Editing Book burning (section)

==Modern biblioclasm==
Although the act of destroying books is condemned by the majority of the world's societies, book burning still occurs on a small or large scale.

===20th century===
In [[Azerbaijan]], when a modified Latin alphabet was adopted, books which were published in the Arabic script were burned, especially those published in the late 1920s and 1930s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jafarzade |first=Aziza |date=2006 |title=14.1 - Memoirs of 1937 - Burning Our Books - The Arabic Script Goes Up in Flames |url=https://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai141_folder/141_articles/141_aziza_jafarzade.html |url-status=live |access-date=2022-06-06 |website=Azerbaijan International |location=United States |at=vol. 14:1 pp. 24-25 |archive-date=2 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102144750/http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai141_folder/141_articles/141_aziza_jafarzade.html}}</ref> The texts were not limited to the Quran; medical and historical manuscripts were also destroyed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rustamov |first=Asaf |date=1999 |title=7.3 The Day They Burnt Our Books |url=http://azeri.org/Azeri/az_english/73_folder/73_articles/73_justforkids.html |url-status=live |access-date=2022-06-06 |website=Azerbaijan International |location=United States |at=vol 7:3 pp. 74-75 |archive-date=28 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928201715/http://azeri.org/Azeri/az_english/73_folder/73_articles/73_justforkids.html}}</ref>
[[File:Yad Vashem Books burned by Nazis by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|Copies of books which were burned by the Nazis, on display at [[Yad Vashem]]]]
Book burnings were regularly organised in [[Nazi Germany]] in the 1930s by [[Sturmabteilung|stormtroopers]] so that "degenerate" works could be destroyed, especially works written by Jewish authors such as [[Thomas Mann]], [[Marcel Proust]], and [[Karl Marx]]. One of the most infamous book burnings in the 20th century occurred in Frankfurt, Germany, on May 10, 1933.<ref name="holocaust" /> Organized by [[Joseph Goebbels]], books were burned in a celebratory fashion, complete with bands, marchers, and songs. Seeking to "cleanse" German culture of the "un-German" spirit, Goebbels compelled students (who were egged on by their professors) to perform the book burning. To some this could be easily dismissed as the childish actions of the youth, but to many in Europe and America, it was a horrific display of power and disrespect.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Baker |first=Kenneth |date=2016-09-09 |title=Burning Books |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/burning-books |access-date=2022-06-07 |magazine=[[History Today]] |volume=66 |issue=9 |page=44 |archive-date=14 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914143329/https://www.historytoday.com/archive/burning-books |url-status=live}}</ref> During the [[Denazification#Censorship|denazification]] which followed the war, literature which had been confiscated by the Allies was reduced to pulp rather than burned.

In 1937, during [[Vargas Era#Third Brazilian Republic (Estado Novo)|Getúlio Vargas' dictatorship]] in [[Brazil]], several books by authors such as [[Jorge Amado]] and [[José Lins do Rego]] were burned in an anti-communist act.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Ramos |first=Jorge |date=2012-08-12 |title=Ditadura Vargas incinerou em praça pública 1.640 livros de Jorge Amado |url=https://www.correio24horas.com.br/noticia/nid/ditadura-vargas-incinerou-em-praca-publica-1640-livros-de-jorge-amado/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203012217/https://www.correio24horas.com.br/noticia/nid/ditadura-vargas-incinerou-em-praca-publica-1640-livros-de-jorge-amado/ |archive-date=2019-12-03 |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Jornal Correio |language=pt-br}}</ref>

