In the digital present, a new form of censorship is at work – not by state controllers or moral authorities, but by machines. These are algorithms, faceless mathematical formulas that decide what is seen – and what is not. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube no longer leave their content to chance or the diversity of human perception; instead, they hand over curatorial power to automated systems.
What cannot be monetized disappears. What does not perform becomes invisible. The criteria for this remain hidden. There is no entity you can question, no structure you can hold accountable. The algorithm is an unnamable curator, a judge without explanation. It operates in the dark, according to rules that constantly change and are never disclosed – optimized for engagement time, click rates, and monetization.
The most insidious aspect of this censorship is its invisibility. There are no official bans, no public scandals. Instead: a quiet disappearance. A video that doesn’t click. A post that sinks without a trace. An artistic gesture that fades because it couldn't decode the system. In this way, even subversion becomes toothless if it does not flatter the system.
A performance that appears as radical criticism on stage may simultaneously sink without a sound on TikTok – not because it is banned, but because its thumbnail doesn’t grab attention, the performer doesn’t fit the platform's aesthetic, or the language doesn't align with the trend. Visibility has become a commodity, controlled by mechanical arbitrariness.
The question that remains: What does artistic freedom mean in a world where an algorithm decides whether you are even seen?

01.04.2025