Intellectual Freedom News 1/17/20
Highlights
- Rep. Ben Baker files library oversight bill to keep sexual material away from minors | KOAM News Now (MO)
- Proposed bill would create parental review boards for public libraries, could result in fines or jail time for librarians | KDSK 5 News (MO)
- Drag Queen Story Hour stirs Missouri lawmaker to support limits on library programming | The Kansas City Star (MO); “The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Ben Baker, a southwest Missouri Republican, said Thursday that the “Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act” did not target books but was drafted in reaction to Drag Queen Story Hours being held across the state.”
- Editorial: Effort to censor local libraries would set Missouri back two generations or more | St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Neosho lawmaker concerned about drag queen story hours wants parents to police libraries | Springfield News-Leader
- ALA responds to Missouri legislation that proposes policies and procedures that threaten access to information
- ALA Appoints Tracie D. Hall as Executive Director
Censorship
- Amid protests, Seattle Public Library affirms commitment to free speech | The Stranger
- Despite criticisms from LGBTQ community, Seattle Public Library will allow ‘radical feminist’ event to proceed | Seattle Times (WA)
- Tennessee jail can’t censor magazines because of staples | News Times (TN)
- Group calls for Attorney General to remove some books from school libraries | WTSP 10 News (FL)
- Approved book sparks controversy with parents | WPTV (FL)
- Some Northern Virginia parents wanted two books with LGBTQ characters removed from schools. Officials said no. | Washington Post
- Public schools in Virginia can censor student journalists any time for any reason. A proposed law would change that. | Washington Post
- New York Public Library cancels ‘canceled women’ event amid transgender controversy | Washington Examiner
Privacy and Cybersecurity
- Columbus Metropolitan Library Investigating Data Breach | ABC News
- Why I won’t let my classes be recorded | Chronicle of Higher Education; “A highly interactive classroom should be a space beyond the reach of the digital panopticon. It should not be a space where every student utterance is archived on a college-run server, regardless of how supposedly secure that server might be.”
- Technology Can’t Fix Algorithmic Injustice | Boston Review
- Landmark Facebook settlement still working its way through court | Wall Street Journal
- Lawmakers offer bipartisan update to children’s online privacy law | Axios
- Advocates ask colleges to avoid facial recognition as surveillance grows | Ars Technica
- Digital rights group, students team up against facial recognition tech on college campuses | The Hill
- A proposal to help resolve federal privacy preemption | IAPP Privacy Perspectives
- Grindr and OkCupid spread personal details, study says | New York Times
- All the ways Facebook tracks you—and how to limit it | Wired
- Why your palm could be safer than fingerprint or facial recognition | Abacus
- Want your personal data? Hand over more please? | New York Times
- Barr Asks Apple to Unlock Pensacola Killer’s Phones, Setting Up Clash | New York Times
Additional privacy posts, news, and updates are available at the Choose Privacy Every Day blog.
Access
- Providing eBooks for all | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- Prison libraries: Shelves bare and minds restless | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- Ex-White House press, military officials call on Grisham to restart regular briefings | The Hill
- US states move to stop prisons charging inmates for reading and video calls | The Guardian
- New Weslaco ISD initiative allowing children to read books on school buses | 4 Valley Central (TX)
- Making room for inclusion | American Libraries; “Create an accommodating environment when sensory programs may not be possible”
Net Neutrality & Broadband
- Commentary: Can the digital divide finally be bridged? | Route Fifty
Fake News, Free Press, Social Media
- Why activists get frustrated with Facebook | The Verge
- Facebook ‘thought police’ censors pro-Iran posts ‘to comply with US sanctions’… as Trump warns Tehran against censorship | RT
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Racist incidents, budget cuts, and faculty warnings: Inside the run-up to a campus book-burning | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Babson College professor terminated for satirical Facebook post | PEN America
- Opinion: Left and right should learn to take a joke, not censor them | The Guardian
- This Public College Wants to Punish 2 Students for Hate Speech. Is That Legal? | Chronicle of Higher Education
First Amendment & Free Speech
- Supreme Court declines to hear ‘Free the Nipple’ case | The Hill
- Sticks & stones: A heckler’s veto? | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- American Airlines apologizes after forcing passenger to change ‘Hail Satan’ shirt | USA Today
- ALA rethinks ‘Free Speech Zones” | Inside Higher Ed
- First Amendment-ish | Freedom Forum Institute
- Amendment would make flag burning illegal | New Hampshire Union-Leader
Around the Web
- Jason Reynolds officially becomes National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature at Library of Congress ceremony | School Library Journal
- Once upon a time, there was a queen: Drag Queen Story Hour Herstory | Book Riot
- What exactly are the School Library Preparation Standards? | Knowledge Quest
- Two states. Eight textbooks. Two American stories | New York Times; “American history textbooks can vary across the country, in ways that are shaped by partisan politics.
- Celebrating awards season in the library | Book Riot
- Reader commentary: Public would support books in prison—if given the chance | The Baltimore Sun
- Digital Agility: Embracing a Holistic Approach to Digital Literacy in the Liberal Arts | Educause
- The New York Public Library has calculated its most checked-out books of all time | NPR
- Banning books | Dawn; “Banning and burning books is a manifestation of a culture that is afraid to face the truth.”
International Issues
- India threatens to tear apart any semblance of digital privacy | Washington Post
- Organizers pull plug on China International Film Festival as censorship intensifies | The Japan Times
- ‘I’m the last censor in the western world’: New Zealand’s David Shanks tackles the c-word | The Guardian
- ‘Turn your internet back on’: Trump scolds Iran over censorship amid protests | Washington Examiner
- How U.S. sanctions led to Instagram censorship in Iran | Marketplace
- Instagram is taking down posts supporting slain Iranian general Soleimani | Ars Technica
- Israel’s ‘Censor in Chief’: The Activist Who Manages to Silence the Left | Haaretz
- Petitions put on Brisbane council page call to scrap drag story time | Brisbane Times
ALA News
- ALSC releases the National Research Agenda for Library Service to Children (Ages 0-14)
- Ready to Code Opens Call for Applications: Mini-Grants for Digital Skills Programs
- Food literacy programs, resources, and ideas for libraries
- Free webinar to help libraries anticipate patron questions about 2020 Census; January 30
- Feb. 1 deadline for ALA/Information Today, Inc. Library of the Future Award
- Games and Gaming Round Table announces Game On! Grants; deadline March 1
- Application open for 2020 ALA Leadership Institute; deadline March 9
- ALA seeks proposals for 2020 Diversity Research Grants; due April 15
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