Intellectual Freedom News 12/10/2021
Highlights
- School Library System of New York Statement on Intellectual Freedom | SLSA-NY
- NCAC leads coalition statement on the attack on books in schools | National Coalition Against Censorship
Censorship
- Coalition condemns political attacks against books in schools | Publishers Weekly
- There’s new pressure to ban books at schools | NPR
- Kansas, Missouri lawmakers slam school boards as curricula fights head to statehouses | Kansas City Star
- One weird trick for backsliding democracy: Read banned books | Kansas Reflector
- North Dakota school superintendent slams critical race theory, calls to teach ‘Christian heritage’ | The Hill
- Black parents say movement to ban critical race theory is ruining their children’s education | CNN
- Republican bill that limits how race, slavery, and history are taught in Texas schools becomes law | Texas Tribune
- Authors of color speak out against efforts to ban books on race | ABC News
- Opponents of sex ed book in York Middle School library were expected. Here’s what happened. | Portsmouth Herald [ME]
- Paradise Valley School Governing Board unanimously votes to end contract with Horizon principal following controversial book | 12 News
- Kalispell library director resigns amid book controversy | NBC Montana
- Some parents want criminal charges against Wake schools over graphic library books | Charlotte Observer
- Keller, Texas, school district censors library books in violation of policy | National Coalition Against Censorship
- Iowa legislators target books and teachers for upcoming session | Axios
- The fate of 21 contested Victoria Public Library books to be decided Dec. 15 | Victoria Advocate
- Library should not ban books questioned by parent group [editorial] | Victoria Advocate
- A critical time: Small handful of educators losing jobs for lessons linked to race, not CRT | USA Today
- Flathead County Library director resigns amid board meddling | Flathead Beacon
- The hate we give: A plea for help and recognition is instead held down | Caroll Times Herald
- Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office responds to book burning event promoted on Facebook | Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
- Librarians, advocates push back on calls to remove LGBTQ books from school libraries | Courier
- Lampeter-Strasburg school board welcomes new members, discusses book complaints | Lancaster Online
- Mom shocked book titled ‘Redneck Night Before Christmas’ came from school library | WSOC
- This is a shakedown: Texas has a book-banning problem | The Atlantic
- North East ISD pulls over 400 library books for review, prompted by lawmaker’s inquiry | San Antonio Express-News
- San Antonio-area school district reviews 400 books flagged by a Texas lawmaker’s inquiry | Texas Tribune
- ‘I am appalled’: locals react to NEISD’s controversial book removal | My San Antonio
- North East ISD moves to ban or relocate 75 books, including several with ‘vulgar or obscene material.’ | San Antonio Express-News
- A new, more restrictive ‘critical race theory’ law now in effect for Texas schools | Chron
- ‘Gender Queer’ pulled from Ankeny school libraries as Ankeny school board debates mask mandates again | Ames Tribune
- Parents speak to “inappropriate” reading material | Webster-Kirkwood Times [MO]
- Georgia GOP leader backs ‘obscenity’ legislation that echoes what she once opposed | Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- School board chair proposes committee to review students’ books, receives bipartisan support | WDEF [TN]
- Committee OKs disputed book | Waupaca County News
- Superintendent’s decision: ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’ banned for now, other books return to library shelves | Flagler Live
- Katy ISD asks parents to report concerns on ‘pervasively vulgar’ library books | Houston Chronicle
- Following backlash over library books, state school board looks to write new rules on library policy | KUER [UT]
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- ACLU calls for halt of Homeland Security’s use of facial recognition technology | Nextgov
- Swiss firm executive operates secret surveillance operation, sources say | Bloomberg
- After decades of surveillance, Muslims struggle with how much to share online | The Verge
- How governments used the pandemic to normalize surveillance | Los Angeles Times
More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- 21 states poised to ban or severely restrict abortion if ‘Roe v. Wade’ is overturned | NPR
- Judge tears apart Texas social media law for violating First Amendment | ArsTechnica
- Ellsworth school board settles lawsuit over right to speak at its meetings | Yahoo! Sports
