Intellectual Freedom News 2/2/2018
February 2, 2018 – Collated by OIF Staff and News Editors
Intellectual Freedom Highlights
- Banning books is bad for the future of our country | Springfield News Leader
- Librarians as cultural warriors & protectors | OIF Blog; “Obviously this says a great deal about the power of the written word. It tells us not only that books and libraries have power to promote free thinking, but that authoritarians fear that power. Not only do they destroy the materials that might reflect negatively on their rule, but they also actively co-opt libraries and other intellectual centers to their cause. “
- Introducing the new Selection & Reconsideration Policy Toolkit | OIF Blog
- Privacy at ALA Midwinter 2018 | OIF Blog
Censorship
- Library display policies to be discussed at Tuesday meeting | tdtnews.com
- SPS yanks books from middle school after parent, lawmaker complain | Springfield News-Leader; ‘The Hate U Give’
- There are 480 publications banned in NC prisons. One of them is a copy of Oprah’s magazine | Independent Weekly
- District policy ignored in YA book ban | CBLDF, ‘The Facts Speak for Themselves’
Privacy
- Americans Wanted More Privacy Protections. Congress Gave Them Fewer. | Slate
- Reforming the U.S. Approach to Data Protection and Privacy | Council on Foreign Relations
- The New ‘Digital’ Sanctuaries | CityLab: “Cities that were at the forefront of limiting their own participation in aggressive federal immigration enforcement are now expanding the scope of their work: protecting their residents from data-collection and surveillance, too.”
- Facebook revamps privacy settings ahead of strict new EU laws | CNBC
- Five digital security tools to protect your work and sources | Int”l Consortium of Investigative Journalists
- How to manage your privacy on fitness apps | Wired
- Voice recordings, interconnected apps, and parental consent: An update on COPPA privacy compliance | Lexology
See this week’s additional privacy news and updates on the Choose Privacy Week blog.
Net Neutrality and Broadband Access
- Statehouses are the new arena in the battle of net neutrality | Quartz
- California joins Montana and New York in creating state Net Neutrality rules | Boing Boing
- New Mexico lawmakers seek to protect net neutrality | US News & World Report
- Someone protested the FCC’s net neutrality repeal with a paid ‘fast lane’ outside the agency’s building | Mashable
- San Francisco seeks universal fiber broadband with net neutrality and privacy | Ars Technica
Access
Filtering
- Proposed bill in Virginia would require fee to access obscene internet content | WRIC.com, “The bill would require a filter for providers of devices that have access to the internet like your phone or computer. Users who are of legal age would have to pay a $20 fee to remove the filter on any new device bought.”
- Her granddaughter glimpsed porn at the public library. What’s a library to do? | Cincinnati.com
Free Press, Social Media, and Fake News
- Why is Instagram censoring a 1992 poem revered by the LGBTQ community? | Quartz
- We need to shine a light on private online censorship | TechDirt
- Facebook users cry ‘censorship’ after being told which Russian troll pages they liked | Gizmodo
- ‘The Post’, the Pentagon Papers, and the era of fake news | OIF Blog
Academic Freedom and Campus Speech
- Xicanas/Latinas and intellectual freedom in college: When reading is political | OIF Blog
- Give young journalists protections from school censorship | The Seattle Times
- U. of C. alumni deliver petition urging school to rescind Steve Bannon invite | The Chicago Tribune
- Conservative activists stage protest against “Queering the Bible” course | Swarthmore College Daily Gazette
- Texas wages war against imaginary censorship – in support of hate | Salon
First Amendment and Free Speech
- When a T-Shirt Gets You in Trouble at the Voting Booth | New York Times
- People can put your face on porn – and the law can’t help you | Wired
- Challenged, banned, or censored. What exactly does the First Amendment protect? | The Knoxville Focus
- Is legislator-led prayer unconstitutional? | Newseum
Around the Web
- The libraries bringing small town news back to life | The Atlantic
- Spartanburg Public Library computer system hit by ransomware | Go Upstate
- Rebuilding Puerto Rican libraries | American Libraries
- Ex-Manitowoc Public Library director Cherilyn Stewart faces four felony charges | Herald Times Reporter
International Issues
- Weibo falls foul of China’s internet watchdog for failing to censor content | South China Morning Post
- Fury in Israel as Poland proposes ban on referring to Nazi death camps as ‘Polish’ | The Telegraph
- Bell backed coalition demands Canadian website filtering | DSL Reports
- As Kenya takes Orwellian turn, government goes after journalists | The New York Times
- After unrest, Iran seeks control through ‘Halal’ internet | The New York Times
- Book-burning Pontypridd librarian jailed for theft | BBC (UK)
ALA News
- OIF to showcase new selection policy toolkit at Midwinter
- ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom Launches New Policy Toolkit | School Library Journal
- ALA invites nominations for 2018 Eileen Cooke State & Local Madison Award. The award recognizes an individual or group who has championed, protected, or promoted public access to government information and the public’s right to know at the state or local level.
- New eCourse—Online Privacy & Security: Best Practices for Librarians. 5-week facilitated eCourse starting on Monday, March 12, 2018.
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