What is cartographic censorship?

Cartographic censorship is the deliberate modification of publicly available maps to disguise, remove, or obfuscate strategic locations like military bases, power plants, and transmitters. Historically utilized during wartime as a disinformation tactic or to protect competitive economic interests during the Age of Discovery, modern requests are frequently sent to platforms like Google Earth to safeguard national security.

What we know

• Cartographic censorship involves the deliberate modification of publicly available maps to hide sensitive objects like military bases, power plants, and transmitters. [1, 2]
• Sensitive objects have been removed from maps since historic times as wartime disinformation tactics or to protect competitive political and economic interests. [2]
• In modern times, requests to censor specific sites deemed to pose security risks are sent to Google Earth. [2]

Where to go next

• compared withHow are maps used for propaganda?
• the bigger pictureHow do maps reflect power relations?
• how it workedHow is map detail reduced for smaller scales?
• a case in pointWhat role did strategic mapping play in the Age of Discovery?
• what followedHow do modern platforms handle security redactions?
• an unexpected connectionHow does map generalization differ from cartographic censorship?While cartographic censorship hides specific strategic sites for security or political reasons, cartographic generalization simplifies spatial data purely to fit smaller scales during map design.

Sources

• [1]cartographic censorship (Wikidata Q604188) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Cartographic censorship · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Cartographic generalization · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Critical cartography · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Cartographic propaganda · CC BY-SA 4.0