Intellectual Freedom News 12/15/2023
Highlights
- Banned Beliefs: How People of Diverse Faiths Are Fighting to Protect Our Public Schools and Libraries | Interfaith Alliance
- Urban Libraries Council (ULC) Releases First-Ever Library Insights Survey | Library Journal
- Top Censorship Stories of 2023 | School Library Journal
Censorship
- NYC couple checks out 5 pro-Palestinian children’s books indefinitely to prevent ‘indoctrination’ | New York Post (NY)
- Wasilla library to rename ‘young adult’ section amid questions over book challenge policy | Anchorage Daily News (AK)
- Liberty Lake City Council considers using post-election scheduling quirk to give itself the power to ban books | Range Media (WA)
- These Texas parents are pushing back against school library book bans. ‘We can fight this’ | Star-Telegram (TX)
- Lehigh Valley lawmakers want to stop ‘book ban’ arguments. They just disagree on how. | Morning Call (PA)
- Which books were pulled for review from Saydel Community School District? | Des Moines Register (IA)
- Threat closes all Warren-Trumbull County libraries | WKBN (OH)
- Local libraries face “book banning” efforts with a dedication to free speech and equal access | Wellsville Sun (NY)
- Marietta City school board votes to ban 23 books from libraries | Atlanta News First (GA)
- Community members question new library board over sexually explicit books’ availability | KIIITV (TX)
- Opinion: Keeping an eye on new Corpus Christi Library Board | Caller Times
- Lexington-Richland school board votes to remove fantasy series from district libraries | Post and Courier (SC)
- Pennsylvania Library Director Resigns After Board Removes Issues of ‘Out,’ the LGBTQ+ Magazine | Advocate (PA)
- School Board upholds book challenge ruling | Brainerd Dispatch (MN)
- BCSD temporarily replaces book policies with state’s proposed regulations | Post and Courier (SC)
- Brandywine Community School Board votes on $5,000 We Need Diverse Books grant | ABC57 (MI)
- A drag queen story hour divided an Adirondack community. The library was a casualty | NCPR (NY)
- NCAC objects to the removal of 75 books from school libraries in Hanover County, Virginia | NCAC (VA)
- Controversy over Bethlehem speaker shows again how public libraries have become speech battleground | WAMC (NY)
- Dixfield-based school board sends book selection policy to committee | Rumford Falls Times (ME)
- Elkhorn School District pushes back on book ban request | WISN (WI)
- ACLU of Wisconsin files records requests with school districts that have banned books | WPR (WI)
- “Fresh look” coming to Rockwell Falls Library Board, says newest member | Post Star (NY)
- Bonta backs motion blocking censorship, transgender notification in Temecula schools | Ed Source (CA)
- California AG opposes school transgender policy, ban on critical race theory | Center Square (CA)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Congress braces for head-to-head clash on warrantless surveillance reform bills | Hill
- Facebook watches teens online as they prep for college | WBAY
- How Meta’s New Face Camera Heralds a New Age of Surveillance | New York Times
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- Thomas and Alito see First Amendment violations in conversion therapy law | Courthouse News Service
- Strange bedfellows: The ACLU and NRA unite for free speech | Hill
- Perkiomen Valley school board retains anti-trans bathroom policy | Philadelphia Gay News (PA)
- Civil rights groups appeal court ruling that threatens Voting Rights Act enforcement | NPR
- Judge Rules Kentucky’s Charter School Law Unconstitutional | 74
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- Speech police? Supreme Court asked to enter fray on confronting bias on campus. | USA Today
- American universities face a reckoning over academic freedom | Economist
- The University of Wyoming officially commits itself to political neutrality | Wyoming Public Radio (WY)
- American Council on Education president discusses limits on free speech on campuses | NPR
Legislation
- To fight so-called book bans, some states are threatening to withhold funding | NPR
- Prosecuting teachers and librarians for ‘obscene’ books sought in bill | Wisconsin Examiner (WI)