In the [[People's Republic of China]] from the 1940s to present day, library officials publicize the burning of "illegal publications, religious publications".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-china-library-officials-burn-books-that-diverge-from-communist-party-ideology/2019/12/09/5563ee46-1a43-11ea-977a-15a6710ed6da_story.html|title=China's library officials are burning books that diverge from Communist Party ideology|last=Shih|first=Gerry|date=9 December 2019|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=10 December 2019|archive-date=9 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209220928/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-china-library-officials-burn-books-that-diverge-from-communist-party-ideology/2019/12/09/5563ee46-1a43-11ea-977a-15a6710ed6da_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1942, local Catholic priests forced Irish storyteller Timothy Buckley to burn a book ''[[The Tailor and Ansty]]'' by [[Eric Cross (writer)|Eric Cross]] about Buckley and his wife, because of its sexual frankness.<ref name="times2006">{{cite news|last=Keating|first=Sara|title=Bringing tales of the tailor back home|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2006/0127/1137626807241.html|access-date=19 December 2010|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=1 January 2006|archive-date=22 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022185623/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2006/0127/1137626807241.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1950s, over six tons of books by [[William Reich|Wilhelm Reich]] were burned in the U.S. in compliance with judicial orders.<ref name="IDP">{{Cite news |last=Sharaf |date=1956-07-13 |title=BOOK ORDER APPEALED; Liberties Unit Asks U.S. Not to Destroy Reich's Writings |pages=419, 460–461 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/07/13/archives/book-order-appealed-liberties-unit-asks-us-not-to-destroy-reichs.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722185249/https://www.nytimes.com/1956/07/13/archives/book-order-appealed-liberties-unit-asks-us-not-to-destroy-reichs.html |archive-date=2018-07-22}}</ref> In 1954, the works of [[Mordecai Kaplan]] were burned by [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] [[rabbi]]s in America, after Kaplan was [[Herem (censure)|excommunicated]].<ref name="silver">{{Cite web |last=Silver |first=Zachary |date=2005-06-03 |title=A Look Back at a Different Book Burning |url=https://forward.com/culture/3610/a-look-back-at-a-different-book-burning/ |url-status=live |access-date=2022-06-07 |website=The Forward |language=en |archive-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817124740/https://forward.com/culture/3610/a-look-back-at-a-different-book-burning/}}</ref>

In [[Denmark]], a [[comic book]] burning took place on 23 June 1955. It was a [[bonfire]] which consisted of comic books topped by a life-size cardboard cutout of [[The Phantom]].<ref>{{cite web |date=1940-04-09 |title=Fantomet på bålet 1955 |url=http://danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/fantomet-paa-baalet-1955/ |url-status=live |access-date=2017-12-15 |website=danmarkshistorien.dk |publisher=[[Aarhus University]] |language=da |archive-date=26 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026232901/http://danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/fantomet-paa-baalet-1955/}}</ref>

During the [[military dictatorship in Brazil]] from (1964-1985), several methods of censure were used, among them, torture and the burning of books by firemen.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Greenhalgh |first=Raphael Diego |date=2020-09-29 |title=Os livros e a censura em Brasília durante a Ditadura Militar (1964-1985) |trans-title=Books and Censorship in Brasília during the Military Dictatorship (1964-1985) |url=https://brapci.inf.br/index.php/res/download/148044 |url-status=live |format=PDF |journal=Informação & Sociedade: Estudos |language=pt-br |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=1–15 |doi=10.22478/ufpb.1809-4783.2020v30n3.52231 |access-date=2021-05-24 |doi-access=free |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524150713/https://brapci.inf.br/index.php/res/download/148044 |archivedate=2021-05-24}}</ref>

Some supporters have celebrated book-burning cases in art and other media. Such is the case in Italy in 1973 with ''The Burning of Heretical Books'' over a side door on the façade of [[Santa Maria Maggiore]], Rome, the bas-relief by [[Giovanni Battista Maini]], which depicts the burning of "heretical" books as a triumph of righteousness.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Touring club italiano |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/863551761 |title=Roma e dintorni |date=1977 |publisher=Touring Club italiano |location=Milano |pages=344 |language=Italian |oclc=863551761 |access-date=7 June 2022 |archive-date=7 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607002020/https://www.worldcat.org/title/roma-e-dintorni/oclc/863551761 |url-status=live}}</ref>

During the years of the Chilean military dictatorship under [[Augusto Pinochet]] from 1973 to 1990, [[book burnings in Chile|hundreds of books were burned]] as a way of repression and censorship of left-wing literature.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bosmajian |first=Haig |title=Burning Books |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |year=2006 |isbn=9780786422081 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |page=141 |oclc=62697065}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Daniel |date=2010-09-10 |title=The books have been burning |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/the-books-have-been-burning-1.887172 |url-status=live |access-date=2017-12-15 |website=CBC News |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |archive-date=7 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607185511/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/the-books-have-been-burning-1.887172}}</ref> In some instances, even books on [[Cubism]] were burned because soldiers thought it had to do with the [[Cuban Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Edwards |first=Jorge |date=1984-04-01 |title=Books in Chile |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/03064228408533696 |journal=Index on Censorship |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=20–22 |doi=10.1080/03064228408533696 |s2cid=144952930 |issn=0306-4220 |access-date=7 June 2022 |archive-date=7 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607002004/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/03064228408533696 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrain |first=Charles F. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/811384331 |title=Political change in the Third World |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-85889-5 |location=Abingdon, Oxon |page=186 |language=en |oclc=811384331}}</ref>
[[File:Chile quema libros 1973.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Book burnings in Chile|Book burning in Chile]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990)|Pinochet dictatorship]]]]

