Intellectual Freedom News 1/15/2021
Highlights
Censorship
- Why some Visalia residents want to remove an ethnic studies textbook | Visalia Times Delta
- Powell’s responds to protests over right-wing agitator Andy Ngo’s book: ‘We carry a lot of books we find abhorrent’ | Oregon Live
- Judge rules Bolton can seek proof of political meddling over tell-all memoir | Politico
- The Poet X Goes To Court | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- Are Anti-Racism Book Challenges On The Rise? | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- Virtual Story Time Challenges; Objection to Books on Immigration | Scales on Censorship | School Library Journal
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Clearview AI biometrics searches spike as police work to identify Capitol rioters | Biometric Update
- New York Could Become The Next Hotbed Of Class Action Litigation Over Biometric Privacy | JD Supra
- Is Your iPhone Passcode Off Limits to the Law? Supreme Court Ruling Sought | The Wall Street Journal
- Organizations Should Plan in 2021 to Comply with The California Privacy Rights Act’s Enhanced Cybersecurity Safeguards | The National Law Review
- This tool lets you confuse Google’s ad network, and a test shows it works | MIT Technology Review
- How Amazon Sidewalk Works—and Why You May Want to Turn It Off | Wired
More privacy news is available at the Choose Privacy Every Day blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Why the First Amendment can’t protect Trump on Twitter or save Parler | C|Net
- Can Twitter Legally Bar Trump? The First Amendment Says Yes | The New York Times
- U.S. Supreme Court to Weigh Whether Schools May Discipline Students for Internet Speech | Education Week
- US police three times as likely to use force against leftwing protesters, data finds | The Guardian
- The Double Standard for Policing Capitol Rioters and BLM Protesters | Bloomberg
- As anti-protest bill speeds along, Florida does nothing to address underlying injustices | Orlando Sentinel
- New bills announced to protect rights of protesters | Lex18 Lexington (KY)
- The First Amendment Right To Protest Has Limits | Freedom Forum
- Trump HHS finalizes rule rolling back nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ individuals | Jurist
- Dominion Voting Systems sues Trump attorney Sidney Powell for defamation | Jurist
- You can’t fight fascism by expanding the police state | Fast Company
Access
- Boston Public Library Partners with Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) to Make Historical Images Available For Use in Wikipedia; Single Largest Batch of Uploads Ever Contributed to Wikimedia Commons | InfoDocket/Library Journal
- Historic Move: Big Ten Libraries Commit to Managing Separate Collections as a Single Collection (The BIG Collection) | InfoDocket/Library Journal
- GPO’s govinfo Becomes the Only ISO Certified Trustworthy Digital Repository in the World | InfoDocket/Library Journal
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- House Democrats ask AT&T, Comcast to share data about home Internet shutoffs as lawmakers eye new stimulus aid | Washington Post
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- OPINION: U.S. Supreme Court should hold Georgia Gwinnett College accountable | Atlanta Journal Constitution
- Thompson Center calls UW students’ free speech attitudes ‘troubling’ | The Cap News
Social Media
- Why Everyone Should Be Concerned About Parler Being Booted From the Internet | Slate
- Big Tech’s free speech showdown | Axios
- Facebook Taps Former Obama Official As Vice President Of Civil Rights | NPR Austin 90.5
- Citing ‘censorship’ concerns, North Idaho internet provider blocks Facebook, Twitter | KREM 2 CBS
- Idaho company to block Facebook and Twitter for censorship | The Seattle Times
- Before Parler was shut down, hacktivists downloaded an archive of the site | Washington Post
- Facebook and Twitter could be sued for “censorship” under proposed state law | Ars Technica
- Tennessee mayor wants state to sever ties with major tech over alleged censorship | WREG News 2 Memphis
Copyright
- Federal Court Upholds $1 Billion Copyright Infringement Ruling Against Cox Communications | Digital Music News
Journalism, Media, & Disinformation
- How did we get here? Experts explain how disinformation online helped fuel the attack on the Capitol | Poynter.
- The role of misinformation in Trump’s insurrection | The Brookings Institution
- Analysis: TV providers should not escape scrutiny for distributing disinformation | CNN Business
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Toledo Blade Union Members Allege Censorship From Mutual Owner In Capitol Protest Coverage | KDKA CBS 2 (PA)
International News
- Censor sensibility: The books you can’t read in New Zealand, and why | Stuff
- Why the classic Canadian novel Bear remains controversial — and relevant | CBC
- A Hong Kong Website Gets Blocked, Raising Censorship Fears | The New York Times
Around the Web
- Civil rights leader, Tougaloo Nine member Meredith Anding Jr. dies at 79 |The Clarion-Ledger
- The Record Keepers’ Rave | The New York Times
- ‘No place for hate here.’ Community rallies to repaint vandalized Pride wall in Bellefonte | Centre Daily News
- Angie Thomas: ‘I knew this book was going to be prime banning material’ | The Irish Times
- Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century |American Academy of Arts & Sciences
- Amazon pulls white supremacist novel The Turner Diaries alongside QAnon purge | The Verge
- Cancel Culture and Freedom | Reason
- Josh Hawley’s book deal cancellation comes after a year of social debates in publishing | Vox
- Users, not tech executives, should decide what constitutes free speech online | MIT Technology Review
- Happy (belated) birthday, Mercer Mayer! | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- Connecticut Investigating Amazon’s E-Book Business | The Wall Street Journal
ALA News
- ALA encourages libraries to observe 2021 National Day of Racial Healing on Jan. 19
- YALSA names 2021 Best Fiction for Young Adults
- Nominations for ALA Trustee Citation accepted through March 1
ALA Publishing
Awards and Grants
- Application Period Open for 2021 ALA GameRT ‘Game On!’ Grants
- Applications sought for 2021 Coretta Scott King Book Donation Grants
eCourses and Webinars
- Dive into AASL Standards-related topics with three online courses
- Announcing the 2021 Core Fundamentals Web Course Schedule
- How Employers Can Support Library Workers Who Are Caregivers During COVID-19 Webinar
- How to Thrive in Uncertain Times Complimentary Webinar
- Understand and Improve Library Broadband Challenges in this Core Webinar on April 6, 2021
- Discover the Role Human Behavior Plays in Designing Your Library with this Core webinar on February 23, 2021
- Get a Crash Course in Library Leadership & Management in this Core webinar on February 17, 2021
- Gain the Tools to Assess and Rewrite Operational Library Policies in this Core webinar on February 10, 2021
- Learn How to Develop the Best Survey Tips from Consultations in this Core Webinar on February 9, 2021
- New from ACRL – “Approaches to Liaison Librarianship: Innovations in Organization and Engagement”
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