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, 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.
Read more about Censorship In The Soviet Union: Destruction of Printed Matter, Soviet Censorship of Literature, Censorship of Images, Soviet Censorship of Film, Translations, Control Over Information, Circumvention of Censorship
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“In externals we advance with lightening express speed, in modes of thought and sympathy we lumber on in stage-coach fashion.”
—Frances E. Willard 1839–1898, U.S. president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union 1879-1891, author, activist. The Woman’s Magazine, pp. 137-40 (January 1887)