Samizdat

Term samizdat, from Russian sam "self" and izadatelstvo "publishing," is play on official Soviet Gosizdat, "State Publishing House." It originally referred to laborious and dangerous copying and distribution of banned or anti-state literature in former Soviet Union, particularly after death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. With demise of Soviet Union, samizdat has come to mean underground publishing and circulation of any documents that any government, corporation, or other group would otherwise ban or censor.

Pravda and Izvestia

Soviet Union had two propaganda newspapers, Pravda "truth" and Izvestia "news". Russian people used to say "There is no izvestia in Pravda and no pravda in Izvestia". Word pravda implies official truth as state wants it to be.

Star Chamber

Original star chamber was secret English court in 15th through 17th centuries which met in closed session to judge and punish people King felt were threats to state security or royal family's influence. Name comes from room in which they met, which had stars painted on ceiling. In modern times it has come to mean any court that engages in secret, harsh, or arbitrary procedures.