Isn’t the RVD engaging in censorship when it advises the media on the publication of personal photos?

No, the RVD simply indicates if a photo depicts a private situation, and on those grounds it can advise the media not to publish it.

It is then up to the media themselves to choose what to do. Ultimately, it is the courts that decide whether the publication of a photograph infringes on the privacy of its subjects without legal justification.