Intellectual Freedom News 1/12/18
January 12, 2018 – Collated by OIF Staff and News Editors
Intellectual Freedom Highlights
- OIF Seeks Information on 2017 Censorship Incidents
- Why Should You Report Censorship? OIF Answers a Few Questions | OIF Blog; “While we know that many challenges are never reported, we strive to be as comprehensive as possible. We would greatly appreciate if you could send us any information on challenges in your library, state or region that you are aware of from 2017. The deadline for reporting 2017 challenges to OIF is Wednesday, January 31, 2018.”
- Sensitivity Reading, Censorship, and the State of Diversity in Children’s Publishing | OIF Blog; “On December 24, 2017, The New York Times thought, “Why spread peace and good will toward men when we can set the internet on fire?” and published Alexandra Alter’s controversial article, “In an Era of Online Outrage, Do Sensitivity Readers Result in Better Books, or Censorship?”In the article, Alexandra Alter muses on whether or not the common practice of sensitivity editing sanitizes the work of authors writing outside their experience to the detriment of freedom of expression.”
Censorship
- One Million Moms trying to censor ‘morally toxic’ books featuring gay families | PinkNews
- Prisons are making new moves to control what books inmates can read | Los Angeles Times
- Under fire from ACLU, New Jersey reverses ban on book about mass incarceration | NPR
- These are the books N.J. doesn’t want prisoners to read | NJ.com
- New York State’s efforts to restrict access to books in prisons shows troubling disregard for right to read | PEN America
- Barred: Nothing demonstrates books are powerful more clearly than trying to keep them from being read. | Inside Higher Ed
- Trump book publisher: White House demand to stop publication ‘flagrantly unconstitutional’ | Wall Street Journal
- Book banning bunkum | Wall Street Journal
- No, Trump’s censorship bluster is truly worrying | Wall Street Journal
- Censorship stupidity: Trump tries to keep the Wolff from his door | WHYY
- In Washington speak, censorship is called “transparency” | Scientific American
- Petition seeks changes after 2017 LGBT displays | Temple Daily Telegram
- Twitter responds to Project Veritas allegation that it can share Trump’s direct messages | Fox News
Privacy
- Major CPU security flaw: What libraries need to know | Library Journal
- House votes to renew surveillance law, rejecting new privacy limits | New York Times
- U.S. customs agents are searching more cellphones — including those belonging to Americans | Washington Post
- NYPD subpoenas Google to obtain teen’s online history | New York Post
- FBI chief calls unbreakable encryption ‘urgent public safety issue’ | Reuters
- Justices Gorsuch and Sotomayor Unlikely Allies in Police Search Cases | Courthouse News
- Defining privacy in text messages – a step forward and maybe a step back | IAPP
- How the government hides secret surveillance programs | Wired
See this week’s additional privacy news and updates on the Choose Privacy Week blog.
Access
- Moral judgments begin at home and stop at the library door | Altamont Enterprise (NY)
- Libraries can help disrupt school-to-prison pipeline | School Library Journal
Net Neutrality and Broadband Access
- Democratic senators force vote on net neutrality | CBS News
- GOP senator says she’ll vote to restore net neutrality rules | Ars Technica
- As movement to repeal net neutrality grows, 9th Circuit decision looms | IAPP
- Tech giants to join legal battle over net neutrality | Wired
- FCC plan to lower broadband standards is met with “Mobile Only Challenge” | Ars Technica
- Net neutrality gaining steam in state legislatures after FCC repeal | Ars Technica
Filtering
Free Press, Social Media, and Fake News
- I’ve Studied the Trump-Fox Feedback Loop for Months. It’s Crazier Than You Think l Politico Magazine
- Free speech vs. censorship in Germany | POLITICO
Academic Freedom and Campus Speech
- A grad student defended a controversial instructor. Now he says he’s being silenced | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Lecturer’s critique of whiteness crossed the line into harassment, state investigation finds | Chronicle of Higher Education
First Amendment and Free Speech
- Arrested Louisiana teacher: Fight for First Amendment rights | WWLTV (LA)
- Louisiana teacher’s arrest wasn’t the only time school boards tried to block free speech | Education Week
- Trump Renews Pledge to ‘Take a Strong Look’ at Libel Laws | New York Times
- ‘Weakening’ libel laws is not the right tactic–for anyone | Newseum Institute
- Signs outside house in Texas causing uproar | KFDM (Texas)
- Bible-literacy classes go beyond letter of the law, argues Kentucky ACLU | Education Week
- How the right weaponized free speech | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Federal judge rules student-athlete has right to kneel during national anthem | Newseum Institute
Around the Web
- Freedom to Use Your Mind | OIF Blog
- Autistic student’s appeal in novel Maine disability rights case to begin in Boston | Portland Press Herald
- Drag queen themed event at Broome County Public Library sparks controversy | WBNG (NY)
- Golden Globes broadcast censors wrong parts of Frances McDormand’s speech, misses actual curse word | The Wrap
- Offshore journalism project works to preserve endangered digital content | MediaPost
- The Remarkable Influence of A Wrinkle in Time | Smithsonian Magazine
- What’s the difference between children’s books in China and the U.S.? | NPR
International Issues
- BBC radio presenter Laurie Taylor warns of ‘creeping censorship’ | iNews
- Universities hit back at Government claims they are restricting free speech | Independent
- Chinese women share #MeToo stories despite possible censorship | Teen Vogue
- Despite threats of censorship, documentary filmmakers show human rights violations in Western Sahara | Global Voices
- Appeals court quashes ban on Faisal Tehrani’s books | Malay Mail Online
- Why ordinary Iranians are turning to internet backdoors to beat censorship | BBC
- Iran ministers criticised for not blocking internet/ | The Express Tribune
- Iran may be rethinking its internet censorship but this is not real change | Iran Focus
- Freedom of information and the control over hearts and minds in Iran | Huffington Post
- Is Germany’s latest attempt to curtail hate speech censorship in disguise? | Best VPN
- Ahmed Naji to Face Trial Again for Book Excerpt | Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
ALA News
- Museum and Library Services Act of 2017 Introduced in Senate | Library Journal
- YALSA names 2018 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
- ALA invites nominations for 2018 Eileen Cooke State & Local Madison Award. The award recognizes an individual or group who has championed, protected, or promoted public access to government information and the public’s right to know at the state or local level.
- ALA announces petition candidates for ALA Council
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