--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Censorship no longer works by hiding…" description: "\"Censorship no longer works by hiding information from you; censorship works by flooding you with immense amounts of misinformation, of irrelevant infor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/yuval-noah-harari-100_censorship_censorship-no-longer-works-by-hiding-inf_2715974.jpg" --- # Censorship no longer works by hiding information from you… ![“Censorship no longer works by hiding information from you; censorship works by flooding you with immense amounts of misinformation, of irrelevant information, of funny cat videos, until you're just unable to focus.” quote by Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/yuval-noah-harari-100_censorship_censorship-no-longer-works-by-hiding-inf_2715974.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/yuval-noah-harari-100_censorship_censorship-no-longer-works-by-hiding-inf_2715974.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/yuval-noah-harari-100_censorship_censorship-no-longer-works-by-hiding-inf_2715974.jpg) > “Censorship no longer works by hiding information from you; censorship works by flooding you with immense amounts of misinformation, of irrelevant information, of funny cat videos, until you're just unable to focus.” [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Censorship shifts from hiding facts to overwhelming with noise, making truth hard to find. **In simple terms:** Censorship drowns you in irrelevant content. Key Takeaway Focus on reliable sources. Themes media information attention control Mood cautious critical Type analytical observational When to use this quote - news consumption - social media scrolling - research - academic study Key Concepts information overload psychology of attention digital literacy Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify information? - What sources do you trust? A Different Perspective Misinformation can still be filtered with critical thinking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Censorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censorship/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Misinformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misinformation/) ## Related quotes > [ “In the past, censorship worked by blocking the flow of information. In the twenty-first century, censorship works by flooding people with irrelevant information. \[...\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/in-the-past-censorship-worked-by-blocking-the-flow-of-information-in-3/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“In the past, censorship worked by blocking the flow of information. In the twenty-first century, censorship works by flooding people with irrelevant information.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/in-the-past-censorship-worked-by-blocking-the-flow-of-information-in-2/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“In the past, censorship worked by blocking the flow of information. In the 21st century, censorship works by flooding people with irrelevant information. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/in-the-past-censorship-worked-by-blocking-the-flow-of-information-in/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Right now we live in an age of extreme Political Correctness. It has gone way too far. I hope it's just a phase. Political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/right-now-we-live-in-an-age-of-extreme-political-correctness-it-has/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [We saw a social network choose not to censor misinformation in 2016 and got burned for that decision, then we saw them choose censorship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-bankman-fried/we-saw-a-social-network-choose-not-to-censor-misinformation-in-2016/) [Sam Bankman-Fried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-bankman-fried/) > [Actually I'm more culturally Muslim than religiously but being Muslim is an important part of my identity. As Muslim, I feel it's important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aasif-mandvi/actually-i-m-more-culturally-muslim-than-religiously-but-being-muslim/) [Aasif Mandvi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aasif-mandvi/) > [I do know that if you can name certain things and understand them, it allows you to make better choices. Unfortunately, there's so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-santiago-baca/i-do-know-that-if-you-can-name-certain-things-and-understand-them-it/) [Jimmy Santiago Baca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-santiago-baca/) > [Movies are one of the bad habits that have corrupted our century. They have slipped into the American mind more misinformation in one evening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-hecht/movies-are-one-of-the-bad-habits-that-have-corrupted-our-century-they/) [Ben Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-hecht/) > [It is an unquestionable truth, that the body of the people in every country desire sincerely its prosperity. But it is equally unquestionable that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/it-is-an-unquestionable-truth-that-the-body-of-the-people-in-every/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [“The government researchers, aware of the information in the professional journals, decided to reverse the process (of healing from hysteric dissociation). They decided to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-hersha/the-government-researchers-aware-of-the-information-in-the/) [Cheryl Hersha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-hersha/) > [“To tell the truth she was quite thrilled to be working at the very source of a magazine which helped build up much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rona-jaffe/to-tell-the-truth-she-was-quite-thrilled-to-be-working-at-the-very/) [Rona Jaffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rona-jaffe/) > [One of the greatest sources of problems in our society arises from people having loads of wrong theories in their heads - often theories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-dalio/one-of-the-greatest-sources-of-problems-in-our-society-arises-from/) [Ray Dalio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-dalio/) > [The dark ages still reign over all humanity, and the depth and persistence of this domination are only now becoming clear. This Dark Ages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-dark-ages-still-reign-over-all-humanity-and-the-depth-and/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) ## More by Yuval Noah Harari > [“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. As far as we can tell, changes in social patterns, the invention of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/for-similar-reasons-archaic-humans-did-not-initiate-any-revolutions/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Today the main source of wealth is knowledge. And whereas you can conquer oil fields through war, you cannot acquire knowledge that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/today-the-main-source-of-wealth-is-knowledge-and-whereas-you-can/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/how-do-you-cause-people-to-believe-in-an-imagined-order-such-as/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [I think the basic thing that happened is we have lost our story. Humans think in stories, and we try to make sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/i-think-the-basic-thing-that-happened-is-we-have-lost-our-story/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas chimpanzees spend five hours a day chewing raw food, a single hour suffices for people eating cooked food. The advent of cooking enabled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-chimpanzees-spend-five-hours-a-day-chewing-raw-food-a-single/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“the Chinese air-purification market is booming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-chinese-air-purification-market-is-booming/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas liberalism merged with the milder versions of nationalism to protect the unique experiences of each human community, evolutionary humanists such as Hitler identified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-liberalism-merged-with-the-milder-versions-of-nationalism-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Corporations, money