The government in Delirium censors many items we have now, such as books, poems, news, shows, music, and holidays. Books authorized as irrelevant or against the government and its beliefs are censored. This is shown in the scene where Lena and Alex go to the Wilds for a night:
" 'What's poetry?' I've never heard the word before, but I like the sound of it. It sounds elegant and easy, somehow, like a beautiful women turning in a long dress...
'Shakespeare?' This name I do recognize from health class. 'The guy who wrote Romeo and Juliet, the cautionary tale?'
Alex snorts. 'It's not a cautionary tale,' he says. 'It's a great love story.'
After the Cure, the government censored numerous books, such as fairy tales and banned all poetry.