Intellectual Freedom News 4/23/2021
Highlights
- Missouri Library Association receives the 2021 Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom Chapter Relations Award
- Amy Dodson receives the 2021 Paul Howard Award for Courage
Censorship
- Binghamton Schools Apologize To Police Over Book Read Aloud To Students | WICZ Fox 40
- Binghamton school debate: What police, district, parents say about children’s book | Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
- Authors send letter against their book’s removal to Leander ISD | Community Impact
- Midland libraries remove Pride displays after community complains | Houston Chronicle
- Arizona Republicans approve bill requiring parental permission before teaching LGBTQ content | Metro Weekly
- North Idaho library board candidates claim they were asked by Republicans about views on LGBTQ community, censorship | KTVB
- New House bill on school budgets raises book-banning concerns | KPVI
- Dr. Seuss v Censorship: BIPOC Librarians Have Thoughts #YSOnline | Yellow Scene Magazine
- Artist Dread Scott Censored by Instagram for “Hate Speech” | National Coalition Against Censorship
- Throwing the Baby Out with the Bath Water: Challenges to Call Me Max and Equity Book Bundles in Murray School District | Intellectual Freedom Blog
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- ‘Smart’ Cities Are Surveilled Cities | Foreign Policy
- Federal Agencies Are Secretly Buying Consumer Data | Brennan Center for Justice
- Former Solicitor General, First Amendment Groups Challenge Secrecy of U.S. Surveillance Court | Knight First Amendment Institute
- ‘High-Surveillance’ Schools Lead to More Suspensions, Lower Achievement | Education Week
- BIPA Complaint Claims Online Exam Proctoring Software Illegally Eyes Students | Law Street
- Platforms Like Canvas Play Fast and Loose With Students’ Data | The Nation
- Disney and ad-tech firms agree to privacy changes for children’s apps. | The New York Times
- A Beginner’s Guide to Reading Privacy Policies | Better Business Bureau
- Confidentiality is Not Privacy, but Privacy May Include Confidentiality | The Corkboard
- Virginia Law Bans Local Police Use of Facial Recognition Technology | Data Privacy & Security Insider
More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- The conservative assault on civil liberties | The Week
- G.O.P. Bills Target Protesters (and Absolve Motorists Who Hit Them) | The New York Times
- How Florida’s new anti-riot law could run afoul of the First Amendment | ABA Journal
- GW law professor discusses impact of Trump’s lies on public perception of first amendment | The Daily Pennsylvanian
- NCAC Objects to Student Protest Ban in South Sioux City, Nebraska, School District | National Coalition Against Censorship
- Some LGBTQ groups and leaders are taking different sides in First Amendment case | Out In Jersey
- Twitter, Facial Recognition and the First Amendment [podcast] | Lawfare
- Attorneys: First Amendment protects hate speech, not hate crimes | KWCH 12
- Democrats press Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett to recuse in major First Amendment case | USA Today
- Impunity passports: Governing immunity’s impact on rights | Brookings Institute
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Maricopa Community College District will pay $155K settlement to Scottsdale professor criticized for anti-Islam quiz | AZ Central
- Zoom Addresses Academic Freedom Concerns | Inside Higher Ed
- Free Speech Groups Call on USD to End Investigation of Law Professor | First Amendment Watch at NYU
- SPLC sues Duval Schools on behalf of teacher removed for refusing to take down Black Lives Matter flag | First Coast News (FL)
Social Media
- The Postal Service is running a ‘covert operations program’ that monitors Americans’ social media posts | Yahoo News
- Understanding Social Media, The First Amendment And The Calls To Incite Violence | Forbes
- West Virginia Bill Sets Sights on Social Media Censorship | Government Technology
- Republican lawmakers reintroduce bill to ban TikTok on federal devices | The Hill
- Social Media and the Cold War Around Free Speech | Fair Observer
- Justice Thomas suggests social media platforms qualify as ‘common carriers’ | Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
- Democrats push Twitter, Facebook to remove vaccine ‘disinformation dozen’ | The Hill
- California lawsuit against Chinese tech giant raises a thorny question: Can the plaintiffs remain anonymous? | The Washington Post
- State Legislatures Eye Regulating Social Media in Wake of ‘Big Tech Censorship’ | Intellectual Freedom Blog
Copyright
- EFF Sues Proctorio on Behalf of Student It Falsely Accused of Copyright Infringement to Get Critical Tweets Taken Down | EFF
- Disney Lashes Back At Original ‘Predator’ Scribes’ Hunt For Rights To 1987 Schwarzenegger Starrer | Deadline
Journalism & Media
- Student Journalists Are Fighting Back Against Censorship | Ms.
