Research on the Mayas demonstrates what happened when regimes changed.
These scribes – the rough equivalent of today’s public relations writers – would have their fingers broken and then be executed after their kings were defeated in battle.
“The conquering Mayas were not interested as much in the executions as they were in this seemingly bizarre practice of destroying the scribes’ fingers,” said Kevin Johnston, assistant professor of anthropology at Ohio State University.
“By breaking the fingers of scribes, what they were really doing was muting the ability of scribes to write politically powerful texts for their defeated king.”
Once the folks screaming about how they are being censored can hold up their broken hands, we can talk about the justice of their claims.