Intellectual Freedom News 2/15/19
February 15, 2019 – Collated by OIF Staff and News Editors
Highlight
- Intellectual Freedom Was Alive and Well at Midwinter in Seattle | Knowledge Quest
- Andover Public Library will keep transgender children’s books in the kids section | Wichita Eagle
- Hateful conduct in libraries: A new ALA resource
- The First Amendment and Library Services with Theresa Chmara. (4-week facilitated eCourse starting on Monday, March 4, 2019)
- Privacy, Libraries, Patrons, and the Law with Deborah Caldwell-Stone. (4-week facilitated eCourse starting on Monday, April 8, 2019)
Censorship
- Lawmakers rebuff bid to criminalize use of ‘obscene’ materials in Maine schools | Bangor Daily News (ME)
- Drag Queen Story Hour draws support and protest in Exeter | Reading Eagle (PA)
- Drag Queen Story Hour proceeds in Astoria with community support | Daily Astorian (OR)
- Drag Queen Story Hour will happen as planned, organizer says | WYFF (SC)
- First grade teacher investigated for reading book about gay bunnies to kids | WFTV (FL)
- Chinese artist’s exhibit in Cary is missing 3 paintings. The town says they’re too political. | Raleigh News & Observer (NC)
Privacy
- Judge declines to block citizenship question from the 2020 census on privacy grounds | CNN
- ACLU, NAACP call on Congress to address discrimination in privacy laws | CNET
- Bots are terrible at recognizing black faces. Let’s keep it that way. | The Daily Beast
- Lack of rules leaves experts puzzled about data ownership after death | Reuters
- California law could be Congress’ model for data privacy. Or it could be erased | San Francisco Chronicle
- Your company wants to know if you’ve lost weight | Wall Street Journal
- The Technology 202: Bezos dilemma could spark Congress to act on graphic photos | Washington Post
- Senate to hold hearing on potential privacy bill | The Hill
- Chicago Public Schools monitored social media for signs of violence, gang membership | ProPublica
Access
- Should libraries be the keepers of their cities’ public data? | NextGov
- Delayed, denied, dismissed: Failures on the FOIA front | ProPublica
- Kansas lawmaker wants to block online access to porn, charge residents fee to see it | Wichita Eagle
- GoGuardian develops a new AI-enabled cloud filter for K–12 schools | EdTech
- Three ways to extend your library digitally | Knowledge Quest
Net Neutrality and Broadband Access
- Georgia House wants local utilities to provide broadband | Associated Press
- Republicans in Congress are talking net neutrality, at least | Wired
- Texas bill aims to stop companies from ‘throttling’ internet service during disasters | KUT (TX)
- Governor Wolf makes case for statewide broadband to support education | WFMZ (PA)
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Is political bias in grading a myth? | Chronicle of Higher Education
- U. of Nebraska wondered whether conservative students were being silenced. Here’s what it found out. | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Do racial epithets have any place in the classroom? A professor’s suspension fuels that debate | Chronicle of Higher Education
- How a dispute over the n-word became a dispiriting farce | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Why left and right both get the meaning of academic freedom wrong | Washington Post
First Amendment and Free Speech
- Federal Appeals Court Rejects Challenge to District’s Lessons on ‘the Muslim World’ | Education Week
- Christian student challenged a school history lesson on Islam and lost in court | Washington Post
- Cartoon features bear with a profane message for President Trump | The Enquirer (OH)
- See hate speech, leave it up | Inside Higher Ed
- The president and chilling free speech | Townhall
- Fourth circuit finds public official violated First Amendment rights of constituent on Facebook | Constitutional Law Prof Blog
Around the Web
- The life and death of abolitionist, writer, and civil rights activist: Frederick Douglass | OIF Blog
- Dispatches from the Houghton, part three: Deeper into the shadows | OIF Blog
- Un-American books in American classrooms | OIF Blog
- Newest form of censorship is drowning out the message | Post and Courier (SC)
International Issues
- School board in New Brunswick takes children’s book about scalping off the library shelves | APT News (Canada)
- Kenya Government mandates DNA-linked national ID, without data protection law | Mozilla
- India proposes Chinese-style internet censorship | New York Times
- Russia to disconnect its internet from rest of the world – temporarily | Telegraph
- Mums are BANNING Jacqueline Wilson books saying they’re ‘unsuitable’ for children | Liverpool Echo
- EU states agree on copyright reform compromise | DW
- European parliament approves controversial “meme ban” | Futurism
ALA News
- Revised Library Bill of Rights interpretations adopted at Seattle Midwinter Meeting
- ALA Executive Board releases statement regarding incident at Council Forum
- New workshop: Active Shooter Training for Library Employees
- Applications due March 8 for 2019 ALA Leadership Institute
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
You can also find us at Facebook, Twitter, and online. Or email us at oif@ala.org