In 1981, the [[Jaffna Public Library]] in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, was [[Burning of Jaffna Public Library|burned down]] by Sinhalese police and paramilitaries during a pogrom against the minority Tamil population. At the time of its burning, it contained almost 100,000 Tamil books and rare documents.<ref name="smithsonian" />{{sfn|Knuth|2006|pp=80–85}}{{sfn|Ovenden |2020|pp=163–164}}

Kjell Ludvik Kvavik, a senior Norwegian official, had a penchant for removing maps and other pages from rare books and he was noticed in January 1983 by a young college student. The student, Barbro Andenaes, reported the actions of the senior official to the superintendent of the reading room and then reported them to the head librarian of the university library in Oslo. Hesitant to make the accusation against Kvavik public because it would greatly harm his career, even if it was proven to be false, the media did not divulge his name until his house was searched by police. The authorities seized 470 maps and prints as well as 112 books that Kvavik had illegally obtained. While this may not have been the large-scale, violent demonstration which usually occurs during [[war]]s, Kvavik's disregard for libraries and books shows that the destruction of books on any scale can affect an entire country. Here, a senior official in the Norwegian government was disgraced and the University Library was only refunded for a small portion of the costs which it had incurred from the loss and destruction of rare materials and the security changes that had to be made as a result of it. In this case, the lure of personal profit and the desire to enhance one's own collection were the causes of the defacement of rare books and maps. While the main goal was not destruction for destruction's sake, the resulting damage to the ephemera still carries weight within the library community.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Lawrence S. |year=1985 |title=Biblioclasm in Norway |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J114v06n04_02 |url-status=live |journal=Library & Archival Security |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=13–16 |doi=10.1300/j114v06n04_02 |url-access=subscription |access-date=7 June 2022 |archive-date=9 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009151758/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J114v06n04_02}}</ref>

In 1984, during India’s attack at Sikh Golden Temple, Indian forces ransacked the [[Sikh Reference Library]] which held invaluable manuscripts and records in relation to Sikh and wider history. Much of the material was confiscated and remaining newspaper archives etc. were burned by the Army later claiming falsely that the fire broke out due to crossfire between Sikh militants and government forces. The whereabouts of large volume of works which vanished during the attack are unknown.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Samachar |first=Asia |date=2021-06-09 |title=Memoricide - Burning down Sikh Reference Library |url=https://asiasamachar.com/2021/06/09/38651/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Asia Samachar |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In 1984, Amsterdam's South African Institute was infiltrated by an organized group which was bent on drawing attention to the inequality of [[apartheid]]. Well-organized and assuring patrons of the library that no harm would come to them, group members systematically smashed microfiche machines and threw books into the nearby waterway. Indiscriminate with regard to the content which was being destroyed, shelf after shelf was cleared of its contents until the group left. Staff members fished books from the water in hopes of salvaging the rare editions of [[Travel literature|travel books]], documents about the Boer Wars, and contemporary materials which were both for and against apartheid. Many of these materials were destroyed by oil, ink, and paint that the anti-apartheid demonstrators had flung around the library. The world was outraged by the loss of knowledge that these demonstrators had caused, and instead of supporting their cause and drawing people's attention to the issue of apartheid, the international community denounced their actions at Amsterdam's South African Institute. Some of the demonstrators came forward and sought to justify their actions by accusing the institute of being pro-apartheid and claiming that nothing was being done to change the [[status quo]] in [[South Africa]].{{sfn|Knuth|2006|pp=43–70}}

