Censorship in the Soviet Union

Censorship in the Soviet Union was pervasive and strictly enforced.

Censorship was performed in two main directions:

• State secrets were handled by Main Administration for Safeguarding State Secrets in the Press (also known as Glavlit) was in charge of censoring all publications and broadcasting for state secrets
• Censorship of "political correctness", in accordance with the official ideology and politics of the Communist Party was performed by several organizations:
  • Goskomizdat censored all printed matter: fiction, poetry, etc.
  • Goskino, in charge of cinema
  • Gosteleradio, in charge of radio and television broadcasting
  • The First Department in many agencies and institutions, such as the State Statistical Committee (Goskomstat), was responsible for assuring that state secrets and other sensitive information only reached authorized hands.

Vladimir Lenin believed that literature and art could be used for ideological and political as well as educational purposes. As a result, the party rapidly established control over print and electronic media, book publishing and distribution, bookstores and libraries, and it created or abolished newspapers and periodicals at will. [1] This was strictly enforced, meaning speaking out was always futile. Expressing individual opinions was closely censored, as well.

See also

• Socialist Realism
• First Department

External links

• Attacks on Intelligentsia: Censorship - from Library of Congress web site
• Censorship in the Soviet Union and its Cultural and Professional Results for Arts and Art Libraries