- A hate group wants the Supreme Court to allow them to sue people calling them a hate group | LGBTQ Nation
- A White teacher taught White students about White privilege. It cost him his job. | The Washington Post
- Separation of church and school? Justices will weigh Maine’s ban on funds for religious education | SCOTUSblog
- First Amendment group calls on Rep. Massie to unblock critics on Twitter | The Hill
Access
- The American prison system’s war on reading | Protean
- Malcolm X’s former prison cell becomes first of 1,000 planned ‘freedom libraries’ | The Guardian
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- Senate confirms FCC Chair Rosenworcel to another term, narrowly avoiding a Republican majority | CNBC
- The next chairperson of the FCC is from Connecticut. Here’s why that matters: broadband access, net neutrality, robocalls and the first woman to run the FCC. | Hartford Courant
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
Journalism & Media
- The troubling new void in local journalism — and the nonprofits trying to fill it | The Washington post
Copyright
Social Media
- Democrats receive pushback over social media censorship bill proposals | Reclaim the Net
- Republican Devin Nunes to quit Congress and head Trump’s social media platform | The Guardian
- Never tweet: Social media posts haunt Biden’s FCC and FTC hopefuls | Politico
Information Literacy & Disinformation
- Anti-vax ad filled with disinformation appears on MTA bus shelter | NBC New York
- Facebook struggles with Gateway and containing disinformation | Standard
- TikTok conspiracies, infertility myths, and other disinformation hinder Central Valley COVID fight | Los Angeles Times
International News
- Peng Shuai and the real goal of Chinese censorship | WIRED
- De-indexing and silencing, a trial to watch, persecuted journalists, and a perverse technology | IFEX
- French press agency and Google team up to fight disinformation in French elections | Euractiv
Around the Web
- What’s one more deadly school shooting when the real danger to kids is a book? | Miami Herald
- Many parents may not hear Nazi echos in their school censorship calls. But they’re there. | Cleveland.com
- An authoritarian push to ban books and punish teachers | Gazette
- Are you paying attention to the book banning attempts — & successes — across our country? | Romper Parenting
- ‘A dog whistle and a lie’: Black parents on the critical race theory debate | The Washington Post
- What do masks, library books, critical race theory, and transgender rights have in common? | Reform Austin
- Editorial: Bradbury told librarians to ‘stand firm’ against book bans | Roanoke Times
- Police probe possible hate crime during school board meeting | Middletown Press
- A Texas Republican leader marked an author’s books for investigation. Then, the author gave them away for free. | Austin American-Statesman
- Critical race theory founder says he and his wife receiving death threats | The Hill
- The latest fear for Kansas schools: CRT is turning our children gay | Kansas Reflector
- Divisive issues like critical race theory, mask mandates driving interests in local school board elections | KHOU
- Is My Little Library contributing to the gentrification of my Black neighborhood? | The New York Times
- Opinion: Censoring books is another form of minority erasure | Daily Iowan
- The Florida School Board Association drops its national membership as Republicans consider making local board races partisan | WFSU
- Rebecca Kleefisch accuses education conference of promoting critical race theory. Educators say she’s got the wrong CRT | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- Artificial intelligence works to outsmart governments’ internet censorship | Voice of America
- Happy Birthday, Nick Bruel! | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- Toni Morrison’s Beloved a Hot Topic in Virginia Governor’s Race | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- How Your Library Can Support Comprehensive Sex Education (and Fight Censorship) | Intellectual Freedom Blog
ALA News
- Communities for Immunity awards funding to 50 additional museums and libraries to advance vaccine confidence
- New posters from award-winning illustrators and more debut in winter ALA Graphics catalog
- Pentland and Sturge Seek 2023-2024 AASL Presidency
- Accepting Appointments for Career Coaching Sessions
- ALA announces slate of petition Council candidates
Awards & Grant
eLearning
Publishing
- Incorporating racial issues into storytimes
- Fundamentals for the instruction coordinator
- Book Review: A History of ALA Policy on Intellectual Freedom (10th Edition)
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