Intellectual Freedom News 10/6/17
October 6, 2017 – Collated by OIF Staff and News Interns
Intellectual Freedom Highlights
- The Art of the Challenge | Intellectual Freedom Blog; “Challenges to books occasionally occur in academic libraries, but artwork is a more frequent target of challenges in academic libraries. I recently interviewed John Harer, an associate professor of library science at East Carolina University. In the 1990s he was working at Texas A&M when students launched a complaint about a piece of artwork that was hanging near the entrance of the library.”
- Why is Intellectual Freedom Important? | Intellectual Freedom Blog; “Why is intellectual freedom important? Beyond my role as a librarian, why do I care about intellectual freedom and free speech? The list of things that come to mind immediately are about education, exploration, growth and finding one’s personal truth. “
- Somewhere in Pakistan: Diary of a Young Aspiring Writer | Intellectual Freedom Blog
Censorship
- Editorial: Wyomissing makes right call on book controversy | Reading Eagle (PA)
- Sessions the Censor | Slate; “The attorney general says he values free speech. In 1996, he tried to stop LGBTQ students from meeting at a public university.”
- Map: Internet Censorship Around the World | Visual Capitalist
- Facebook’s silencing of refugees reveals dangers of censorship technologies | Just Security
- Hidden DVDs, ‘Curious George’ racial undertones highlight library book challenges | Portland Tribune
- Maps, manga and Kim Kardashian: Banned books in Pennsylvania’s prisons | Penn Live
More from Banned Books Week
- Are There Books That Should Be Banned From Your School Library? | New York Times
- Which of these 18 shows were based on banned books? | Playbill
- Many banned books were made into movies. Where the Wild Things Are may be the greatest. | Vox
- Lahore celebrates Banned Books Week with readings of Rais Amrohvi, Ahmed Faraz and J K Rowling | Images
- Banning books infringes on a reader’s right to choose | The Press-Enterprise
- The importance of Banned Book Week | Charlotte Observer
- One of America’s most famous librarians says our battle over banned books is far from over | PRI
- Banned books: Garland Public library display draws attention to censorship issues | Tremonton Leader (UT)
- Honor society stages demonstration on banned books | Ramapo News (NJ)
- Maps, manga and Kim Kardashian: Banned books in Pennsylvania’s prisons | Penn Live
- Banned Books Week; SCC Prof’s LGBT Children’s Book Sparks Challenges | Sac City Press (CA)
- Professors explore censorship around the world during Banned Books Week | Bates College
- Banned books? O brave new world | ENCA
- “Shrill Chicken Little-like panic” at the core of ‘Banned Books Week’, opines Prof. Jeff McCall ’76 | DePauw University
- The American Library Association’s misguided war against ‘banned books’ | The Hill
Privacy
- Privacy, security, and digital inequality: how technology experiences and resources vary by socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity | Data & Society
- FAQ: U.S. government monitoring of social media | The Identity Project
- U.S. lawmakers want to restrict internet surveillance on Americans | Reuters
- Apple reports record number of U.S. national security requests | CNN Tech
- FTC, Department of Education Announce Workshop to Explore Privacy Issues Related to Education Technology | Federal Trade Commission
- Congressman wants U.S. to part with Europe on data privacy | NextGov
- Blunt, Capito lead measure to enhance privacy protections for domestic violence victims | The Ripon Advance (Washington D.C.)
- Hazards ahead: Uptick in biometric privacy laws can put employers in hot seat | Lexology
- The White House and Equifax agree: Social Security numbers should go | Bloomberg
- Equifax underestimated by 2.5 million the number of potential breach victims | Fortune
- Las Vegas tragedy reignites encryption debate | CNBCNews
- Library Freedom Institute to Launch Train-the-Trainers Course on Internet Privacy, Security | Library Journal
- See this week’s additional privacy news and updates on the Choose Privacy Week blog.
Access
- A library ally you didn’t know you had | American Libraries
- Campbell school board candidates split on transgender bathroom policy importance | The News & Advance
- Public hearing discusses LGBT representation in California history textbooks | ABC 10
- Book on transgender youth not on Wichita schools’ lists | Daily Astorian
- City Bureau and ProPublica Illinois partner on public meeting data | ProPublica
- Research libraries and Wikimedia: A shared commitment to diversity, open knowledge, and community participation | Wikimedia Foundation
Hate Speech & Libraries
- Brooklynites rally against racism at Bed-Stuy library where noose was hung | DNAInfo
- Anti-Semitic talk at library draws protesters | Ashland Daily Tidings (OR)
Free Press, Social Media, and Fake News
- Google and Facebook Failed Us | The Atlantic; “The world’s most powerful information gatekeepers neglected their duties in Las Vegas. Again.”
