Intellectual Freedom News 10/17/2025
Highlights
- The Next Generation of Activists | American Libraries
- The Comic Book Burnings Project | Christopher Newport University
- Penguin Random House Celebrates the Second Annual Eleanor Roosevelt Banned Books Awards | Penguin Random House
Censorship
- Children’s book about transgender boy will remain in Randolph County library | WFMY (NC)
- These 46 books were challenged at Indiana libraries. Is your favorite listed? | IndyStar (IN)
- Fired Wyoming librarian hopes $700,000 settlement deters conservative lawmakers. They say it won’t. | Gillette News Record (WY)
- ‘I Feel Vindicated’: U.S. Librarian Wins Settlement After Defending LGBTQ+ Titles | Gay Express (WY)
- Campbell County recently settled a lawsuit brought by a librarian claiming she was fired for refusing to remove LGBTQ+ books. How should libraries handle materials that cause controversy in the community? | Wyoming Public Media (WY)
- West Shore school officials to revisit library policy that restricts access to books | York Dispatch (PA)
- ‘A First Amendment problem’: Lawsuit over book bans at Department of Defense schools | USA Today
- Lapeer District Library Board to meet Thursday at American Legion post | County Press (MI)
- 4 things to know about book removed from school district’s curriculum | MLive (MI)
- Iowa book challenges tumble, but parents still target ‘anti-American’ material in schools | Des Moines Register (IA)
- A Texas District Has Just Banned Students from Secondary School Libraries | Book Riot (TX)
- Library Services Temporarily Suspended for Secondary Schools | New Braunfels ISD (TX)
- Despite budgetary pressures, this Florida school board spends big bucks on banned books | WUSF (FL)
- Library book battles cost Florida school districts big money | Tampa Bay Times (FL)
- This Colorado district was sued after removing library books. It’s fundraising for legal fees | CPR News (CO)
- Library board appoints Dorth as chair, relocates 4 books to adult section | Owensboro Times (MO)
- Huntington Beach ordered to return moved library books, re-establish teen section | L.A. Times (CA)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data | WIRED
- When citizens get used to being watched by their government | Axios
- Unions sue Trump administration over social media ‘surveillance’ program | NBC News
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- Attorneys General Condemn Trump’s Attack on Nonprofits’ Freedom of Speech | Vanguard
- Black Unemployment Is Surging Again. This Time Is Different. | New York Times
- The Arts in Crisis: Leaders in arts and education discuss ramifications of funding cuts and threats of censorship | New Jersey Stage
- ICE Is Cracking Down on Chicago. Some Chicagoans Are Fighting Back. | New York Times
- Supreme Court takes up Republican attack on Voting Rights Act | ABC News
- New felony charges for protesters spark concern for 1st Amendment advocates | WGBH
- Right to protest is under sustained attack in the west, report finds | Guardian
- Court backs school district’s ban on ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ shirts in First Amendment lawsuit | KBTX (MI)
- Trump Administration Says It Revoked Visas of 6 Foreigners Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Death on Social Media | TIME
- Legal Brief Urges U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Texas Book Ban Appeal | PEN America
- Trump Considers Overhaul of Refugee System That Would Favor White People | New York Times
- Civil rights groups, unions gear up for Saturday’s ‘No Kings’ rallies | UPI
- How NSPM-7 Seeks to Use “Domestic Terrorism” to Target Nonprofits and Activists | ACLU
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- MIT rejects Trump’s deal for universities in win for education | Hill (MA)
- UA pushback mounts against Trump education compact | Tucson Spotlight (AZ)
- Tribune Editorial: Are administrators of Utah schools and colleges afraid to allow free speech? | Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
- Voices: I’m a professor. Censorship is threatening academic freedom. | Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
- Trump’s “Compact” With Colleges Will Put University Presidents in Legal Jeopardy | Center for American Progress
- What the First Amendment doesn’t protect when it comes to professors speaking out on politics | Conversation
- Academics leave Trump’s America over budget cuts and threats to intellectual freedom | France24