===21st century===
The advent of the digital age has resulted in the cataloguing of an immense collection of written works, exclusively or primarily in digital form. The intentional deletion or removal of these works has often been referred to as a new form of book burning.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ruggiero |first=Lucia |date=2013-07-09 |title=Digital books; could they make censorship and "book burning" easier? {{!}} Digital meets Culture |url=http://www.digitalmeetsculture.net/article/digital-books-could-they-make-censorship-and-book-burning-easier/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415075702/https://www.digitalmeetsculture.net/article/digital-books-could-they-make-censorship-and-book-burning-easier/ |archive-date=2021-04-15 |access-date=2015-10-22 |website=Digital Meets Culture}}</ref> For example, [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]], the world's largest online marketplace, has increasingly banned the sale of controversial books. An article in ''The New York Times'' reported that "Booksellers that sell on Amazon say the retailer has no coherent philosophy about what it decides to prohibit, and seems largely guided by public complaints."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Streitfeld |first1=David |author-link=David Streitfeld |date=2020-03-17 |title=Amazon Bans, then Reinstates, Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/technology/amazon-hitler-mein-kampf.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331172108/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/technology/amazon-hitler-mein-kampf.html |archive-date=2022-03-31 |issn=1553-8095}}</ref>

A biblioclastic incident occurred in [[Mullumbimby]], [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]] in 2009. Reported as "just like the ritual burning of books in Nazi Germany", a book-burning ceremony was held by students of the "socially harmful cult" [[Universal Medicine]], an [[Alice Bailey#Esoteric healing|esoteric healing]] business which was owned by Serge Benhayon.<ref name="Whitbourn">{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/self-styled-healer-serge-benhayon-leads-socially-harmful-cult-jury-20181010-p508ux.html|title=Self-styled healer Serge Benhayon leads 'socially harmful cult': jury|last1=Whitbourn|first1=Michaela|date=15 October 2018|work=Sydney Morning Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media|access-date=27 October 2018|archive-date=15 October 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20181015092108/https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/self-styled-healer-serge-benhayon-leads-socially-harmful-cult-jury-20181010-p508ux.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Students were invited to throw their books onto the [[pyre]]. Most of the volumes were on [[Chinese medicine]], [[kinesiology]], [[acupuncture]], [[homeopathy]] and other [[alternative healing]] modalities, all of which Benhayon has decreed evil or "[[prana]]".<ref name="The Da Vinci Mode">{{cite news|last1=Leser|first1=David|title=The Da Vinci Mode|url=http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/the-da-vinci-mode-20120824-24h50.html|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=25 August 2012|access-date=2015-01-05|archive-date=15 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150115014742/http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/the-da-vinci-mode-20120824-24h50.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Russian nationalists burned Ukrainian history books in [[Crimea]] in 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2010-03-16 |title=Book Burning in Ukraine Stokes Controversy About History |work=[[Voice of America]] |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/book-burning-in-ukraine-stokes-controversy-about-history-88239147/169847.html |access-date=20 May 2022 |archive-date=20 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520102336/https://www.voanews.com/a/book-burning-in-ukraine-stokes-controversy-about-history-88239147/169847.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Prorussian demonstrators burned books in Eastern Ukraine, 2014.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-03-16 |title=Pro-Russian demonstrators burn books, storm buildings in eastern Ukraine |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-east-idUSBREA2F0P220140316 |access-date=2023-10-25 |archive-date=16 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316215525/https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/16/us-ukraine-east-idUSBREA2F0P220140316 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since the beginning of the Yemeni civil war in 2014, many [[Zaydism|Zaydi]] libraries have been destroyed, often deliberatly by Salafi militants. These libraries are a unique part of Yemen's cultural life due to the intellectual heritage included and its preservation of the teachings of the Mu’tazilites.{{sfn|Ovenden |2020|pp=164–165}}

In 2015, [[ISIS]] burned some 8,000 books it had taken from the Central Library of [[Mosul]], inlcuding some books and manuscripts dating back 800 years, as they allegedly "promoted infidelity and called for disobeying Allah". Some local bookshop owners claimed that the group was only burning 'normal books' and were intending to sell the rare books on the black market in order to finance their operations.<ref>{{cite news |title=ISIS reportedly burning books looted from Mosul library in Iraq - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-reportedly-burning-books-looted-from-mosul-library-in-iraq/ |access-date=5 March 2025 |work=www.cbsnews.com |agency=CBS |date=24 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Buchanan |first1=Rose Troup |last2=Saul |first2=Heather |title=Isis burn hundreds of years of human knowledge to the ground |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-burns-thousands-of-rare-books-and-manuscripts-from-mosul-s-libraries-10068408.html |access-date=5 March 2025 |work=The Independent |date=26 February 2015 |language=en}}</ref>

