eli5 what is the difference between censorship and redaction? when the government releases files for the public, they redact quite a bit of information. Isn’t that censorship?
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I’d argue the following:
– Calling it *censorship* implies that the public has the right to know the information at the heart of the matter (for example, election results or evidence of a crime against humanity) and that this information being withheld is an injustice. Calling it *redaction* often implies the converse—that that information is confidential or sensitive (like a patient’s lab results or a govt. worker’s home & work addresses), withholding it is the right thing to do, and if it were to be made public then people linked to that information would suffer the consequences (say, by being hatecrimed or persecuted).
– Censorship also makes you ask *Why are we not being told the exact details?*, whereas redaction doesn’t. More specifically, calling it redaction can imply that the redactor is being transparent about what kind of information they’re redacting and why—for example, by citing laws like FERPA or HIPAA, or by a disclosure like “The whistleblower who leaked this to us asked that we not use their real name for fear of retaliation”. But censorship involves opaqueness or lack of accountability—the censor may deny that it’s happening, or downplay the gravity and gaslight anyone who has questions, or try to fudge the information, or even try to turn someone else into the bad guy.
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