Censorship isn't recent. It's been with us since the dawn of civilization.

Socrates, while defying attempts by the Athenian state to censor his philosophical teachings, was brought charges that led to his death. The conviction is recorded by Plato: in 399 BC, Socrates went on trial[8] and was subsequently found guilty of both corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and of impiety (asebeia,[9] "not believing in the gods of the state"),[10] and was sentenced to hemlock.

Censorship is another way to wield power, and all of civilization is about power.