Intellectual Freedom News 11/20/2020
Highlights
- 5 books temporarily removed from reading list for Burbank schools amid outcry from parents | ABC 7 Eyewitness News, Southern California
- Feedback: What teachers say about a school district’s book ban threat | LA Times
- ALA-OIF Letter to Burbank Unified School District; “But we respectfully suggest that rather than removal of these books from the curriculum, the actual need is for improved teaching and discussion of these works of literature that places their use of racial epithets in context and highlights the harms of racist actions both in the past and in current society.”
Censorship
- Book ‘White Fragility’ banned from Florida high school after parent complaints | The College Fix
- North Carolina Lawsuit Challenges The Poet X Over Religious Viewpoint | NCAC
Privacy and Cybersecurity
- CBP Proposes Eliminating Age Restrictions and Opt-Out Policies for Non-Citizen Biometric Data Collection | Nextgov
- Proposal to install spyware in university libraries to protect copyrights shocks academics | .Coda
- “Krebs has been terminated”: Trump fires cybersecurity chief on Twitter | Ars Technica
- The iOS COVID-19 app ecosystem has become a privacy minefield | Ars Technica
- Apple responds to privacy concerns over Mac software security process | The Verge
- The Evolving Landscape of Data Privacy in Higher Education | Educause
- How the NYPD obtains people’s personal data with no oversight | New York Post
More privacy news is available at the Choose Privacy Every Day blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, and Civil Liberties
- Fahrenheit 412: New rule bans Allegheny County Jail inmates from receiving books; reading limited to 214 select E-books | Pittsburgh Current
- Reports on racial disparities in RI traffic stops let cops off the hook, civil-rights groups say | The Providence Journal
- Civil Liberties Groups Decry Calls for Encryption Backdoors | Decipher
- NAR Adds Ban on Hate Speech to Code of Ethics | Motley Fool
- Religious Freedom Arguments Give Rise To Executive Order Battle | NPR
- Victory in New York for Free Speech, New Legislation Targets SLAPP | Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Copyright
- Wixen Music Publishing Hits Triller With $50M Copyright Lawsuit | Billboard
- Google’s Arguments on Copyright Fall Flat at the Supreme Court | The National Law Journal
- Choreographer Drops Copyright Infringement Suit Against Beyonce, Jay Z | CBS, Los Angeles
- The World’s Covid 19 Response Makes Clear that Copyright Exceptions for Education Must Protect Use in the Digital Environment | InfoJustice
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- More Evidence FCC Claims That Killing Net Neutrality Would Boost Broadband Investment Were Bullshit | TechDirt
- Net neutrality back as Biden appoints Clyburn to FCC transition team | Capacity Media
- Net Neutrality Tops To-Do List for FCC Democrats in Biden Era | Bloomberg Law
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- The Outrage Peddlers Are Here to Stay | The Chronicle of Higher Education
- Where Academic Freedom Ends | The Chronicle of Higher Education
- Response to Julia Reuben | Academe Blog
- Campus free-speech bill the first pre-file for 2021 Georgia legislative session | Athens Banner-Herald
Social Media
- Facebook AI catches 95% of hate speech; company still wants mods back in office | Ars Technica
- Facebook still has hundreds of ‘Stop the Steal’ groups despite earlier crackdown | The Verge
- Facebook says AI has fueled a hate speech crackdown | The Verge
Journalism, Media, & Disinformation
- Information Overload Helps Fake News Spread, and Social Media Knows It | Scientific American
- Election Disinformation Fears Came True for State Officials | The Pew Charitable Trusts
- News outlets misidentified nearly two out of three victims of anti-trans violence in 2020 | Media Matters for America
- An AI tool can distinguish between a conspiracy theory and a true conspiracy | NeimanLab
- The Influencer Commentariat | Columbia Journalism Review
International News
- Zoom Censorship of Palestine Seminars Sparks Fight Over Academic Freedom | The Intercept
- Press freedom, civil liberties concerns over French security bill | Aljazeera
- Should the BBC have censored Fairytale of New York? | The Guardian
- Exclusive: Vietnam threatens to shut down Facebook over censorship requests – source | Reuters
- Google Strikes Copyright Payment Deal With Some French Media Groups | Gadgets 360
Around the Web
- Pandemic decimating funding for volunteer groups that support local public libraries | ABC News 10, San Diego
- Award-Winning Redwood City Library Program Aims To Combat Hate | Patch
- 26 Children’s Books About The Most Impactful LGBTQ+ Icons | Romper
- Minnesota’s 2020 Teacher of the Year read her class a picture book to help them understand the George Floyd killing. Minnesota’s largest police association didn’t like it. | Sahan Journal
- Pete Evans: Australian celebrity chef’s books pulled over neo-Nazi symbol | BBC News
- Report: “Words Matter’: Why the UC Berkeley Library is Embracing Another Term for “Illegal Aliens” | InfoDocket/Library Journal
ALA News
- ALA unveils shortlist for 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction
- Attend Open House/Job Fair During ALA Virtual Midwinter 2021 Event
- New PLA initiative helps public libraries prepare communities for in-demand jobs
- ALA Youth Media Awards webcast open to schools, libraries and public
- AASL seeks reviewers for national conference
ALA Publishing
Awards and Grants
eCourses and Webinars
- Conduct Effective Library Assessment Focus Groups with this Core Webinar on December 1
- United for Libraries to present Dec. 9 member webinar on Baker & Taylor’s ‘Sustainable Shelves’
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