- Google, Facebook may have to reveal deepest secrets | Politico
- Covering President Trump in a polarized media environment | Pew Research Center
- Trump wants to censor the media | The Atlantic
- Race, Banned Books, Fake News and Sleep: Our Favorite Student Comments of the Week | New York Times
Net Neutrality and Broadband Access
- Ajit Pai gets new term on FCC despite protest of anti-net neutrality plan| Ars Technica
- More Than 80% Of All Net Neutrality Comments Were Sent By Bots, Researchers Say | Vice Motherboard
- Comcast is abandoning customers in the name of free speech | Wired
- Ajit Pai Is Preserving A World Where The Digital Divide, And ISP Profits, Can Grow | Fast Company
Academic Freedom/ Campus Speech
- Black Lives Matter protests American Civil Liberties Union | The Flat Hat (VA)
- Flip-flopping on free speech | New Yorker
- UW-Regents to consider changes on hiring, freedom of expression policies | Wisconsin Public Radio
- Professors behaving badly | New York Times; “Is there something about adjunct faculty members that makes them prone to outrageous political outbursts?”
- A White Supremacist TA? | Inside Higher Education
- The Trump administration says colleges are suppressing free speech. How should they respond? | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Inside the free-speech case that caught Jeff Sessions’ eye | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Richard Spencer gets OK to speak at the University of Florida, his first campus event since U-Va.| Washington Post
- Ben Shapiro tells California legislature how to do its job at hate speech hearing | Daily Caller
First Amendment Issues
- The FBI’s New U.S. Terrorist Threat: ‘Black Identity Extremists’ | Foreign Policy
- Can the First Amendment save us? | Columbia Journalism Review
- The Worst Time for the Left to Give Up on Free Speech | New York Times
- Instead of wiping old ‘porn czar’ law from books, Utah lawmaker may push to revive — and expand — it | Salt Lake Tribune
- Campaigners For SESTA See It As A First Step To Stomping Out Porn | TechDirt
- Bikini-clad baristas serve up a lesson in free speech | Washington Post
- Florida health coach files lawsuit to challenge dietary advice censorship | WEARTV (FL)
- Parents, residents defend controversial American flag display at high school | Daily Herald
- Rally participants support Arlington Heights library after controversy | Daily Herald
- First Amendment lessons for liberals | New York Daily News
Around the Web
- How white neutrality affects the library and information sciences profession, and what we can do to change it | Social Justice Librarians
- Forget killer robots—bias is the real AI danger| Technology Review
- An elementary school librarian doesn’t want Dr. Seuss books from Melania Trump | Vanity Fair
- Librarian justified in rejection of book donation | The Columbia Chronicle (IL)
- The progressive argument for reading Dr. Seuss books to kids | Quartz
- Don’t blame librarian for Melania Trump snub; blame the system United Press International
- 9 books to help us understand mass shootings| Los Angeles Times
- Supreme Court’s new term: Surveillance, hacking, sports betting—and cake, too| Ars Technica
- The nostalgic joys of the Scholastic Book Fair, explained | Vox
- Homework assignment focusing on ‘N-word’ angers Wayne County parents | Fox 8 Cleveland (OH)
- Library system tackles ‘unrest’ at forum | Chesterfield Observer
- Did you know ‘Sailor Moon’ had to censor its lesbian lovers? | ComicBook
- The radical reference librarians who use info to challenge authority | Atlas Obscura
- Sylvia Plath bikini book cover slammed as inappropriate | Entertainment Weekly
- New documentary is a magic portal into a weird and wonderful library | Boing Boing
- High school drops play because original title had racial slur | NJ.com
- Controversial Dr. Seuss mural to be removed from Springfield museum | MassLive (MA)
International Issues
- No justification for Spanish internet censorship during Catalonian referendum | Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Canada’s campus censorship makes American universities look good | American Institute for Economic Research
- Armenia: Activists cry censorship as government shuts down Stalinism exhibit | EurasiaNet.org
- Europeans: call your MEP and stop mandatory, net-wide copyright censorship bots | Boing Boing
- Aids sufferers are demanding the right to be forgotten in France | Verdict (UK)
- New data protection rules are about more than providing the ‘right to be forgotten’ | Irish News
- Poet Benjamin Zephaniah wants to meet boy, 10, caught up in school book ban | The Sentinel (UK)
- Tea and Tiananmen: Inside China’s censorship machine | The Hindu
- Malaysia Bans Another Zunar Book, Ignoring UN Reprimand | CBLDF
ALA News
- ALA president calls for applicants to newly launched ALA Policy Corps
- ALA, EBSCO provide opportunity for five librarians to attend ALA Midwinter Meeting
- ALA appoints Jessica Hughes ASCLA/RUSA executive director
- Accessibility and Libraries: An American Libraries Live Webcast
- Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden | Geek Dad
- Intellectual freedom opportunities at the AASL National Conference | Knowledge Quest
- Libraries Transform through Literacy: AEFL Week 2017
- Your Efforts Are Helping to #saveIMLS | American Libraries
- Webinar (United for Libraries): Troubled Library Boards: Prevention and Survival | Tuesday, October 17, 2017 @ 2 pm EST
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