Intellectual Freedom News 2/4/2022
Highlights
Book ban efforts spread across the U.S. | New York Times; “Aggressively policing books for inappropriate content and banning titles could limit students’ exposure to great literature, including towering canonical works. “If you focus on five passages, you’ve got obscenity,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone said. “If you broaden your view and read the work as a whole, you’ve got Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved.’”
Censorship
- Efforts to ban critical race theory now restrict teaching for a third of America’s kids | Education Week
- ‘It’s Perfectly Normal?’: Middle school book causes controversy in York | WGME
- School board in Tennessee bans teaching of Holocaust novel ‘Maus’ | New York Times
- ‘If they can ban MAUS, no work is safe’: CBLDF blasts school censorship of award-winning graphic novel | Forbes
- Tennessee school district bans teaching of acclaimed Holocaust novel Maus | National Coalition Against Censorship
- Tennessee school board defends banning ‘Maus,’ insists graphic novel on Holocaust contains ‘unnecessary use of profanity and nudity’ | Insider.com
- Why Virginia governor’s tip line is sparking new critical race theory concerns in schools | USA Today
- Exclusive: Local professor speaks out after school district cancels civil rights lecture over CRT concerns | First Coast News (FL)
- ‘The Queer Bible’ display sparks controversy at library | Madison County Journal (MS)
- Meet the moms of color from Texas fighting book bands at their kids’ schools | NBC News
- Manheim Central school board hears concerns over book bans | Lancaster Online
- High Plains Library District denies former librarian’s allegations of censorship, discrimination | Greeley Tribune (CO)
- Auburn school district to review library book after formal complaints received | Auburn Pub (NY)
- 16 books removed from Polk County school libraries after objection from conservative group | WFLA (FL)
- Move to ban the 1619 Project from SC classrooms will only harm future generations | Island Packet
- Forsyth County Schools remove eight books for ‘sexually explicit content’ amid nationwide library debate | Forsyth County News (GA)
- Gov. Kemp visits Forsyth school amid book controversy | FOX5 Atlanta
- Librarians, others stand against Wentzville’s book ban | St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
- Some Stamford parents say a book about a transgender child is inappropriate for 3rd graders | WSHU NPR (CT)
- Banned: Books on race and sexuality are disappearing from Texas schools in record numbers | NBC News
- Youth Advisory Commission member resigns over LGBT censorship project | Anchorage Press (AK)
- NC school district says it will keep LGBTQ+ books in library despite parent complaints | News & Observer
- How a small school district became a focal point in the battle over Texas book censorship | Snopes
- Baldwinsville parents challenge BOE-approved books | Eagle News (TN)
- Orange County School Board unanimously keeps challenged books in libraries | 97.9 (NC)
- ‘Dear Martin’ no longer an assigned read at Tuscola High after parent’s complaint | WLOS (NC)
- Kent School District issues statement as LGBTQ library books are under fire | Kent Reporter (WA)
- Georgia Library Association responds to the recent rise in book censorship | WABE
- N.J. high school board votes against recommendation to ban LGBTQ+ book | NJ.com
- Henrico Schools pull two books for review over sexual content concerns | ABC8
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Treasury reconsiders IRS use of ID.me facial recognition amid privacy concerns | Engadget
- Major media outlets that use invasive user tracking are lobbying against regulation | Intercept
More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Douglas County school board votes to change equity policy over student objections | Denver Post (CO)
- Brookside PD ran afoul of good policing practices and possibly the First Amendment | AL.com
- False election statements by elected officials could be illegal under proposed WA law | Olympian
- A counter-history of First Amendment neutrality | Yale Law Journal
- ‘Nazi’ protests held over the weekend condemned in Florida | Middletown Press
- 11th Circuit says a sheriff violated the First Amendment by posting warning signs on the lawns of registered sex offenders | Reason
- Civil rights groups file lawsuit against Texas Secretary of State alleging voter suppression | ABC13
- State Supreme Court rules attack ad by Wendy Rogers is protected by First Amendment | KNAU NPR
- After winning, Juneau attorney reflects on her years-long First Amendment case | Alaska Public Media
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- A dean’s divisive tweet casts SDSU into nationwide debate over academic free speech | San Diego Union-Tribune
- A dean’s controversial tweets | Inside Higher Ed
Legislation
- Democrats say proposed bill aimed at banning critical race theory from [Georgia] schools is too broad | WSB-TV
- Crisis in the classroom: Lawmakers discuss critical race theory in SC schools | FOX 57
- Indiana House sends sweeping anti-CRT bill to the Senate | Chalkbeat
- Indiana Senate approves bill limiting library legal defense over material harmful to minors | WFYI (IN)
- Tennessee lawmakers file bill targeting ‘obscene’ books in school libraries | Chattanooga Times Free Press
- Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill is the next step in the right-wing schools panic. | Slate
- Legislation targets teachers for lessons on “divisive” subjects, student confidentiality | San Diego Union Tribune
- Iowa House bill tackles ‘obscene materials’ in schools | Courier (IA)
