Intellectual Freedom News 1/31/2025
Highlights
- ALA to U. S. Department of Education: Book bans are real | ALA
- ‘The Librarians’ chronicles unlikely defenders of intellectual freedom | KPCW
- American Library Association hosted its final LibLearnX, bringing together library professionals from across the country | ALA
Censorship
- Rutherford County School Board votes to keep 7 titles off library shelves, return 2 with restrictions | Middle Tennessee State University Sidelines (TN)
- Greenville school board talks book rating system and $24 million switch to artificial turf | FOX Carolina (SC)
- Dallas Center-Grimes school board establishes reconsideration committee for challenged books | KCCI (IA)
- Rockingham County school board votes to get rid of widely banned books | Daily News-Record (VA)
- The council voted on three appointments to the Library Board. Here’s what was decided. | Caller Times (TX)
- Elizabeth School District facing further legal action regarding book ban | FOX31 (CO)
- Orwellian Overreach: NCAC Fights Back Against Administration’s Dangerous Attempt to Censor Classrooms | NCAC
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- The FTC Finalizes Changes to the COPPA Rule: Updated Guidance for Businesses in the New Era of Children’s Privacy | JDSupra
- Democrat members of US surveillance watchdog fired after refusing to resign | Record
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- Department of Education dismisses book ban complaints | Hill
- Statement from the Kids’ Right to Read Project on the U.S. Department of Education’s Dismissal of Book Bans as a “Hoax” | NCAC
- Free speech organizations denounce Education Department’s calling book bans a ‘hoax’ | NBC Miami
- Federal Agency, Former Champion for Intellectual Freedom, Parrots Book Ban Misinformation | GLAAD
- A Shocking Setback: Authors Guild Responds to DOE’s Dismissal of Book Ban Cases | Authors Guild
- Lawsuit filed against South Carolina’s race, gender curriculum restrictions | ABC News (SC)
- Is Trump’s Plan to End Birthright Citizenship ‘Dred Scott II’? | New York Times
- Trump’s Executive Orders Rolling Back DEI and Accessibility Efforts, Explained | ACLU
- Trump Officials Move to Quickly Expel Migrants Biden Allowed In Temporarily | New York Times
- ICE agents can now enter schools: Lawyers run through what they can and cannot do | WMAR (MD)
- ICE Agents Denied Entry At Chicago Elementary School, CPS Officials Say | Block Club Chicago (IL)
- Maryland public schools issue guidance on how to deal with ICE agents | WMAR (MD)
- Fort Worth ISD Responds to Immigration Concerns After Substitute Teacher’s ICE-Related Post | Irving Weekly (TX)
- Department of Education dismisses book ban investigations, ends guidance | WBAL
- Sensing Political Support, Abortion Opponents Raise Ambitions | New York Times
- Trump administration targets thousands of programs in funding freeze | Politico
- Supreme Court to Hear Oklahoma Case Involving Nation’s First Religious Public Charter School | ACLU (OK)
- Trump Bars Transgender Women From U.S. Prisons for Female Inmates | New York Times
- The Smithsonian will close its diversity office and freeze federal hiring | NPR
- Trump Fires at Least 12 Inspectors General in Late-Night Purge | New York Times
- Trump Administration Moves Swiftly to Shake Up Top Career Justice Dept. Ranks | New York Times
- Trump Moves Toward Pushing Openly Transgender People Out of Military | New York Times
- Trump’s executive order aims to restrict education related to race, gender, politics | ABC News
- Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions | Just Security
- Trump Admin Deletes Video Explaining Grammatical Concept of Pronouns in War Against DEI | 404
- Florida judge rules against book ban-opposed parents alleging censorship, discrimination | Panama City News Herald (FL)
- Professors, Students, and Civil Rights Group Seek Preliminary Injunction in Lawsuit Challenging Alabama’s Discriminatory Censorship Law, SB 129 | Legal Defense Fund (AL)
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- Trump’s Plan to Crush the Academic Left | New York Times
- We Need New Ways to Protect Academic Freedom | Insided Higher Ed
- Trump’s Education Agenda for Teachers: Sanitize US History or Leave the Field | Truthout
- With Sweeping Executive Orders, Trump Tests Local Control of Schools | New York Times
- Trump takes aim at critical race theory in schools, protests on college campuses in new executive order | CBS News
Legislation
- The CRT debate is back at the Indiana Statehouse, but this time, it’s DEI | IndyStar (IN)
- Proposals on gender identity, parental rights enter Connecticut schools debate | Stamford Advocate (CT)
- Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Announces First Round of Top 40 Priority Bills for the 2025 Legislative Session | Lieutenant Governor of Texas (TX)
- Congress is thinking about restricting minors’ social media use | 1A
- House Higher Education Committee to consider bills on academic offerings, DEI changes | Iowa Capital Dispatch (IA)
- University of Iowa ‘school of intellectual freedom’ among bevy of GOP bills battling ‘woke’ | Des Moines Register (IA)