- Tell Congress: KOSA Will Censor the Internet But Won’t Help Kids | EFF
- Counselors, psychologists and school officials speak out against ‘parent’s bill of rights’ | Ohio Capital Journal (OH)
- Pressley introduces legislation to fight book bans | Hill
State & Local Governance
- Reps. Cherfilus-McCormick, Wasserman Schultz Lead Call for DeSantis to End Florida Book Bans | Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus McCormick (FL)
- Louisiana state library lets library association membership expire amid national movement | Acadiana Advocate (LA)
- Arkansas Senate to vote Friday on Rapert’s appointment to state Library Board | Arkansas Times (AR)
- Texas leaders approve school library rules amid ongoing fight about inappropriate books | Dallas Morning News (TX)
Social Media
- Supreme Court refuses RFK Jr. request to intervene in social media case; Alito dissents | Hill
- Why the First Amendment protects social media content moderation | Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
- Instagram quietly rolled out a misinformation feature that has sparked claims of stealth censorship | NBC News
- Science doesn’t yet support broad restrictions on teens’ access to social media, experts say | Los Angeles Times
- NCAC joins EFF and other free speech organizations in urging Supreme Court to strike down states’ attempt to regulate social media speech | EFF
Disinformation & Information Literacy
- Inside the Troll Army Waging Trump’s Online Campaign | New York Times
- We Are the Targets | Inside Higher Ed
- State Dept’s fight against disinformation comes under attack | New York Times
- Microsoft says Russia uses fake celebrity videos for disinformation | Seattle Times
International
- Digital platforms like TikTok could help China extend its censorship regime across borders | Conversation (China)
Around the Web
- The Book World Still Isn’t Diverse. Dhonielle Clayton Is Trying to Change That. | New York Times
- The Texas Historical Commission Removed Books on Slavery From Plantation Gift Shops | Texas Monthly
- How a group of grandparents is mobilizing to push back against Moms for Liberty | 19th
- New PEN America Report Documents ‘Scarlet Letter’ Effect of Book Bans | Publishers Weekly
- Florida school board recommends ouster of Moms for Liberty co-founder over Republican sex scandal | AP
- James LaRue’s library experience led him to move censorship conversation beyond the stacks | Colorado Sun
- How would this Supreme Court rule on book banning? | New Yorker
- The drag queens fighting performance bans in Texas | New Yorker
- AP African American studies adds lesson on sports and racial justice | Washington Post
- What librarians do and why it is important | Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
- Anti-LGBTQ+ bigots target Barnes & Noble with boycott calls for selling ‘banned books’ | PinkNews
- Neo-Nazi group accused of violating civil rights law for disrupting N.H. drag story hour | NBC News
- Battle of the books – Book bans in NJ prompt discussion during National Banned Books Week | College Voice
- The Little Ways People Are Supporting Impacted Communities | Shondaland
- Bomb threat sent to Takoma Park restaurant and bar, canceling drag brunch event | NBC Washington
- Author and LGBTQ+ Activist Jennifer Finney Boylan Becomes President of PEN America | YubaNet
- Republicans will do anything to ban books, even saying they cause porn addiction | Guardian
- Pink celebrates hometown as school board president swears in on banned books | PinkNews
- 2023–The Year in Censorship | Book and Film Globe
- Some Maricopa County school district bond and override measures failed. What now? | Arizona Republic
- A Student’s List of “Evil” Books | Scales on Censorship | School Library Journal
- Banned books are books worth reading | Charlotte News
ALA News
- Nominate yourself, colleagues, or your library for the 2024 American Library Association (ALA) Recognition Awards and Grants
- Joseph W. Lippincott Award Accepting Nominations
- Unlock a Year of Adventures with PLA’s 2024 Early Literacy Calendar
- A complete guide to scholarly communication and publishing academic research
- RUSA Virtual Forum- Reference Revolution: AI + More
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