Intellectual Freedom News 3/14/2025
Highlights
- In Profile: Neo-Censorship in U.S. Libraries, with Michelle Reed | Outside the Lines
- Digital Censorship | Library Futures
- Former ALA president to discuss librarians role in fighting censorship at URI | University of Rhode Island
- Nation to Celebrate Library Workers, April 8, 2025 | ALA
Censorship
- The righteous right takes aim at Iowa’s public libraries | Gazette (IA)
- What books have groups tried to ban in RI schools? Here are the titles. | Providence Journal (RI)
- Utah banned a 17th book from all public schools. Here’s what it’s about. | Salt lake Tribune (UT)
- SC Board of Education to consider removing more books | WCBD (SC)
- Missouri secretary of state suspends e-book service over culture war concerns about minors | St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
- Library Wars: Local Elections, the ‘Right to Read’ and Budget Battles | InDepthNH (NH)
- Debate over Goffstown public library unfolds in town elections and at State House | NHPR (NH)
- Rockingham County School Board permanently bans 6 more books from classrooms, libraries | WHSV (VA)
- Rockingham County School Board bans 6 books from school libraries | Daily News Record (VA)
- Parents seek review of Lynchburg Public Library kids’ books over LGBTQ+ content concerns | WSET (VA)
- Inside the pledge far-right York County school board members had to sign to get key PAC’s endorsement | York Dispatch (PA)
- Garfield County commissioners pick former City Council member Tony Hershey to fill library board seat | Aspen Journalism (CO)
- Radnor school district will review its library policy after backlash over book bans | Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
- DeKalb school board hopefuls talk book banning | Daily Chronicle (IL)
- ‘De-escalation and myth busting’: How local libraries handle attempts to challenge books | Worcester Magazine (MA)
- Library Wars: Goffstown Fights Lead to State House Bills | In Depth NH (NH)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- What U.S. Federal Employees Should Know About Workplace Surveillance | Just Security
- Zuckerberg’s Meta considered sharing user data with China, whistleblower alleges | Washington Post
- Is DOGE Putting Student and Educator Data at Risk? | EducationWeek
- Takeaways from our investigation on AI-powered school surveillance | AP
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- U.S. Added to Global Human Rights Watchlist Over Declining Civil Liberties | TIME
- These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration | New York Times
- An office known for enforcing special education is now focused on Trump’s political priorities | AP
- Education Department Fires 1,300 Workers, Gutting Its Staff | New York Times
- Trump Firings Gut Education Department’s Civil Rights Division | New York Times
- Trump is shredding the First Amendment under the guise of “national security” | Vox
- E.P.A. Plans to Close All Environmental Justice Offices | New York Times
- FIRE Files First Amendment Lawsuit Challenging Texas A&M Drag Show Ban | Reason (TX)
- Trump Administration Prepares to Revive and Expand Travel Bans | New York Times
- Navigating the Trump era: Struggles and support for undocumented students | Mesa Press
- Immigration Authorities Arrest Pro-Palestinian Activist at Columbia | New York Times
- War Heroes And Military Firsts Are Among 26,000 Images Flagged For Removal In Pentagon’s DEI Purge | HuffPost
- Republican Refers to Transgender Member as a Man, Cutting Short a House Hearing | New York Times
- Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Law Banning Conversion Therapy | New York Times (CO)
- RI ACLU lawsuit challenges Trump’s executive order restricting federal arts grants | WPRI (RI)
- Shelli Boggs appeals school grant axed in Trump anti-DEI cuts | AZ Central (AZ)
- 8 States Sue Trump Administration for Cuts to Teacher-Training Grants | EducationWeek
- Mahmoud Khalil case goes to court, spotlighting green card holders’ rights | NPR
- The Leadership Conference Condemns Trump’s Weaponization of Immigration Enforcement Against Human Rights Protesters | Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
- Judge blocks Trump order canceling teacher training grants after California, others sue | Los Angeles Times
- Mead School Board seeks federal intervention over Washington state gender policy conflict | KHQ (WA)
- AILA Leaders Express Deep Concerns at Trump Administration Undermining Constitutionally Protected First Amendment Rights | AILA
- In scathing ruling, judge halts part of Trump’s executive order against prominent Democratic-tied law firm Perkins Coie | CNN
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- ‘Stand Up For Science’ rallies in Colorado, Utah support federal researchers, oppose censorship | Aspen Public Radio
- Federal investigation of NU sparks academic censorship concerns | Daily Northwestern (IL)
- BREAKING: Students protest federal funding cuts, censorship of science programs | Alestle (IL)
- Federal prosecutor threatens law school for teaching DEI in any way. | Ringside at the Reckoning (DC)
- More Universities Are Choosing to Stay Neutral on the Biggest Issues | New York Times
- Trump administration warns UW-Madison it could lose federal funding | Wisconsin Public Radio (WI)
- Department of Education’s Crackdown Raises Questions About Institutional Autonomy | Diverse Education
- Is University Shared Governance on the Way Out? How State Legislators Are Shifting Power to Themselves | PEN America
- Censorship in student clubs has no place at El Camino | Union
Legislation
- TN Schools Could Exclude Immigrant Kids Without Legal Status in GOP-Backed Bill |
74 (TN) - Rhode Islanders rally for the Freedom to Read and against book bans at State House event | RIFuture News (RI)
- State bill could tighten parental access to Texas library catalogs | KHOU (TX)
