Main principles and criteria of selected censored material

Definition of censorship
Censorship is defined as the suppression or prohibition of speech or writing that is condemned as subversive of the common good.

In modern times, censorship is specially related to government and the rule of law. This fact is reflected in the criteria for inclusion of material in the database.

Criteria of censorship
Based on this commonly accepted definition of censorship, the Beacon project proprietors have chosen as a major criterion the grounds for censorship for the inclusion of items in the database. Furthermore, entries are restricted to those items that have been censored on political, religious or moral grounds.

A second criterion is the censoring body. Only items censored by state or governing bodies or state related bodies are entered. Entries are made according to the definition of censorship in each country.