Intellectual Freedom News 3/22/2019
March 22, 2019 – Collated by OIF Staff and News Editors
Highlight
- Humble Bundle launches pay-what-you-want Linux book deal to benefit the Freedom to Read Foundation | BetaNews
Censorship
- Anne Arundel library LGBTQ, diversity programs no longer ‘in limbo’ | Capital Gazette
- Our say: Trustees should let the librarians run the library | Capital Gazette
- In Y.A., where is the line between criticism and cancel culture? | The New Yorker; “Late last month, the author Kosoko Jackson withdrew the publication of his début young-adult novel, “A Place for Wolves,” which had been slated for a March 26th release.”
- New Jersey lawmakers propose resolution asking schools not to teach ‘Huckleberry Finn’ | The Hill
- We are the organizers of Drag Queen Story Time. This is why we’re stepping aside. | Houstonia Magazine
- Will Florida legislators make it easier to ban books in schools? We’ll soon find out. | Tampa Bay Times; “With the ear of Gov. Ron DeSantis and several state lawmakers, the conservative Florida Citizens Alliance is angling to ban nearly 100 books it considers offensive.”
- Florida bill would make banning books easier | Book Riot
- Yaaaaaas! Proposed policy for Wichita library allows drag queen events – and many others | The Wichita Eagle
- Nonprofit sues Marshall County claiming jail censorship | The Daily Herald
- NCOSE’s Dirty Dozen censorship | OIF Blog
- Catholic fiction: Flannery O’Connor and Self-Censorship | OIF Blog
- A mighty mural stands unsullied by censorship | OIF Blog
Privacy
- Trading privacy for survival is another tax on the poor | Fast Company
- Privacy’s not dead. It’s just not evenly distributed | Fast Company
- The paranoid person’s guide to online privacy | Fast Company
- Facebook stored millions of passwords in plaintext – change yours now | Wired
- The Government Is Using the Most Vulnerable People to Test Facial Recognition Software | Slate
- A new face recognition privacy bill would give us more control over our data | MIT Technology Review
- Facebook’s sloppy data-sharing deals might be criminal | Wired
Access
- Wi-Fi devices from the library could help fill internet deserts in South Carolina | The Post and Courier
Net Neutrality and Broadband Access
- Republicans say they want net neutrality rules, too | CNet
- 4 in 5 Americans say they support net neutrality: poll | The Hill
- ISPs strike deal with Vermont to suspend state net neutrality law | Ars Technica
- Millions of Americans still can’t get broadband. Here’s a potential fix | CNet
- Five steps to advance rural broadband | Benton
Fake News, Free Press, Social Media
- Republicans and Democrats have never been more divided on confidence in the media | The Washington Post
- Facebook and Google are guilty of a failure to take ownership | Bloomberg Businessweek
- Trump again accuses social media companies of censoring conservatives | The Washington Post
- Spreading the Mosque Shooting Video Is a Crime in New Zealand | New York Times
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Political ‘litmus tests’ in Florida | Inside Higher Ed
- Here’s what Trump’s executive order on free speech says | The Chronicle of Higher Education
- Trump’s hyped free speech order asks colleges to do what they already have to | Politico
- Why Trump’s campus free speech order is a big risk | CNN
- Trump probably wasn’t thinking about these campus free-speech problems | The Washington Post
- Trump’s free speech executive order isn’t about free speech | Vox
First Amendment and Free Speech
- 50 years of Tinker v. Des Moines | OIF Blog
- Freedom of Information Day – Thank a reporter! | OIF Blog
- Existing libel laws protect the right to speak freely – for all of us | Freedom Forum Institute
Around the Web
- The bias hiding in your library | San Antonio Express-News; “The House of Representatives ordered the library to continue using the term “illegal alien.” They said they decided this in order to duplicate the language of federal laws written by Congress. This was the first time Congress ever intervened over a Library of Congress subject heading change. Even though many librarians and the American Library Association opposed Congress’s decision, “Illegal aliens” remains the authorized subject heading today.”
- Why some counties are powerhouses for innovation | The Conversation
- Scholastic biennial survey reveals young readers face challenges in finding their stories | Scholastic
- Tim Berners-Lee calls for a fight for ‘the kind of web we want’ | The Times
- Five best: Andrew Curran on intellectual Freedom | The Wall Street Journal
International Issues
- Whitcoulls appears to have removed Jordan Peterson’s books from sale | Stuff (New Zealand)
- ‘Fake news’ in Russia: State censorship elicits an outcry | Yahoo News
- Vladimir Putin signs sweeping Internet censorship bills | Ars Technica
- These tactile books help children with visual impairment | The Hindu
- Under Vietnam’s new cybersecurity law, U.S. tech giants face stricter censorship | The Washington Post
- In Thai election, new ‘war room’ polices social media | The New York Times
ALA News
- Freedom to Read Foundation offers 2019 Banned Books Week grants
- ALA seeks candidates for endowment fund trustee openings
- Learn how your library can fight fake news at the 2019 ALA Annual Conference
- New workshop: Active Shooter Training for Library Employees
- Hateful conduct in libraries: A new ALA resource
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