Intellectual Freedom News 3/16/2018
March 16, 2018 – Collated by OIF Staff and News Editors
Intellectual Freedom Highlights
- A Practical Guide to Privacy Audits | Join Erin Berman and Julie Oborny of the San José Public Library for a free webinar on Monday, April 16 at 1:30 pm Eastern that outlines the first steps libraries can take to implement up-to-date privacy policies and procedures.
Censorship
- Parents appeal decision that keeps ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ in Monona Grove curriculum | Wisconsin State Journal
- US sets new record for censoring, withholding gov’t files | Associated Press
- Trump admin sets new record for censorship of government files | Axios; “The federal government denied more public records requests in 2017 than at any other point in the past decade, according to an analysis by the AP.”
- Banning literature in prisons perpetuates system that ignores innate humanity | USA Today
- The feds have acknowledged they can’t ban books – and it only took 43 years | The Hill; “For the first time in its history, the Federal Election Commission has officially recognized that books and book publishers are exempt from agency regulation.”
- Orange City Public Library pressured to label, segregate LGBTQ material | Library Journal (IA)
- Athens bookshop fights censorship of LGBTQIA book | CBLDF
- Q&A with author Lance Rubin on the suppression of his YA novel in South Carolina | OIF Blog
- ACLU to school district: Stop censoring student Facebook criticisms over gun violence walkout | WHYY
Privacy
- Let’s Encrypt takes free “wildcard” certificates live | Ars Technica
- Weighing privacy vs. security for the internet’s address book | Wired
- GDPR: European rules (and big fines) for American colleges | Inside Higher Ed
- An American University Is Spying On Students to Predict Dropouts. Here’s What That Says About Big Data in the U.S. | Fortune
- TSA accused of searching domestic travelers’ devices with no warrant | Ars Technica
See this week’s additional privacy news and updates on the Choose Privacy Week blog.
Net Neutrality and Broadband Access
- This California bill would bring back net neutrality with a vengeance | Fast Company
- Cities join net neutrality fight with Open Internet Pledge spearheaded by New York City mayor | Brinkwire
- Comcast ‘blocks’ an encrypted email service: Yet another reminder why net neutrality matters | ZDNet
Access
- TexShare card provides access to hundreds of libraries across the state | The Ranger
- Marrakesh Treaty closer to reality | American Libraries; “The international copyright treaty provides a copyright exception—the first ever in an international treaty—for libraries as authorized entities to make copies of entire articles and books accessible for people with print disabilities and distribute those copies across borders.”
- Washington State bill includes allocation for school library materials | School Library Journal
- Dickey: How one congressman helped ban research on America’s gun problem…and lived to regret it | OIF Blog
Free Press, Social Media, and Fake News
- How social media spread a historical lie | The Washington Post
- The web can be weaponised – and we can’t count on big tech to stop it | The Guardian
- YouTube will link directly to Wikipedia to fight conspiracy theories | Wired
- Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet | The New Yorker
- When Whatsapp’s fake news problem threatens public health | Wired
- The White House is wrong. A free press is ‘the people’ | Newseum
Academic Freedom and Campus Speech
- Offensive Speech in the Classroom | Academe (AAUP)
- Florida law bans free speech zones, but will it be enforced? | Washington Examiner
- College students want free speech – sort of | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Students say diversity is more important than free speech | Inside Higher Ed
- Eight Ways College Student Views on Free Speech are Evolving | Medium and Knight Foundation
First Amendment and Free Speech
- Urgent Advice about Youth Activism for Students and Teachers | Youth In Front
- Oconomowoc schools impose limits on ‘privilege’ discussions after parents complain | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- President Trump’s cultural assault on the First Amendment | The Washington Post
- Let them march: Schools should not censor students | Ed Week
- Eleventh Circuit Court says no clearly established right against arrest for wearing a mask at a protest | Constitutional Law Profs Blog
- SESTA bill will not prevent sex trafficking but will silence online speech | NCAC
- Comic about students’ rights released ahead of “March for our Lives” | School Library Journal
- Are students losing their free speech rights? | Newseum
- New book: Ironies and Complications of Free Speech: News and Commentary From the Free Expression Policy Project, 2001-2017 by Marjorie Heins
Around the Web
- The State of Artistic Freedom 2018 | Freemuse
- What hath we wrought? | YouTube Video from SXSW
- Yes, ‘The Little House on the Prairie’ is racially insensitive, but we should still read it | The Washington Post
- About a quarter of U.S. adults say they are ‘almost constantly’ online | Pew Research Center Fact Tank
- Intellectual Freedom needs content, curriculum and librarians | OIF Blog
- Reflecting on James Madison’s legacy today | OIF Blog
International Issues
- Censorship tightens in Egypt as el-Sisi prepares for re-election bid | CPJ Blog
- China steps up internet censorship of criticism of Xi Jinping | The Globe and Mail
- China’s move to end Xi term limits blanketed in censorship | The Washington Post
- Banning social media won’t stop hate speech | The New York Times (Sri Lanka)
- Columbia cartoonist sued over political pig | CBLDF
- People in less democratic countries are more likely to say China and Russia respect personal freedoms | Pew Research Center Fact Tank
OIF News
- Intellectual freedom breakfast at ALA Annual conference welcomes New Orleans journalist
- Robert P. Doyle receives 2018 Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award for banned books resource guide
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