Intellectual Freedom News 4/02/2021
Highlights
Censorship
- Lawmakers in Georgia considering a new process for banning books in schools | Atlanta Journal Constitution
- NC Judge Dismisses Challenge Against School’s Use of Controversial Poetry Book | Friendly Atheist
- Grandmother calls on Springfield Public Schools to remove book assigned to students | KYU3
- Leander ISD school board, officials discuss book club selection, review processes | Community Impact Newspaper
- Texas School District Bans Call Me Max, Picture Book About Trans Child | National Coalition Against Censorship
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Expansion of Facial Surveillance at Airports Seen as a Growing Threat to Civil Liberties | Milwaukee Independent
- The Government is Racing to Deploy AI, But at What Cost to Our Freedom? | ACLU
- Virginia lawmakers ban police use of facial recognition | ABC News
- If You Care About Privacy, It’s Time to Try a New Web Browser | The New York Times
More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Georgia G.O.P. Passes Major Law to Limit Voting Amid Nationwide Push | The New York Times
- Drawing a Line Between Internet Trolls and the First Amendment | Government Technology
- Is There a First Amendment Right to Tweet? | JSTOR
- Is Art Made by an AI Robot Speech Protected by the First Amendment? | Reason
- NY social service agency sued for not allowing X gender mark | Martinsville Bulletin
- Transgender rights in the spotlight as Arkansas and Tennessee become latest states to pass anti-trans legislation | CNN
- Chauvin Trial Shows Why Cameras Need to Be in Court | Bloomberg Law
- SCOTUS weighs whether freedom of speech applies to students off campus using social media | ABA Journal
Access
- Banned Books in Florida Prisons | Florida Political Review
- Yolo County Library elminates late fees in time for National Library Week | KXTV ABC 10
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- With $100B internet plan, Biden commits to bring down ‘overpriced’ broadband bills | Politico
- The Future of Libraries Is in the Community | Bloomberg CityLab
- Pueblo Tribal Teacher On The Difficulty Of Getting Students Online | National Public Radio
- Local Franchising, Big Cities, and Fiber Broadband | EFF
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Watchdog says Kansas university president silencing faculty | AP
- 6th Circuit upholds First Amendment rights of Shawnee State professor | Highland County Press
- Opinion: Misgendering students is not ‘academic freedom.’ It’s an abuse of power. | The Washington Post
- Crossing the Line: The Challenges of Addressing University Faculty Free Speech | JDSupra
- North Dakota State [University] head defends ties with Planned Parenthood | AP
- A Yale Psychiatrist’s Tweet About Dershowitz, Her Dismissal, and a Lawsuit | The New York Times
Social Media
- Texas attorney general’s Twitter investigation threatens First Amendment guarantees, RCFP argues | Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
- Texas Senate blocks social media platforms from banning users based on politics | The Hill
- Bill Banning Social Media Censorship Killed in Committee [Wyoming] | Cowboy State Daily
- Florida Big Tech Censorship Bill Takes Another Step Forward | Government Technology
- North Dakota Senate kills bill targeting social media companies for censorship | Inforum
- House of Delegates Passes Bill Banning Social Media Platforms From Censoring Political Candidates in West Virginia | The Intelligencer
- Lauren Boebert separates personal, private Twitter accounts in response to federal lawsuit | Craig Press
Copyright
- Copyright bots powered by a 1998 law threaten the public’s right to know | The Hill
- Judge orders release of Utah jail standards, ruling copyright is not a blanket protection | Standard-Examiner
- 2nd Circuit Flays Fair-Use Defense to Warhol Prince Prints | Courthouse News Service
- Paramount Pictures served $20 million copyright claim for ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ | WION
- Waldo Photos Issued FaceBlocker Patent; Tech Allows Professional Photographers to Copyright Protect Mobile Proofs | PR Newswire
Journalism, Media, & Disinformation
- The Republican Disinformation Campaign Behind Arkansas’s Vile Anti-Trans Law | New Republic
- New report analyzes new and dangerous trends of disinformation in wake of U.S. Capitol attack | Security Magazine
- Far-Right Extremists Move From ‘Stop the Steal’ to Stop the Vaccine | The New York Times
