Russian Publisher Eksmo-AST Uses AI to Enforce Censorship

The Eksmo-AST group, a major Russian publishing house, has deployed an artificial intelligence agent to identify and remove books and passages that violate restrictive censorship laws. The AI scans thousands of volumes published over the last two decades to ensure compliance with legal criteria and prevent prohibited content from remaining on bookshelves.

These censorship measures were implemented by President Vladimir Putin following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The publishing house uses the AI tool to highlight specific content that risks falling foul of the law, allowing the company to purge materials across its extensive catalog to avoid legal penalties.