Intellectual Freedom News 3/24/17
March 24, 2017 – Collated by OIF Staff and News Interns
Intellectual Freedom Highlights
- ‘Jacob’s New Dress’: When politicians become bullies | Intellectual Freedom Blog; “On March 21, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (NC) chose to voluntarily pull Jacob’s New Dress from a lesson on anti-bullying because Republican legislators in the state’s General Assembly were up in arms … Why this abrupt decision and interest by the General Assembly? It’s a simple answer: HB2.”
Censorship
- CMS removes book that was to be part of anti-bullying lesson | WSOCTV.com (NC)
- Remember the last CMS book controversy? Here’s what it tells us about the latest | The Charlotte Observer (NC)
- Aftermath of CMS’ book selection of ‘Jacob’s New Dress’| WBTV.com (NC)
- A book about a dress-loving boy was supposed to teach kids acceptance — until lawmakers complained | Washington Post
- State pol rebukes Brooklyn Public Library for holding lecture series by Israel critic, author Norman Finkelstein | New York Daily News; “The politician said the library should cancel the 10-week class, entitled, “No Free Speech for Fascists.”’
- Censorship allegation made as Bruce Township officials toss newspaper from hall | Macomb Daily (MI)
- YouTube reverses some restrictions on gay-themed content | Chicago Tribune
- “Please don’t talk about your book” by [author] Barbara Dee| Nerdy Book Club
- Community members speak out against schools’ author visit | Virginia Gazette
Access
- Librarians providing safe havens as deportation fears loom | School Library Journal
- LBRY public sharing platform uploads 20,000 deleted UC Berkeley lectures | The Daily Californian
- U. of Texas at El Paso watches warily as Trump’s budget threatens its needy students | Chronicle for Higher Education
Privacy
- Free ALA Webinar: Practical Privacy Practices on April 13th
- Reader Privacy for Research Journals is Getting Worse | Go-To-Hellman Blog
- How To Fight for Your Rights and Privacy Online | The Nation
- Senate votes to let ISPs sell your Web browsing history to advertisers | Ars Technica
- FBI facial recognition in spotlight at House Oversight hearing | IAPP Privacy Tech
- Hearing Summary, House Committee To Review Law Enforcement’s Policies On Facial Recognition Technology | U.S. Congress
- FBI director floats international framework on access to encrypted data | PC World
- Does a border agent’s search of your cell phone cross the line? | Newseum Institute
- Possibly the worst mass invasion of internet privacy ever | Network World
- 6 Great TV Series About Privacy and Security | TeachPrivacy
Net Neutrality / Broadband
Academic Freedom
- Free speech is not an academic value | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Texas is considering a bill that could let science instructors teach creationism | Huffington Post
- The academy’s assault on intellectual diversity | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Your Weekly Constitutional: Academic Freedom and Free Speech | PRX
- In a polarized climate, free-speech warriors seize the spotlight | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Academic ethics: Defending faculty speech | Chronicle of Higher Education
- A Christian conservative professor accuses colleges of indoctrinating students | Chronicle of Higher Education
First Amendment Issues
- ‘Hijacking a fundamental right’ | Inside Higher Ed; “Shouting down of a controversial speaker — a professor who opposes the use of gender-neutral pronouns — at McMaster University raises new concerns about academic freedom.”
- Fourth circuit: No First Amendment protection for fire batallion chief’s disruptive Facebook posts | Constitutional Law Prof Blog
- Utah governor signs bill repealing part of law that barred ‘advocacy of homosexuality’ | Jurist
Around the Web
- In the age of Trump, scientists see reproducibility as risky business | Chronicle of Higher Education
- Banned horror comics rise from the dead | Hypoallergic
- Watch What You #Tweet: Youth free expression film contest finalists | NCAC blog
- 25 kid and YA books that lift up immigrant voices | School Library Journal
- “Comfort Zone” An original comic by Gene Luen Yang | School Library Journal
- High court backs copyright protection for cheerleader uniform designs | Education Week
- Take action for libraries: #SaveIMLS | Knowledge Quest
- The Long Weird History of Companies that Put Your Life Online | The Verge
International Issues
- Germany’s flawed plan to fight hate speech by fining tech giants millions | Wired
- Free speech in Europe isn’t what Americans think | Bloomberg
- China imposes new restrictions on foreign picture books | CBLDF
- Turkish artist and journalist sentenced to two years for painting | CBLDF
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