- Bill to establish UI school of ‘intellectual freedom’ moves to committee | Iowa Capital Dispatch (IA)
- Florida faculty, students urge public to oppose purge of general education courses from state schools | Orlando Weekly (FL)
- Proposal to protect public library funds moves forward | SourceNM (NM)
- Book bans for children met by criticism from North Dakota librarians | KSJB (ND)
State & Local Governance
- Florida Scours College Textbooks, Looking for Antisemitism | New York Times (FL)
- Pennsylvania elected official resigns after she made a gesture similar to Elon Musk’s controversial gesture | CBS News (PA)
- Florida faculty, students urge public to oppose purge of general education courses from state schools | Orlando Weekly (FL)
- State library director Nancy Pack pushes possibility of ethics complaint for APLS board and chairman John Wahl | 1819 News (AL)
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
Social Media
- Social media experts are skeptical about the power of new state laws | Florida Phoenix
- Instagram and Facebook Blocked and Hid Abortion Pill Providers’ Posts | New York Times
- The Movement To Restrict Minors’ Social Media Use | NPR
- Meta agrees to pay Trump $25 million to settle lawsuit over Facebook and Instagram suspensions | NPR
- How Trump’s executive order on online free speech could upend content moderation | Marketplace
Journalism & Media
- Paramount in Settlement Talks With Trump Over ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit | New York Times
Disinformation & Media Literacy
- Disinformation over deportations is spreading, ICE continuing to make arrests | CBS News
- Pediatricians Try New Tactics to Win Over Vaccine Skeptics | New York Times
- States Work to Fight Disinformation During Emergencies | Government Technology
- Trump Misleads on D.E.I. Policies in Blaming Biden for Plane Crash | New York Times
International
- UK library releases massive Holocaust archive online | Vanguard (United Kingdom)
Around the Web
- ‘A Bounty on My Head’: Congress’s First Transgender Member Faces the Trump Era | New York Times
- I study democracy worldwide − here’s how Texas is eroding human rights, free expression and civil liberties | Conversation
- Trump Administration Offers Millions of Federal Workers Payouts to Resign | New York Times
- Trump Fires EEOC Commissioners, Testing Constitutional Limits on Presidential Power Over Independent Agencies | Seyfarth
- Tennessee Republican women’s group cites Hitler in promoting its reading list | Chattanooga Times Free Press
- ‘The Librarians’ EP Sarah Jessica Parker On The Spread Of Book Banning: “It’s A Fear Of Children Having Information” – Sundance Studio | Deadline
- Pentagon Removes General Milley’s Security Detail and Revokes His Clearance | New York Times
- ‘Rainbow of safety’: How parents, drag queen protected kids during a protest at local bookstore | CAP Radio
- Trump Administration Shocks Senior F.B.I. Ranks by Moving to Replace Them | New York Times
- Menomonee Falls residents voice concern, support for future of library | Freeman
- Trump signs sweeping executive order to expand school choice | NBC News
ALA News
- Beta Phi Mu Award Call for Nomination extended until March 1st
- American Library Association announces 2025 Youth Media Award winners
- Erin Entrada Kelly, Rebecca Lee Kunz win Newbery, Caldecott Medals
- Ame Dyckman, Mark Teague Win 2025 Geisel Award for ‘Vacation’
- Fuzzytown Productions and Spiffy Pictures wins Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award for ‘Carl the Collector’
- Lynn Brunelle, Jason Chin win 2025 Sibert Medal
- 2025 Batchelder Award honors Yonder for ‘John the Skeleton’
- Carole Boston Weatherford wins 2025 Children’s Literature Legacy Award
- Marcelo Verdad, Karla Arenas Valenti y Carolina Ixta ganan premios Pura Belpré
- 2025 Odyssey Awards for Excellence in Audiobook Production for Children and Young Adults announced
- ‘Brownstone’ wins 2025 Printz Award
- ‘Rising from the Ashes: Los Angeles, 1992. Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a City on Fire’ wins 2025 Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award
- ‘Not Like Other Girls’ wins 2025 William C. Morris Award
- Tiffany D. Jackson wins 2025 Edwards Award
- Jason Reynolds, Charles George ‘C.G.’ Esperanza win 2025 Coretta Scott King Book Awards
- Carolyn L. Garnes 2025 recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
- YALSA announces 2025 Alex Awards
- ‘Lunar Boy’ and ‘Canto Contigo’ win 2025 Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Awards
- 2025 Schneider Family Book Awards recipients named
- 2025 Sydney Taylor Book Award winners announced
- YMA highlights 2025 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature youth category winners
- ‘DEED’ and ‘Some Strange Music Draws Me In’ win 2025 Stonewall Barbara Gittings Poetry and Literature Awards
- ‘Sex with a Brain Injury’ wins 2025 Stonewall Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award
- “James,” “A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon” receive 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction
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