censorship

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noun cen·sor·ship \ˈsen(t)-sər-ˌship\

Definition of censorship

1a : the institution, system, or practice of censoring They oppose government censorship.b : the actions or practices of censors; especially : censorial control exercised repressively censorship that has … permitted a very limited dispersion of facts — Philip Wylie
2 : the office, power, or term of a Roman censor
3 : exclusion from consciousness by the psychic censor

See censorship defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of censorship from the Web

Fresh crackdowns, censorship and war are again rejuvenating their ranks.

— The Economist, "To escape repression, critics are leaving the Gulf," 20 July 2017
After a fresh round of news reports about the censorship on Monday, including on the front page of The Financial Times, Chinese internet users took to social media sites to test the ban.

— javier c. hernÁndez, New York Times, "China Censors Winnie-the-Pooh on Social Media," 17 July 2017
Thanks to tight censorship, most Chinese had no idea Liu had even won the Nobel.

— john timpane, Philly.com, "What the miserable death of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo can teach us about Fake News," 14 July 2017
But big corporate media does face enough regulatory matters that even a single exemplary case would suffice to induce large-scale self-censorship.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "White House Warns CNN That Critical Coverage Could Cost Time Warner Its Merger," 6 July 2017
But human rights experts and the companies affected warn that the law risks privatizing the process of censorship and could have a chilling effect on free speech.

— frank jordans, Jewish Journal, "Germany passes law against online hate speech," 3 July 2017
Free-speech advocates say that the Canadian ruling will be used to justify government censorship of the Internet.

— joe mullin, Ars Technica, "Google must alter worldwide search results, per orders from Canada’s top court," 28 June 2017
Pop quiz: Which group is protected by Facebook’s secret censorship algorithm?

— michael harriot, The Root, "Facebook Will Ban You for Talking About White Men. Black Children and Muslims? Not So Much," 28 June 2017
Many artists took to expressing themes of censorship and sexual liberation.

— chloe fein, The Cut, "These Artists Explore the Female Gaze in Erotica (NSFW)," 27 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'censorship.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.