and nations exist only in our imagination. We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/corporations-money-and-nations-exist-only-in-our-imagination-we/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Small children in affluent societies often dislike showering, and it takes them years of education and parental discipline to adopt this supposedly attractive custom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/small-children-in-affluent-societies-often-dislike-showering-and-it/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Ever more scholars see cultures as a kind of mental infection or parasite, with humans as its unwitting host. Organic parasites, such as viruses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/ever-more-scholars-see-cultures-as-a-kind-of-mental-infection-or/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Soviet Communism was a fanatical and missionary religion. A devout Communist could not be a Christian or a Buddhist, and was expected to spread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/soviet-communism-was-a-fanatical-and-missionary-religion-a-devout/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas religion asks us to believe in something, money asks us to believe that other people believe in something”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-religion-asks-us-to-believe-in-something-money-asks-us-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Terrorists are like a fly that tries to destroy a china shop. The fly is so weak that it cannot budge even a single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/terrorists-are-like-a-fly-that-tries-to-destroy-a-china-shop-the-fly/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Yet what happens if the greedy shoemaker increases his profits by paying employees less and increasing their work hours? The standard answer is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/yet-what-happens-if-the-greedy-shoemaker-increases-his-profits-by/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“A natural order is a stable order. There is no chance that gravity will cease to function tomorrow, even if people stop believing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/a-natural-order-is-a-stable-order-there-is-no-chance-that-gravity/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) [Explore all 1,200 Yuval Noah Harari quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More Censorship quotes > [“Medical studies have shown that cursing reduces levels of stress and pain. Repressing your anger is not healthy. It's much better to verbalize it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/medical-studies-have-shown-that-cursing-reduces-levels-of-stress-and/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [“Censors don’t want children exposed to ideas different from their own. If every individual with an agenda had his/her way, the shelves in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-blume/censors-don-t-want-children-exposed-to-ideas-different-from-their-own/) [Judy Blume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-blume/) > [Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/censorship-is-the-child-of-fear-and-the-father-of-ignorance/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [I don't believe in censorship in any form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-bigelow/i-don-t-believe-in-censorship-in-any-form/) [Kathryn Bigelow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-bigelow/) > [We must be talented, powerful and resilient creatures indeed given how much we manage to produce despite the constant undercutting, ridicule and needless censorship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth/we-must-be-talented-powerful-and-resilient-creatures-indeed-given-how/) [Seth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth/) > [When a critic sets himself up as an arbiter of morality, a judge of the matter and not the manner of a work, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/when-a-critic-sets-himself-up-as-an-arbiter-of-morality-a-judge-of/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [When there is official censorship it is a sign that speech is serious. Where there is none, it is pretty certain that the official…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/when-there-is-official-censorship-it-is-a-sign-that-speech-is-serious/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [“I agree that it's a shame some books have to suffer ratings that clearly are invalid. However I can't think of a way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otis-y-chandler/i-agree-that-it-s-a-shame-some-books-have-to-suffer-ratings-that/) Otis Y. Chandler > [I think that, honestly, people's censorship issues are personal but I disagree with most of those personal choices that I see others make. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-rogen/i-think-that-honestly-people-s-censorship-issues-are-personal-but-i/) [Seth Rogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-rogen/) > [Art made tongue-tied by authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/art-made-tongue-tied-by-authority/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“The tendency to want what has been banned and therefore to presume that it is more worthwhile is not limited to such commodities as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-cialdini/the-tendency-to-want-what-has-been-banned-and-therefore-to-presume/) [Robert B. Cialdini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-cialdini/) > [The only thing that is obscene is censorship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-thing-that-is-obscene-is-censorship/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In a feature film, the question of censorship always comes up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javed-jaffrey/in-a-feature-film-the-question-of-censorship-always-comes-up/) [Javed Jaffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javed-jaffrey/) > [“Don't join the book burners. Don't think you're going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don't be afraid to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/don-t-join-the-book-burners-don-t-think-you-re-going-to-conceal/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [ If no one speaks out for \[young readers\], if they don’t speak out for themselves, all they’ll get for required reading will be the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-blume/if-no-one-speaks-out-for-young-readers-if-they-don-t-speak-out-for/) [Judy Blume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-blume/) [Browse all 884 Censorship quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censorship/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Censorship no longer works by hiding information from you; censorship works by flooding you with immense amounts of misinformation, of irrelevant information, of funny cat videos, until you're just unable to focus.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Yuval Noah Harari" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/censorship-no-longer-works-by-hiding-information-from-you-censorship/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Censorship" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/censorship-no-longer-works-by-hiding-information-from-you-censorship/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/yuval-noah-harari-100_censorship_censorship-no-longer-works-by-hiding-inf_2715974.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/yuval-noah-harari-100_censorship_censorship-no-longer-works-by-hiding-inf_2715974.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/yuval-noah-harari-100_censorship_censorship-no-longer-works-by-hiding-inf_2715974.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Censorship no longer works by hiding information from you; censorship works by flooding you with immense…” — Yuval Noah Harari", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Yuval Noah Harari", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Censorship no longer works by hiding...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/censorship-no-longer-works-by-hiding-information-from-you-censorship/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/censorship-no-longer-works-by-hiding-information-from-you-censorship/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```