Inquisition Department

Founded under the World Nations Coalition after the silent war of 536, the Inquisition department is a governing body primarily functioning within the countries of Qerani, and Nevern .

Developed to combat the rapid spread of misinformation, harmful rhetoric, and falsehoods spread during the Silent War, the Inquisition created new publication and printing systems that regulate the flow of information and what can and cannot create profits.

Any kind of book, article, or otherwise publicly viewable source of information or entertainment is screened through printing companies and released for publication, retained for edits, or destroyed.

Books that are approved are stamped with a star on the inner cover, and then given an identification cipher which can be decoded to reveal the type of book, the contents, the intended demographic, and any contents in the book which may be controversial.

However after signficant push back on the revision of Religious texts, they were exempt from the standards. However, excluding small/and or foreign religions that are uncommon.

Each cipher starts with an E, F, or N, H, or R, representing the content type, educational, Fiction, or Nonfiction, Historical, or Religious.

Initially used to illegitimize propaganda, this system is still used to regulate what books are appropriate for teaching, keep children from reading books not in their demographic, and making books and resources that are not approved illegal. To obtain content not marked by the Inquisition Department (unless it is an old copy of current content that is already approved) is punishable by varying degrees. To own it unknowingly and without purchase is punishable by a fine and the removal of the content, to have purchased without consuming the illegal content is punishable by a social demerit (which restricts what content the individual can consume), fine and the removal of the content, and to purchase and read the content is punishable by jailtime.

The department specifically targets fiction far more than the other genres. After the initial establishment of the Printing system, propaganda, social criticism, and controversial opinions were encoded into fiction and mythological retellings. Fiction and specifically fantasy was then allocated on a government level as being a genre only for children through teens, marking it as a genre beneath the consumption of adults and allowing for tighter restrictions to be placed upon fiction.
Fantasy specifically must be repeatedly acknowledged as such within the contents of the book, fairytales and mythos being consistently deconstructed as only moral teachings opposed to any signficant social commentary or world truth. Magic, monsters, and mythologies are considered taboo and childish subjects that should not be taught or supported in education systems.
These concepts are believed to be dangerous and confusing to children, and must be heavily regulated to ensure the line between fiction and reality is respected.