Intellectual Freedom News 09/29/2023
Highlights
- LeVar Burton will chair Banned Books Week | Daily Star Trek News
- Artists Against Book Bans | MoveOn
- “We need a chorus of voices, united in our determination to protect intellectual freedom | School Library Journal
- Raskin, Schatz reintroduce resolution recognizing Banned Books Week | Jamie Raskin
- Banned Books Week 2023: Programs, Day of Action, and Events Announced | ALA
- ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall Set to Receive the Freedom of Speech and Expression Award from the Roosevelt Institute | ALA
Censorship
- West Michigan school district considering ban of 8 books | Michigan Live (MI)
- New York AG: Brooklyn library receives bomb threat during Drag Story Hour | News12 (NY)
- Florida school district orders librarians to purge all books with LGBTQ characters | Popular Information (FL)
- Pastor replaces Travelers Rest library manager who in June refused to remove LGBTQ display | Greenville Post and Courier (SC)
- ‘I didn’t just quit my job, I quit the state.’ Book ban row drove out Escambia library boss | Pensacola News Journal (FL)
- Orange County Schools guidelines restrict AP students surveying on ‘controversial topics’ | WFTV (FL)
- A battle over what is obscene and what is censorship continues at Midland libraries | Texas Standard (TX)
- UPDATE: Unraveling what’s really happening in Florida school libraries | Popular Information (FL)
- Library critics call for closing obscenity ‘loophole,’ advocates say it protects against unfounded claims | Northern Virginia Daily (VA)
- A nasty fight in a rural Virginia school district unearths dark truths | Washington Post (VA)
- Inside the book-ban machine: The rise of ‘parental rights’ groups and their efforts to ban books | WBAY
- Books with butts are allowed back in Katy ISD after 14 titles removed | Houston Chronicle (TX)
- Protestors in Florida read from banned books, defying the state’s education policies | NPR (FL)
- Fremont City Council passes new library policy after months of controversial debate | KETV (NE)
- Huntsville library director orders mass relocation of LGBTQ books | Alabama Political Reporter (AL)
- How a Moms for Liberty-aligned attack on library content is upending politics in Philly burbs | Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
- Lake Luzerne library, known for drag queen controversy, closes after workers quit | CBS6Albany (NY)
- “Put that right down! That is inappropriate material!”: Maine Parent Confronts Town Council with Pornographic Book in School Libraries | Maine Wire (ME)
- Families concerned about temporary library closures at Escondido Union School District over ‘inappropriate’ content | NBC7San Diego (CA)
- Colorado library district to pay fired librarian $250,000, create more inclusive policies in settlement of civil rights probe | Denver Post (CO)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- The man who trapped us in databases | New York Times Magazine
- A blow to authoritarian web censorship: Google launches new anti-censorship tech | Warp News
- Chinese Hackers Stole 60,000 State Dept. Emails in Breach Reported in July | New York Times
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- In win for Black voters, Supreme Court rejects Alabama’s appeal in Milligan and reaffirms state must draw second opportunity district | ACLU
- Federal judge rules Texas university that canceled drag show didn’t violate free speech rights | DBS Texas (TX)
- US judge throws out Texas ban on drag acts, calls it unconstitutional | Reuters
- Texas surprises and sides with the First Amendment | Above the Law (TX)
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- FCC to reintroduce rules protecting net neutrality | CNN
- Is broadbadn essential, like water or electricit? New net neutrality effort makes the case | AP
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
Legislation
- Newsom bars school book bans: LGBTQ+ textbook bill signed into law amid growing culture wars | Los Angeles Times (CA)
State & Local Governance
- Huntington Beach Considers Potential Ballot Measures On Voter ID and Library Control | Voice of OC (CA)
Social Media
Disinformation & Information Literacy
International
- E.U. law sets the stage for a clash over disinformation | New York Times
Around the Web
- Editorial: Book censors undercut libraries, communities | Observer-Reporter
- Local libraries can save democracy, one reader at a time | Hill
- Police respond to bomb threat at Salt Lake bookstore drag storytime event | KSL
- Readers are concerned about attacks on free speech. Here’s why | Boston
- NYT best-selling authors John Green and Ashley C. Ford to discuss book banning | IndyStar
- Sample script about book bans for school board meetings | PEN America
- Freedom to Read event urges civic engagement to stop book bans | East Oregonian
- Book bans surged across the US in 2023. Florida was the blueprint. | Hartford Courant
- A children’s librarian on why book bans are wrongheaded | Los Angeles Times
- Transphobia rules education segment of 2nd GOP debate | LGBTQ Nation
- The fight for free speech begins between the pages | KUNC
- New Poll Shows Large Majority of Parents Think Public Library Book Bans Infringe on Their Right to Make Decisions about Reading for Their Own Children | Insider NJ
- 10 advocates on why they won’t stand for classroom censorship | ACLU
- How a Utah drag queen wrote a book, opened a store, and faced Proud Boys and a bomb threat — all in a year | Salt Lake Tribune
- How Libraries Are Fighting Book Banning | New York Times
ALA News
- Business Reference Experts Select Annual List of BRASS Best of the Best Business Web Recources
- ALA welcomes FCC Chair Rosenworcel’s proposal to reinstate network neutrality rules
- Understanding and leveraging your data
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