After the [[2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt|failed 2016 Turkish coup d'état]], the Turkish government burned 301,878 books deemed related to the coup or its alleged leader, [[Fethullah Gülen]], including 18 textbooks with the word "[[Pennsylvania]]" in them. Photos of books being burned became a viral sensation on the internet once they were taken by a website named Kronos27.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alison |first=Flood |date=2019-08-06 |title=Turkish government destroys more than 300,000 books |language=en |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/aug/06/turkish-government-destroys-more-than-300000-books |access-date=2021-12-19 |archive-date=19 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219215310/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/aug/06/turkish-government-destroys-more-than-300000-books |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=P |first=Jinoy Jose |date=2019-08-08 |title=When 301,878 books were murdered in Turkey... |language=en |work=[[The Hindu Business Line]] |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/columns/the-cheat-sheet/the-cheat-sheet-when-301878-books-were-murdered-in-turkey/article28880482.ece |url-status=live |access-date=2021-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808071913/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/columns/the-cheat-sheet/the-cheat-sheet-when-301878-books-were-murdered-in-turkey/article28880482.ece |archive-date=2019-08-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Andrei |first=Mihai |date=2019-08-07 |title=Turkey burns 300,000 books from schools and public libraries |url=https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/turkey-burns-books-libraries-07082019/ |access-date=2021-12-19 |website=ZME Science |language=en-US |archive-date=19 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219215309/https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/turkey-burns-books-libraries-07082019/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2019 Poland, priests in [[Gdańsk]] burned ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47771706|title=Harry Potter books burned by Polish priests alarmed by magic|publisher=BBC News|date=April 1, 2019|accessdate=April 1, 2019}}</ref>

In 2019, the [[French language in Ontario|French-language]] [[Conseil scolaire catholique Providence|Providence Catholic School Board]] in [[southwestern Ontario]] held a 'flame purification' ceremony and burned around thirty recently banned children's books. The ashes were used as fertilizer to plant trees and according to the participants the action was 'to turn a negative to a positive'. The books included [[The Adventures of Tintin|Tintin]] and [[Asterix]] and were deemed harmful to Indigenous people.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gerbet|first=Thomas|date=2021-09-07|title=Des écoles détruisent 5000 livres jugés néfastes aux Autochtones, dont Tintin et Astérix|trans-title=Schools destroy 5,000 books deemed harmful to Indigenous people, including Tintin and Asterix|url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1817537/livres-autochtones-bibliotheques-ecoles-tintin-asterix-ontario-canada|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210907160421/https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1817537/livres-autochtones-bibliotheques-ecoles-tintin-asterix-ontario-canada|archive-date=7 September 2021|work=Radio-Canada.ca|language=fr-ca|access-date=20 October 2021}}</ref>

