Leaked emails show organizers of the prestigious Hugo Awards vetted writers’ work and comments with regard to China, where last year’s awards were held.

Leaked emails show organizers of the prestigious Hugo Awards vetted writers’ work and comments with regard to China, where last year’s awards were held.

Organizers of the Hugo Awards, one of the most prominent literary awards in science fiction, excluded multiple authors from shortlists last year over concerns their work or public comments could be offensive to China, leaked emails show.

Questions had been raised as to why writers including Neil Gaiman, R.F. Kuang, Xiran Jay Zhao and Paul Weimer had been deemed ineligible as finalists despite earning enough votes according to information published last month by awards organizers. Emails released this week revealed that they were concerned about how some authors might be perceived in China, where the Hugo Awards were held last year for the first time.

  • @winterayars@sh.itjust.works
    -4•9 months ago

    YouTube censors thousands of words, including ones relating to death, so that may not be the best point of comparison.

    And before you say, “they don’t censor them they just demonetize them!” that’s functionally the same thing in a capitalist society.

    Censorship is more than just outright deletion, suppression and control can also be censorship. You lack a lot of freedom of speech in both platforms, it just plays out differently.

    (Also YouTube does outright delete a lot of content for pretty suspicious reasons so don’t get too excited even then.)

    • @khannie@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0•9 months ago

      And before you say, “they don’t censor them they just demonetize them!” that’s functionally the same thing in a capitalist society.

      Sorry but this is absolutely false. Lots and lots of people post videos to YouTube without a profit motive, myself included.