Ai Weiwei warns of worsening censorship in the West

CBS Mornings Ai Weiwei warns of worsening censorship in the West: "No longer defending very basic humanity" .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-cbs-mornings.jpg'); } By Anthony Mason, Anthony Mason Senior Culture and Senior National Correspondent Anthony Mason is a senior culture and senior national correspondent for CBS News. He has been a frequent contributor to "CBS Sunday Morning." Read Full Bio Anthony Mason, Meghan Fitzpatrick May 27, 2026 / 10:16 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Ai Weiwei, one of the largest forces in contemporary art, is warning about the dangers of censorship around the world, and why it's getting worse in the West. "My reaction to censorship, it's very simple. It's just reveal the truth. Reveal the details," Ai told "CBS Mornings."No one is more qualified to discuss the topic than Ai. In his new book, "On Censorship," the renowned artist, who has literally given the Chinese authorities the middle finger, describes how they have interfered with his work — and how he responded.In 2009, when police took him away in the Sichuan province of China, he took a selfie photo. He also photographed the surveillance cameras outside his house and the surveillance van outside his studio. "Surveillance techniques today are extremely sophisticated," Ai said. "It's like warfare."Then in 2011, Ai was held for 81 days in secretive detention. He later made dioramas showing his small cell and the two guards who stood over him 24 hours a day. A year after his detention, Ai decided to put webcams in his house and livestream himself — until the Chinese authorities ordered him to take them down."I had livestreamed it." Ai said, adding there were "millions of people watching how I sleep and how I pick my nose. They grab a lot of images. Then police called me and said, 'Weiwei,  shut it down.' I said, 'I did it for you.'" "They want to, secretly, to do this to you. But if you do it public...