- Texas bill aims to change school library book selection process | KHOU (TX)
- Texas may change how schools select library books. Critics say it could lead to more bans | Houston Public Media (TX)
- Creating a new school at UI is all about politics | Gazette (IA)
- UConn Staff, Students Say Senate Bill Has Broader Implications For Academic Freedom, Free Speech | CT News Junkie (CT)
- SD Senate replaces ‘locking up librarians’ bill with appeal process for obscenity determinations | News from the States (SD)
- Republicans join Democrats to defeat anti-drag, anti-trans bills | MetroWeekly (MT)
- Lawmakers weigh library censorship | JournalND (ND)
- A proposed school book database law moves forward in Nebraska statehouse | Nebraska Examiner (NE)
- Nebraska lawmakers advance bill allowing parental notification for school library checkouts | Hill (NE)
- Ohio college bill could lead to grade inflation, self-censorship, professors warn | Cleveland.com (OH)
- N.C. Senate approves bill to remove DEI from public schools | WECT (NC)
- Arkansas panel advances children’s online safety and privacy bills modeled after federal efforts | Arkansas Advocate (AR)
State & Local Governance
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- Sixth Circuit Gives Insight on a Post-Chevron World: What the Set Aside of Net Neutrality Tells Us About Scope of Agency Power | Snell & Wilmer Law
- Full Sixth Circuit Won’t Revisit Struck Net Neutrality Rules | Bloomberg Law
- Smith-Wade-El introduces bill protecting net neutrality in Pa. | PA House (PA)
Social Media & AI
- Russian disinformation ‘infects’ AI chatbots, researchers warn | CBS
- ‘People Are Going Silent’: Fearing Retribution, Trump Critics Muzzle Themselves | New York Times
- GOP Lawmakers Subpoena Alphabet Over Alleged YouTube Censorship | PC Magazine
- Former Meta director says Mark Zuckerberg worked ‘hand in glove’ with Beijing to build a censorship tool | Fortune
- Laws Regulating Minors’ Access to Social Media Face First Amendment Scrutiny in the Courts | JD Supra
- ‘From Gods to Google’: DU Law Professor Sounds Alarm Over First Amendment and Technology Regulation | University of Denver
Journalism & Media
- ‘Familiar to those who have lived under authoritarian regimes’: First Amendment experts implore judge to side with AP in dispute over White House access | Law & Crime
- Washington Post Columnist Resigns After Paper Spiked Criticism of Jeff Bezos | New York Times
- Alyssa Salcedo: Don’t Regulate How Journalism Is Practiced — Or Taught | Civil Beat
- ‘Murder the Truth’ describes a campaign to silence journalists and curb free speech | NPR
- Effects of press censorship ripples across country | Daily Nebraskan
Disinformation & Media Literacy
- What Has Gender Got to Do With Misinformation? | Wire
- Seattle scientists fight back against Trump cuts, disinformation | Seattle Times
- DOGE Makes Its Latest Errors Harder to Find | New York Times
- How New York teachers are tackling misinformation and disinformation | Spectrum Local News
- Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories | New York Times
International
- The culture war on ‘wokeness,’ from the US to Germany | DW
- Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi’s Instagram ‘suspended indefinitely’ | New Arab (Palestine)
- Personal privacy is the next big civil liberties battle | Herald (Scotland)
- How Disinformation Is Undermining Trust In Brazil’s Most Used Digital Public Infrastructure | Tech Policy (Brazil)
- Emboldened by Trump, Serbia’s Leader Cracks Down on Activist Groups | New York Times (Serbia)
- Albania starts turning off TikTok amid concern over youth violence | Reuters (Albania)
Around the Web
- Have Charter Schools Become the Gateway Drug for Religion in Public Education? | 74
- Thoughts Are Free. Banning Them Is Costly. | Forbes
- Censorship harms those we should be trying to protect | Boston Globe
- Most banned books feature people of color and LGBTQ+ characters: Graphics explain the data | USA Today
- ‘Feels like you’re betraying your student.’ Librarians react to book bans in SC schools | State
- Mark Klein, AT&T Whistleblower Who Exposed NSA’s Mass Surveillance, Dies at 79 | Gizmodo
- UI students and literary community stand up against recent book bans | Daily Iowan
- Former Llano County Librarian Settles Wrongful Termination Lawsuit Over Book Removal Dispute | Hoodline
- Letter: Mat-Su School Board wastes taxpayer money fighting student free speech | Anchorage Daily News
- Meta goes to arbitrator to prevent whistleblower from promoting tell-all book | CNBC
- Seven fabulous books to read for an inclusive Storytime | Q News
- Interim director stepping down at Christian County Library | Springfield Daily Citizen
- “You’re just a dirty p**nographer”: George R.R. Martin’s Surprising Response to Ugliest Criticism He’s Received for Game of Thrones | FandomWire
- Lee’s Summit parents have more control over what their kids check out from the school library | KCUR
- Speak Out For Books! Testifying to State Legislative Committees | PEN America
- INTERVIEW: Fighting Book Bans & Amplifying Voices: The Anniversary Edition of A BOY LIKE ME | Comics Beat
- ‘We will not be intimidated into being quiet’: Activists gather at Library Mall in support of Mahmoud Khalil | Daily Cardinal
- Baton Rouge residents sound off on Mayor-Presidents plan to cut library funding | Reveille
- Sault Ste. Marie librarians and authors respond to U.S. book banning | Soo Today
ALA News
- Applications Open for 2025 Core LIFT Award for Professional Development
- ALA president-elect candidate Andrea Jamison withdraws candidacy
- New from ACRL – “Student Success Librarianship: Critical Perspectives on an Evolving Profession”
- Application open for ALA Endowment Trustee position
- Know Any Stellar Library Workers? Time to Nominate Them as Stars!
- Strength in Every Story: Empowering Women in Libraries Complimentary Webinar
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