- Minnesota Governor Calls Alleged Assaults on Journalists ‘Chilling’ | The New York Times
Information Literacy & Disinformation
- Barbers, artists help defy vaccine myths for people of color | Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- Censorship or misinformation? DeSantis and YouTube spar over COVID roundtable takedown | PolitiFact
- Secretaries of state ask DHS to expand anti-disinformation fight | State Scoop
- The race to curb the spread of COVID vaccine disinformation | Nature
- Many veterans don’t trust coronavirus vaccines. For a VA crew in the rural West, that means changing minds, one by one. | The Washington Post
- Fauci: Republican vaccine deniers are hurting efforts to lift Covid restrictions | The Guardian
- Many Evangelicals say they won’t be vaccinated against Covid-19. Some experts say distrust and misinformation have played a role | CNN
- How open data can leave gaps for disinformation | Engineering & Technology
- In war zones, social media disinformation is costing lives | WIRED
- Disinformation is changing security risk management | Security
International News
- Watchdog upholds complaint over ‘transphobic’ comment about JK Rowling | Independent.ie
- Warning: This Book Is Harmful to Minors | Transitions
- The Student Press Law Center calls for release and end to the harassment of student journalists in Russia | Student Press Law Center
- How India Is Confronting Disinformation On Social Media Ahead Of Elections | NPR
Around the Web
- Happy Birthday Barbara Park! | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- Antiracism, Revisited: Considerations for Antiracist Frameworks from BIPOC Thinkers | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- Newest board member wants library to stop offering recreation, cultural enrichment | The Acadiana Advocate
- Drag queen story hour at Rocky River Library sparks online feud | Cleveland 19 News
- Outcry over book ‘censorship’ reveals how online retailers choose books — or don’t | The Washington Post
- Is it legal for gyms to have women’s only workout areas? Connecticut Supreme Court will hear case questioning the state’s long history of addressing gender, privacy and discrimination | Hartford Courant
- The GOP’s big bulk book-buying machine is boosting Republicans on the bestseller lists | The Washington Post
- Publisher halts Philip Roth book amid sexual abuse claims against biographer | The Guardian
- Book by Officer Who Shot Breonna Taylor Is a New Test for Publishers | The New York Times
- Unpublished Richard Wright novel on police brutality to be released | Axios
- As a kid, I loved Judy Blume’s books. As an adult, I wonder: How do they read today? | The Washington Post
- High Times Greats: John Waters–Outstanding and Obscene | High Times
- Virtual Forum on Archiving the Black Web Scheduled for April 29-30 | Associated Press
ALA News
- ALA seeks candidates to fill Endowment Fund Trustee openings
- ALA Nominating Committee seeks candidates for 2022 election
- Billie Jean King, Charles Person, and Eve L. Ewing announced as featured speakers at ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition (Virtual)
- Gordon Baker elected 2022-2023 United for Libraries president
- United for Libraries Virtual Conference program proposals open
- ALA calls on U.S. Dept. of Education to review PSLF program
- Celebrate Preservation Week ® 2021 with free webinars, event tools and resources
- 2021 Rise Book Project presents Top Ten feminist books for young readers
- New Research Explores School Librarian’s Teacher Self-Efficacy
- Amy Koester elected ALSC vice-president/president-elect
- AASL Releases Guide to Inspire Future Generations of Explorers
ALA Publishing
Awards and Grants
- Dr. Steven Yates receives the Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship
- K.C Boyd receives 2021 EMIERT Distinguished Librarian Award
- Robert Randolph Newlen wins Lippincott Award
- Burlington County Library System wins 2021 ALA/EBSCO Information Services Library Staff Development Award
- Three libraries awarded ALA’s inaugural Peggy Barber Tribute Grant
eCourses and Webinars
- Learn Business Reference Skill Through RUSA
- Bridging the Gap: In Support of Female Librarianship webinar to be held May 4
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