Petition · past parliament

Protect British authors/literature from being censored or redacted posthumously.

Rejected 10 signatures

What the petition asks

In Wake of the publisher Puffin books censoring and rewriting the works of Roald Dahl through hundreds of changes to remove potentially offensive content. There is a genuine concern of the dangerous road this paves to the re-writing of litreature and history. Rather than understanding of context.
"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped." ~ George Orwell Nineteen Eighty Four.

Although given the actions of publishers to rewrite long dead authors' works, it could be presented reality and foreshadowing of things to come should the goverment allow censorship of fiction.

Why it was rejected

It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.

We can only accept petitions about things the Government or Parliament are directly responsible for.

Decisions about the publication of intellectual property are a matter for the owners and publishers, not the UK Government or Parliament.

Timeline

20 Feb 2023 Petition opened for signatures
23 Feb 2023 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 10
Status Rejected
Rejected 23 Feb 2023

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.