Another sign of Islam's strengthening grip is the turn towards stricter censorship of books, films and entertainment in one or two countries, again led by Egypt, which had seemed to be growing freer.

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Irrespective of personal feelings of the content, this would be placing censorship on the statute books.

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In an article Michel and Lieberman Aiden published in the January 14 2011 issue of Science, one of the top research journals, they used a database of 4% of all the books ever printed between 1800 and 2000 to show how grammar, censorship practices, and the rate at which new technologies are adopted over time.

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