Explore the Uncensored Library with Tobias Natterer

Tobias Natterer is a creative concepter and copywriter at DDB Germany who fought oppression and censorship by collaborating with Reporters Without Borders on two projects: The Uncensored Library and The Uncensored Playlist.

The Uncensored Library is made in a public, free and immensely popular video game called Minecraft. It shows censored articles from seven countries. Tobias: “Technically, the URL of the library could be blocked. But we have a download link, so that every player can download the whole library and save it on their computer. Every download can be uploaded again to open a new library and invite new people.” The library is protected by blockchain technology, so that new users are not able to change the articles or the library.

With the Uncensored Playlist, journalists from five countries suffering from strict government censorship teamed up. They turned ten articles that had previously been censored into pop songs. Tobias: “Dictators cannot just forbid a single song on Spotify. They would have to forbid Spotify altogether.” And thus, the Uncensored Playlist stayed available in these censored countries and now have thousands of views.

If you’re interested in any thoughts behind the library and playlist, check out our new episode via Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts.

Designalism Podcast portrays the frontrunners at the intersection of design and journalism. By combining methods, tools, and tricks from design and journalism new forms of information arises, and with that new insights and surprising perspectives.