- Bill mandating parental notice before sexually explicit lessons advances: ‘This is not a book ban’ | WAVY (VA)
Access
- Katy ISD filter blocks LGBTQ+ websites | Texas Signal
- Legislators ask COPPA Safe Harbor organizations for information | National Law Review
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- U.S. appeals court will not block California net neutrality law | Reuters
- Biden’s pro-net neutrality pick for FCC is delayed again | CNET
Social Media
- EFF launches Tracking Global Online Censorship project to shine light on how content moderation affects freedom of expression around the world | EFF
- Platform power struggles: Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, banned books spur debate | CNN
- Editorial: Musicians’ Spotify protest has prompted disinformation change. More is needed. | St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Joe Rogan COVID misinformation: Spotify won’t censor, says CEO | CNET
- Spotify backs Joe Rogan’s disinformation machine | New York Times
- How social media forces stand-up comedians like Trevor Noah and Basket Mouth to self-censor | The Conversation
Copyright
- Nintendo hits YouTube soundtrack channel with over 1300 copyright blocks | Kotaku
- The EARN IT Act is back and ready to destroy Section 230 | Daily Dot
Information Literacy & Disinformation
- Spotify to link Covid-19 content to facts hub after disinformation row, says CEO | South China Morning Post
- Censorship isn’t the best way to crack down on quack science | Washington Post
- Is money driving those who spread COVID disinformation? | Medpage Today
- Opinion: How a free society can respond to right-wing disinformation | Washington Post
International News
- Facebook is failing Iranians, and Iran’s leaders are about to launch a censored Internet | Broadband Breakfast
- Ahead of Winter Olympics, Beijing moves to quash dissent | New York Times
- US law scholar says Hong Kong denied him visa to teach at university | France 24
Around the Web
- What’s It Like to Be the Target of A Book Banning Effort? School Librarian Martha Hickson Tells Her Story. | School Library Journal
- Art Spiegelman sees the new ban of his book ‘Maus’ as a ‘red alert’ | Washington Post
- Book bans are targeting the history of oppression | Atlantic
- Art Spiegelman warns Holocaust stories will follow CRT as next subject pulled from schools | Newsweek
- Sales of Maus spike after Tennessee book banning | AV Club
- Comic book store owners are offering to ship banned Holocaust novel ‘Maus’ to Tennessee students for free | CNN
- Read the books that schools want to ban | The Atlantic
- Which books belong in a school library? All of them, of course | EdSurge
- My young mind was disturbed by a book. It changed my life. | New York Times
- Book Ban Busters: Moms across the country fight to stop book banning at schools | WUSA9
- St. Louis groups launch ‘banned book program’ to distribute challenged books | St. Louis Public Radio
- This popular virtual book club helped me make new friends during the pandemic–here are the 5 best books I’ve read since joining | Business Insider
- Parental ‘concern’ over masks, CRT and books is being brought to you by groups who hate public schools | Wonkette
- American book banning tradition is as old as the Mayflower | Washington Post
- Freedom of speech was too hard won to be cavalier now about censorship | Guardian
- Distinguished teacher who taught embattled diversity course sees echoes in CRT | Bowling Green Daily News
- Why Toni Morrison’s books are so often the target of book bans | Time
- Students called radicals by superintendent fundraise for freedom to read | Book Riot
- Teaching controversial issues when democracy is under attack | Brookings
- Black History Month 2022: Phony critical race theory fears thwart teaching of total U.S. history | NY Daily News
- Divide over how to teach about race plays out more in schools with shifting demographics, study finds | CNN
- “Moms for Libraries” is conservative propaganda | Book Riot
- As the Right censors public libraries, families are forming banned book clubs | Truthout
- Students, your school can’t stop you from knowing Black history | ACLU Pennsylvania
- Bethlehem library books defaced with political stickers | Times Union (NY)
- Dutch publisher apologizes over controversial Anne Frank book, halts printing | Times of Israel
- Rocky path to publication for ‘most dangerous book’ | Harvard Gazette
- Expert: Here’s what’s behind the recent surge in book censorship attempts | Yahoo! News
- What lesson does censorship teach our children | Smoky Mountain News
- Beyond banning: New challenges to the Right to Read | Information Today
- Furries Are Leading the War Against a Book-Banning Mississippi Mayor | Vice
ALA News
- Tammy Dillard-Steels departing as YALSA executive director; LaMoya N. Burks appointed interim
- ALA releases new Libraries Build Business Playbook to encourage small business development in public libraries
- ALA encourages library workers to ascertain eligibility and apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver before October 31
Awards & Grants
- YALSA names 2022 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
- 2022 Rise Book Project presents Top Ten feminist books for young readers
- Applications sought for 2022 Coretta Scott King Book Donation Grants
- 2022 Barbara Gittings Literature Award and Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award of the Stonewall Book Awards announced
- ALA Film and Media Round Table announces 2022 Notable Films for Adults
- ALA begins a new tradition with the first-ever LibLearnX
- School librarians invited to apply for $5,000 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award
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