Since the introduction of the controversial [[2020 Hong Kong national security law|national security law]] in 2020, multiple counts of biblioclasm have been reported. Shortly after the introduction of the new law, books written by prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy figures, including [[Joshua Wong]] and [[Tanya Chan]], have been removed from [[Hong Kong Public Libraries|public libraries]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-07-05 |title=Democracy activists' books unavailable in Hong Kong libraries after new law |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-books-idUSKBN246072 |access-date=2022-06-06 |archive-date=6 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220606190958/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-books-idUSKBN246072 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, 29 previously available titles about the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|Tiananmen Massacre]] are completely removed from the public libraries, whilst 94 of the remaining 120 titles are only available on request.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cheng |first=Selina |date=2021-11-21 |title=Exclusive: Hong Kong public libraries purge 29 titles about the Tiananmen Massacre from the shelves |language=en-GB |work=[[Hong Kong Free Press]] |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2021/11/21/hong-kong-public-libraries-purge-29-titles-about-the-tiananmen-massacre-from-their-shelves/ |access-date=2022-06-06}}</ref> In 2022, reported by local media, three secondary schools removed more than 400 books since June 2021.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Li |first=Almond |date=2022-06-06 |title=Hong Kong schools should remove books that endanger national security, education secretary says |language=en-GB |work=[[Hong Kong Free Press]] |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2022/06/06/hong-kong-schools-should-remove-books-that-endanger-national-security-education-secretary-says/ |access-date=2022-06-06 |archive-date=6 June 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220606145113/https://hongkongfp.com/2022/06/06/hong-kong-schools-should-remove-books-that-endanger-national-security-education-secretary-says/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Unlike the two book burning happened in the public libraries, the schools were not given any concrete criteria but the schools had to perform the [[self-censorship]] themselves.<ref name=":0" /> Titles that were removed included those related to the [[2019–2020 Hong Kong protests|2019-2020 Hong Kong protests]], Tiananmen Massacre and jailed activists.<ref name=":0" /> In the same year, the Hong Kong government also refused to provide a list of books that have been removed from the public libraries.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chau |first=Candice |date=2022-04-07 |title=Hong Kong gov't refuses to say which library books are banned under national security law |work=[[Hong Kong Free Press]] |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2022/04/07/hong-kong-govt-refuses-to-say-which-library-books-are-banned-under-national-security-law/ |access-date=2022-06-06 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220407035503/https://hongkongfp.com/2022/04/07/hong-kong-govt-refuses-to-say-which-library-books-are-banned-under-national-security-law/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In February 2021 some religious communities in the United States have started holding book burning ceremonies to garner attention and publicly denounce heretical beliefs. In Tennessee pastor [[Greg Locke]] has held sermons over the incineration of books like Harry Potter and Twilight.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-04 |title=Tennessee pastor leads burning of Harry Potter and Twilight novels |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/04/book-burning-harry-potter-twilight-us-pastor-tennessee |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=1 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201181359/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/04/book-burning-harry-potter-twilight-us-pastor-tennessee |url-status=live }}</ref> This trend of calling for the burning of books one's ideology conflicts with has continued into the political sphere. Two members of a Virginia school board Rabih Abuismail, and Kirk Twigg, have condoned the burning of recently banned books to keep their ideas out of the minds of the public.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-10 |title=Book Burning Urged By Spotsylvania School Board Members |url=https://patch.com/virginia/fredericksburg/book-burning-urged-spotsylvania-county-school-board-members |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=Fredericksburg, VA Patch |language=en |archive-date=1 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201181400/https://patch.com/virginia/fredericksburg/book-burning-urged-spotsylvania-county-school-board-members |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet |last=Burke |first=Timothy |user=bubbaprog |number=1458521438269366283 |date=10 November 2021 |title=You need to *see* and *hear* the Virginia elected officials set forth their plan to burn books they oppose — one of which the American Library Association named a "Best Book for Young Adults" This nation's march toward fascism is turning into a full sprint. https://t.co/jgmfSaAHGU |language=en |access-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218121205/https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1458521438269366283 |archive-date=18 December 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2023, Missouri State Senator and gubernatorial candidate [[Bill Eigel]] showed off a flamethrower at a campaign event and vowed to burn "woke pornographic books [...] on the front lawn of the governor's mansion" if elected.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bayless |first=Kacen |date=2023-09-18 |title=Republican candidate for Missouri governor vows to burn books after viral flamethrower video |url=https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article279475914.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230918181125/https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article279475914.html |archive-date=2023-09-18 |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=Kansas City Star}}</ref>

During the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the destruction of Ukrainian books, especially on the history of Ukraine and the history of the Russian-Ukrainian war, are known. In Mariupol, Russians burned all the books from the library of the church of Petro Mohyla.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In Mariupol, the occupiers burned all the books from the library of the church of Petro Mohyla |url=https://holodomormuseum.org.ua/en/news/in-mariupol-the-occupiers-burned-all-the-books-from-the-library-of-the-church-of-petro-mohyla/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide |language=en |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601185654/https://holodomormuseum.org.ua/en/news/in-mariupol-the-occupiers-burned-all-the-books-from-the-library-of-the-church-of-petro-mohyla/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In the temporarily occupied Mariupol, Russian invaders threw away books from the library collections of the Pryazovskyi State Technical University.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-25 |title=Occupants throw away books from the university library in Mariupol |url=https://chytomo.com/en/occupants-throw-away-books-from-the-university-library-in-mariupol/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=chytomo.com |language=en-GB |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601185654/https://chytomo.com/en/occupants-throw-away-books-from-the-university-library-in-mariupol/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Russian “military police” seized and destroyed books on Ukrainian history and culture in the occupied territories in the Northeast of Ukraine. There are also cases of destruction and damage to the Ukrainian archives with documents about Soviet repression and attempts to introduce Russian re-educational programs in Melitopol.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=April 2022 |title=Russian occupiers launch war on Ukrainian history, burning books and destroying archives |url=https://euromaidanpress.com/2022/04/02/russian-occupiers-launch-war-on-ukrainian-history-burning-books-and-destroying-archives/ |access-date= |website=Euromaidan Press |language= |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529130200/https://euromaidanpress.com/2022/04/02/russian-occupiers-launch-war-on-ukrainian-history-burning-books-and-destroying-archives/ |url-status=live }}</ref>