Intellectual Freedom News 12/4/2020
Highlights
Censorship
- Update: Burbank Superintendent Bans Use Of N-Word In Schools, Makes Five Books Non-mandatory For Classroom Work | My Burbank
- Allegheny County Jail restores policy allowing physical books delivered to inmates | Pittsburgh City Paper
Privacy and Cybersecurity
- U.S. Used Patriot Act to Gather Logs of Website Visitors | New York Times
- CBP, DHS, and other government agencies are buying cellphone location data. Lawmakers want to know why | Vox
- Next Step in Government Data Tracking Is the Internet of Things | The Washington Post
- The algorithms are watching us, but who is watching the algorithms? | ZDNet
- Podcast: Facial recognition is quietly being used to control access to housing and social services | MIT Technology Review
- California Privacy Rights: New Amendments, New Regulations, No Signs of Slowing Down | Lexology
More privacy news is available at the Choose Privacy Every Day blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, and Civil Liberties
- Parlez-vous Free Speech? | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- ACLU of Indiana Sues School Officials Over T-Shirt Dispute | U. S. News & World Report
- Federal judge rules California ban on offensive vanity license plates violates freedom of speech | Jurist
- Big-Data Policing Threatens To Compromise Civil Liberties, Further Social Inequalities | Texas Public Radio
- Proposed limits on e-communication for Florida prisoners raise censorship fears | Orlando Sentinel
- Angry messages, some threats followed San Antonio’s hate speech resolution, records show | KSAT.com
- Kentucky Religious School Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Block State Closure Order | Education Week
- Supreme Court relieves religious organizations from some covid-related restrictions | The Washington Post
- FBI Releases 2019 Hate Crimes Report | Lawfare
Copyright
- As libraries fight for access to e-books, a new copyright champion emerges | Fortune
- Hip-Hop Streaming Platform Spinrilla Found Liable for Users’ Copyright Infringement | Billboard
Access
- Books to Go program keeps library accessible for remote West Ottawa students | Holland Sentinel
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- FCC: Home ‘Classrooms’ Ineligible for Broadband Subsidy | Broadcasting+Cable
- Ajit Pai is leaving the FCC in January, and digital rights groups are preparing to restart the fight for net neutrality | Business Insider
- What to expect from a Biden FCC on Section 230, net neutrality, and 5G | The Brookings Institute
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- After recent free speech controversies, Iowa Board of Regents instigates review of university policies | The Gazette
- A Response to Julia Reuben | Academe Blog
- Ferris State University professor on leave after claiming COVID is ‘leftist stunt’ to destroy civil liberties | New York Daily News
- Google parts with top AI researcher after blocking paper, faces blowback | Ars Technica
Social Media
- EARN IT Act and How Encryption is Related to Freedom of Speech | Security Boulevard
- On Section 230, It’s Trump vs. Trump | Wired
- Trump’s Trying to Take the Internet Down With Him | The Nation
- Parler’s got a porn problem: Adult businesses target pro-Trump social network | The Washington Post
- Ted Cruz digs in for congressional battle over ‘censorship’ on Twitter, Facebook | The Houston Chronicle
- Facebook Struggles to Balance Civility and Growth | The New York Times
- GOP calls foul on ‘censorship’ after Facebook claimed page violated misinformation policy | Port City Daily (CT)
- Parler’s got a porn problem: Adult businesses target pro-Trump social network | The Washington Post
Journalism, Media, & Disinformation
- Decreasing Disinformation And The Confounding Of Communication | Forbes
- Covid disinformation sites often use tools from Google, Facebook and Apple, report finds | The Washington Post
- How Journalists Beyond the U.S. Fight Back Against Government Intimidation | Nieman Reports
International News
- Europe is adopting stricter rules on surveillance tech | MIT Technology Review
- Drag Queen Story Time aims to foster acceptance, inclusion in Whitehorse | CBC
- Google, Facebook and Twitter threaten to leave Pakistan over censorship law | TechCrunch
- France: Bill on publishing police images sparks protests | The Associated Press
- ‘Facebook Accused Of Violating Its Hate Speech Policy In India | NPR
- New Law Would Expand Internet Censorship in Russia | Human Rights Watch
- It Was Just Him and His Smiley Face. He’s Charged With Illegal Assembly. | The New York Times
- Author To Challenge Book Ban In Pakistan | Gandhara
- Big Tech’s censorship shame in Viet Nam | Amnesty International
- Children’s book accused of ‘Chinese propaganda’ banned in Taiwan | Focus Tawain
Around the Web
- Living in the Filter Bubble | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- A tale of two pandemics: A nonfiction comic about racial health disparities | Journalists’ Resource
- Opinion: Publishers are not obliged to give bigots like Jordan Peterson a platform | The Guardian
- How drag queen story hour is helping children grow during the pandemic | Yahoo! News
- ‘Welcome To The Party, Zoom’: Video App’s Rules Lead To Accusations Of Censorship | NPR
- I fear everyday encounters more than I do hate groups | The Seattle Times
- Amid COVID Censorship, News Websites Find Ways to Stay Online | Voice of America
- Today’s ‘Cancel Culture’ and Why Censorship Never Works | San Francisco Bay Times
- Those Bogus Bookcases for Zoom Calls Aren’t Fooling Anybody | The Wall Street Journal
- The Free Speech Wars review – from censorship to cancel culture | The Guardian
- Henderson County Public Library settles lawsuit with former director | The Gleanor (KY)
- Opinion: Why efforts to censor Abigail Shrier’s book will backfire and hurt transgender people | Chicago Tribune
ALA News
- Baby Yoda stars in new READ® poster and bookmark from the American Library Association
- YALSA announces 2021 Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award finalists
- Choice announces the Outstanding Academic Titles of 2020
Awards and Grants
- ALA invites applications for Libraries Transform Communities Engagement Grant
- Libraries invited to apply for programming support with inaugural Peggy Barber Tribute Grant
eCourses and Webinars
- Tools for Locating Primary Sources in Archives and Online RUSA Webinar
- Learn how to use MatchMARC to improve workflow efficiencies in your institution with this Core webinar on Jan. 12, 2021
- Tools for Locating Primary Sources in Archives and Online RUSA Webinar
- Manage Your Academic Library Building During a Pandemic in this Dec. 16th Core webinar
ALA Publishing
Subscribe to future issues of Intellectual Freedom News, a free weekly compilation of news delivered to your inbox by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, including
- current book challenges in libraries and schools
- articles about privacy, internet filtering and censorship
- ALA activities, conferences and institutes, products, online learning opportunities, awards and grants, international exchanges, and more
- how to get involved and make the most of what ALA offers