caviarder

To censor or black out parts of a text, historically by covering objectionable passages with black ink — caviarder un article, caviarder un document. Common in journalism and legal/administrative contexts (redacted documents).

• Le journal a dû caviarder certains passages de l'article. — The newspaper had to redact certain passages of the article.
• Le document a été caviardé avant d'être rendu public. — The document was redacted before being made public.
• L'éditeur a caviardé plusieurs pages jugées trop sensibles. — The editor blacked out several pages deemed too sensitive.

Caviarder specifically means blacking out or redacting existing text, not deleting or rewriting it — for cutting content entirely, couper or supprimer is the right verb.

• expression Passage au caviar — The term traces to Tsarist Russian censorship, where officials blacked out forbidden newspaper passages with dark ink resembling caviar — the image was adopted into French journalistic slang in the early 20th century and gave rise to the verb caviarder.