailable due to the sheer number of players who tried to connect at once. It has been visited by 3,889 people from 75 countries, and has been downloaded more than 7,000 times.

After two hours of trying, BBC finally visited the virtual library and asked its users what they thought of it.

SoulfulGenie said they thought "it needs more books and a new section on North Korea" and another user called it "ingenious in many ways", adding that, as the library may be downloaded and downloaded by other users, "it is easy to duplicate and, therefore, hard to destroy".

While other players were focused on the appearance of the library The library's appearance was the focus, with ReduxPL commenting that it "looks amazing indeed".

Blockworks took 250 hours to design the library which was developed by 24 people from 16 countries.

James Delaney, Managing Director of the design company, told the BBC that the company's goal was to create a classical design which was "on the edge of fantasy".

"It seems plausible as a building," he said, "but is pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

"We picked a design that is that's in the neoclassical style. It's akin to the British Museum and public libraries in New York."

He claimed that Minecraft was improvisational in its fundamentals, which means that creators were not restricted to following a pre-determined design.

"With many people working on the same project," he said, "people are able to see each other's work and must respond in real-time. It's a reactive method of working that can alter the look.

"The style is meant to symbolize power and authority. We wanted to turn that around.

"It's not a symbol of the power of the government or the regime. It's a symbol of freedom of speech."

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