- LETTER FROM THE EDITORS: IU fires student media director after he refused to censor the IDS | Indiana Daily Student (IN)
- The Compact to Destroy Academic Freedom | Inside Higher Ed
- A Brief Legal Analysis of the Department of Education’s Proposed Compact for Higher Education | Knight First Amendment Institute
- Judge blocks part of Texas law that limits campus protests after dark: ‘1st Amendment does not have a bedtime’ | FOX News (TX)
- Brown rejects Trump higher ed compact, saying it restricts academic freedom and undermines autonomy | WPRI
State & Local Governance
Social Media & AI
- Meta AI adviser spreads disinformation about shootings, vaccines and trans people | Guardian
- Built to deceive: How AI is helping uncover fake personas and foreign influence campaigns in America | Milwaukee Independent
Journalism & Media
- Large, bipartisan majorities oppose government censorship of talk show hosts, media companies, survey finds | Boston University
- New York Times, AP, Newsmax among news outlets who say they won’t sign new Pentagon rules | Free Speech Center
- Fox News rebuke shows Trump’s attacks on First Amendment are hitting roadblocks | CNN
- “A dark day”: Pentagon confiscates badges of Defense reporters | Axios
Disinformation & Media Literacy
- ‘Misinformation and disinformation’: Health officials warn of the spread of false information from Trump administration | KCRG
- Kennedy’s Comments on Circumcision Are Only Going to Confuse and Shame Parents | New York Times
- In rural America, scarce doctors battle misinformation as they practice medicine | NPR
International
- Building a roadmap to counter disinformation in Iraq | IDEA (Iraq)
- Inside the Right-Wing Attack on Alberta’s Public Education | Tyee (Canada)
Around the Web
- Authors break down why George Orwell’s ‘1984’ feels closer to real life than ever before | USA Today
- Artists Plan Nationwide Protests Against ‘Authoritarian Forces’ | New York Times
- The Censors Have Names. Use Them. | Fulcrum
- This Isn’t Crisis Response. It’s Crisis Construction. | New York Times
- Navigating Attacks on Your Store | Shelf Awareness
- Empty shelves: League of Women Voters talks library challenges for Banned Books Week | Alabama Political Reporter
- Banned Books Week: The freedom to read | Utah Statesman
- North Texas School Librarians Who Faced Criminal Investigation Speak Out | Dallas Observer
- How does Florida rank when it comes to school book removals? | WUSF
- Book censorship active in libraries across country | Peoria Independent
- Dekalb superintendent indicted and Cobb schools bans more books than any other GA county | WABE
- Iowa author of challenged book ‘Crushing It’ speaks at Book Ban Festival in Des Moines | Des Moines Register
- We need our libraries | Real Change News
- ‘Ban This! How One School Fought Two Book Bans and Won’ Authors Set to Speak in Newtown and Doylestown | Bucks County Beacon
- Author of challenged library book ‘Sold’ to speak in Fairhope | AL.com
- With Roles as Civic Hubs, Libraries Turn Over a New Page | Bloomberg
- Banned Books Week is drawing to a close – but censorship attempts aren’t | Downtown News
- Banned books week: “censorship is so ‘1984’ | Baker Orange
- Two sides of book bans: PEN America and Moms for Liberty debate | USA Today
- Books Unbanned: An initiative giving autonomy back to young readers | KPBS
- WNMU Fosters Dialogue on Censorship with Banned Book Week Events | Western New Mexico University
- OPINION: Books teach us to hear, censorship teaches us to fear | Front
- How Texas is the epicenter of book banning | Texas Public Radio
- Self-censorship out of fear prevents stories from being shared | Collegian
- Banned book fair: a fight against censorship | Oakland Post
- Margaret Atwood talks book banning, ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ series, standing up for librarians | Poughkeepsie Journal
- ‘What free speech means’: Censorship in children’s literature | Butler Collegian
- The new age of book banning | Week
- ‘I’m with the banned’ | Your Island News
ALA News
- Deadline approaching for Carnegie-Whitney Grant applications for guides to library resources
- Core Webinar: Navigating Mental Health In Information Spaces
- Radical school librarianship
- Applications Open for 2026 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries
- A book of ready-to-use tabletop roleplaying games
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