Is there actually an increase is moderating comments/censorship?

The only example of new/increased comment filtering seems to be speculation about MMS, and that's driven by 'authorgate' (and while the posts in question contain affiliate links, the issue isn't the links as much as questions over who wrote the posts).

An equally plausible explanation for comment censoring -- if it's on the increase and as I say I only know of speculation about one blog possibly changing its approach -- is all of the snarky comments about affiliate linking.

It doesn't seem like censorship is on the rise, although it certainly exists (and has existed) on some blogs (for a long time).

And it does seem like much of what's deleted (and has been on those blogs that censor) relates to affilaite credit card stuff. But whether that's a function of affiliate links per se or the increasing level of snark by some (including some that frequent this forum) is itself debatable.