Graveyard
The project visualizes this evolving relationship between language, censorship, and resistance across different cultures. By collecting, categorizing, and reanimating these lost or altered words, Graveyard transforms digital silence into a space of memory and reflection — asking how speech, politics, and creativity coexist in an era of algorithmic control.
Current problem
Censored Language in the Digital Age
In today’s digital world, language is no longer completely free. Many words have been banned or restricted on the internet, especially on social media platforms. To continue expressing ideas and emotions, people have started to create new ways of communication—using alternative spellings, homophones, symbols, or visual metaphors to replace the censored words. This constant adaptation shows how language evolves under control and how users resist silence through creativity. “Graveyard” explores this phenomenon by collecting and visualizing these “dead” or hidden words, revealing how censorship shapes online expression and cultural memory.
Research
What We Can’t Say
Our research investigates how censorship transforms online language across different countries. By collecting examples of banned or restricted words, we trace how people adapt their expression to survive within controlled digital environments.
In China, users replace sensitive terms with homophones, emojis, or coded slang to evade platform filters. Words like 64, VPN, or President’s name are replaced with phonetically similar phrases or abbreviations. In other regions, such as Russia or the U.S., political and cultural keywords are quietly removed or shadow-banned from public discourse.
Through these substitutions, language becomes a living archive of resistance — a creative system that reveals both constraint and agency. Graveyard visualizes this phenomenon as a digital memorial, where “dead” words are not forgotten but reborn through adaptation, reflecting how censorship shapes the evolution of culture and communication online.