- ‘You can’t trust the government’: Spanish-speaking social media spreads COVID-19 vaccine disinformation, adds to hesitancy | USA Today
- Election Defamation Lawsuits Open New Front In Fight Against Disinformation | NPR
- The Fight Against Misinformation Isn’t Just on Facebook | The New York Times
- Deepfakes and Disinformation: The World of Manipulated Media [podcast] | JDSupra
- Fraudulent texts in Maine county show how disinformation has infiltrated local politics | WGME
- Disinformation: an existential threat to democratic ideals | MinnPost
- As Bad Information Spreads, Florida Schools Seek To Teach ‘Digital Literacy’ | NPR
- Critical Disinformation Studies: A Syllabus | Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life
- It’s Time to Revisit the Satanic Panic | The New York Times
International News
- Women, LGBT people and students protest for rights in Turkey | The Washington Post
- Netflix and Amazon gave daring Indian filmmakers hope. Now that’s turning to fear | CNN Business
- Beijing Is Getting Better at Disinformation on Global Social Media | The Diplomat
- China punishes Microsoft’s LinkedIn over lax censorship | Economic Times
- No Oscars or sensitive art spark Hong Kong censorship fears | ABC News
- Hong Kong Film Festival’s Opening Movie Canceled Due to Suspected Censorship | Hollywood Reporter
- Bill aims to tackle rising extremism in France. Some say it’s an infringement of rights. | NBC News
- Vietnam jails Facebook user for 10 years for anti-state posts | Swiss Info
- Netflix Removed Titles in Turkey, Singapore Last Year Over Government Demands | Hollywood Reporter
- Afrofeminist Data Futures | Pollicy
Around the Web
- Libraries Are Key Tools For People Getting Out Of Prison, Even During A Pandemic | Maine Public Radio
- ‘Captain Underpants’ author pulls book due to racist imagery, apologizes to Asian readers | Reuters
- Bookstore Files Antitrust Class Action Against Amazon and Publishers for Fixing Wholesale Print Book Prices | Law Street
- Pitt’s first formal Scholar at Risk reflects on year at Pitt | Pitt News
- Two ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ Episodes No Longer on Nickelodeon | The New York Times
- Evanston independent bookstore sues Amazon, book publishers for unfair business practices | Evanston Review
- News Corp. buys Houghton Mifflin Harcourt books division | AP
- Maryland Bill Would Ban Hate Symbols In Public Schools | WBOC
- Holocaust Activity Removed After Backlash At W.T. Woodson High | Patch
- Strategies for Antiracist and Decolonized Teaching | Faculty Focus
- Apple blocked some searches with the word ‘Asian,’ and now it’s getting fixed | The Verge
- Former intelligence analyst Daniel Hale pleads guilty to leaking classified information | The Washington Post
- Video games are the new contested space for public policy | Brookings
ALA News
- Virtual Money Smart Week, April 10-17, focuses on those hardest hit by pandemic
- Biden’s infrastructure proposal leaves out libraries, says ALA
- Academic librarians promoting a culture of diversity in higher education
- Newbery Medal 100th Anniversary Celebration
- ALSC names 2021 Notable Children’s Books
- #1000BlackGirlBooks founder Marley Dias to support Library Card Sign-Up Month 2021
- Booklist mission statement reaffirms path forward
- School Library Month offers opportunities to celebrate the indispensable role of school librarians
- ALA to host Dan Rather live to celebrate National Library Week in exclusive interview for ALA’s Take Action for Libraries Day on April 8
ALA Publishing
- New from ACRL – “Creativity: A Toolkit for Academic Libraries”
- Easy-to-follow law advice for information professionals
Awards and Grants
- Robert Barr wins ALA’s Ernest A. DiMattia Award for Innovation and Service to Community and Profession
- Patricia Uttaro wins Sullivan Award for Public Library Administrators Supporting Services to Children
- The Library History Round Table (LHRT) announces the winner of the 2021 Justin Winsor Library History Essay
- Buffalo & Erie County Public Library wins 2021 ALA Penguin Random House Library Award for Innovation
eCourses and Webinars
Subscribe to future issues of Intellectual Freedom News, a free weekly compilation of news delivered to your inbox by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, including
- current book challenges in libraries and schools
- articles about privacy, internet filtering and censorship
- ALA activities, conferences and institutes, products, online learning opportunities, awards and grants, international exchanges, and more
- how to get involved and make the most of what ALA offers