Intellectual Freedom News 4/8/2022
Highlights
- Free Speech Under Attack: Book Bans and Academic Censorship | House Oversight Committee on Oversight and Reform
Censorship
- Efforts to ban books jumped an ‘unprecedented’ four-fold in 2021, ALA report says | OPB/NPR
- Book challenges reach record highs | Book and Film Globe
- Book banning efforts surged in 2021. These titles were the most targeted. | New York Times
- Book banning and threats against librarians soared over past year, report shows | Huff Post/AP
- In a record year for book ban attempts, ALA says these 10 books were challenged most | NPR
- Follett reverses course on parental controls for customers facing censorship legislation | Publishers Weekly
- Texas Senate committees ordered to review university tenure, public school library books | KERA News
- Author of Pulitzer Prize-winning Attica history suing New York over ban on book in prisons | Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
- Williamson County Schools temporarily removes library app over social justice book | Tennessean
- Francis Howell School Board candidates talk critical race theory, controversial books | KMOV (MO)
- Adams 12 parent complains about graphic books, 1 of them in school library | KDVR (CO)
- Anti-censorship group slams Rep. Jared Patterson’s book ban quest | Dallas Morning News
- Controversial books continue to be topic of public comment at county school board meetings | Daily News-Record (VA)
- Sharpsburg Library says someone is moving books around in possible attempt at censorship | KDKA (PA)
- Despite challenge, Kan. school district won’t remove Bible form libraries, classrooms | Salina Post
- Parents livid over ‘explicit’ books in Ga. schools, one mom banned from board meetings | WSET
- Alabama civil rights speaker says she was snubbed by Florida school over CRT fears | AL.com
- More books are banned than ever before, as Congress takes on the issue | Washington Post
- Chairman Raskin to hold hearing on politically motivated efforts to ban books and censor free speech in schools and public libraries | House Committee on Oversight and Reform
- NCAC objects to removal of library books in Texas school district | National Coalition Against Censorship
- Board votes to ban critical race theory in Placentia-Yorba Linda school district | Los Angeles Times
- Warren County supervisor says ‘inappropriate’ books spark parents’ concerns | Northern Virginia Daily
- Wilson County board keeps books in school libraries | WSMV (TN)
- Ridgeland board, library yet to come to agreement | Online Madison (WI)
- Protesters accuse Wake of having obscene books in schools: ‘There is no excuse’ | News & Observer (NC)
- Hudson school board set to vote on whether ‘Gender Queer’ can return to library bookshelf | Akron Beacon Journal
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- You’re still being tracked on the Internet, just in a different way | New York Times
- Utah joins California, Colorado, and Virginia with omnibus privacy law | JD Supra
- Google’s EdTech data raises questions for Illinois privacy law | Bloomberg Law
More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Picking out American Muslims at border, to question about religion, is unconstitutional | San Diego Union-Tribune
- First Amendment at center of lawsuit against ‘don’t say gay’ law | Flagler Live (FL)
- Judge rules removal of artwork depicting man killed by police did not violate free speech | The Art Newspaper
- U.S. must face suit over Trump’s separation of migrant kids | Bloomberg Law
- Republican judges are waging a bizarre war against the First Amendment right to protest | Vox
- Texas District Court strikes down state drone law on First Amendment grounds | JD Supra
- Noem administration ordered to pay attorney fees after First Amendment violation | Dakota News Now (SD)
- Supreme Court reflects nation’s deep divide over Constitution and religion | ABA Journal
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Little-known civil liberties group tests limits of free speech at San Diego State University | San Diego Union-Tribune
- I’m a Conservative Professor Who Opposed Safe Spaces. I Was Wrong. | New York Times
- Judge refuses to block ‘intellectual freedom’ surveys | Citrus County Chronicle
- Read the intellectual freedom survey being sent to all Florida public college campuses | Tallahassee Democrat
- Florida university professors react to implementation of ‘intellectual freedom’ survey | WUSF
- Union urges ignoring ‘intellectual freedom’ surveys | WCTV
- UW System delays free speech survey that contributed to resignation of UW-Whitewater Chancellor | Badger Herald
- Provost’s academic freedom letter praised but panel wants stronger protections | University Times
- The cure for hate speech is not more speech | American Prospect
- At UF library, the Karl Marx study room is gone, sparking protests | Yahoo! News
- Colleges Should Pay Heed to Oberlin’s Costly Libel Case | Washington Post
Legislation
- Georgia Senate votes to limit discussions on race in public schools | Ebony
- School censorship bills clear both Georgia chambers | St. Clair News-Aegis
- Organizers condemn anti-critical race theory bills as another is introduced | FOX 28 (SC)
- Opponents of Mississippi’s anti-critical race theory law fear whitewashing of history | Guardian
- Reading list: CRT and book bans in Tennessee schools | Chalkbeat
- Florida ‘curriculum transparency’ law draws ire from LGBTQ+ activists | Bay News 9
- Constitutional ban on ‘critical race theory’ in Arizona schools, universities is one vote away from the November ballot | The 74
- Texas Senate committee ordered to review university tenure, public school library books | KERA/NPR
- Two bipartisan bills would protect kids and teens from Instagram | The Hill
- South Dakota restricts teaching of critical race theory | CNN
- Indiana lawmakers forgo bill restricting school library materials | Ballotpedia
- Now Republicans are defunding libraries | Idaho State Journal
Social Media
- Roger Stone says he was ‘censored’ on Trump’s Truth Social app | Business Insider
- Facebook is facing a much more black-and-white content battle against Russian misinformation than it has with the pandemic and 2020 US presidential election, expert says | Yahoo! News
Journalism & Media
- Local media’s access to breaking news threatened by encrypted police radios | Times of San Diego
Information Literacy & Disinformation
- The big idea: How to win the fight against disinformation | Guardian
- Russia disinformation on Ukraine spreads on Spanish-speaking social media | NBC News
- Ukraine war is more about disinformation than cyberattacks | Washington Post
- US rightwing figures in step with Kremlin over Ukraine disinformation, experts say | Guardian
- We’re all being manipulated the same way | Atlantic
International News
- Canadian agency says it’s observed ‘numerous Russia-backed disinformation campaigns’ | The Hill
- Marlborough’s libraries don’t censor books just because someone takes offence | Stuff
- ‘I won’t stop talking’: Ukrainians in China fight disinformation | France 24
- Canada’s Supreme Court declines to overturn the country’s first anti-piracy web-block | Complete Music Update
- India blocks 22 YouTube channels over alleged disinformation | La Prensa Latina
Around the Web
- Speak up for school librarians in Ohio | The People’s Defender
- Library offers special morning hours for homeless people | Mail Tribune (OR)
- ‘An Assault on Many Fronts’: Students, parents, employees and administrators at historically Black colleges and universities are wrestling with the mental health challenges caused by repeated bomb threats. | Inside Higher Ed
- Critical race theory sticking point among Arkansas Senate District 22 candidates | Arkansas Online
- How a diverse coalition in a red state shut down anti-CRT legislation | CNN (IN)
- Opinion: Critical race theory is just the latest political boogeyman | Deseret News
- Anti-CRT candidate, former state school board member on shortlist for Ohio’s new education superintendent | LimaOhio.com
- The viral classroom Nazi salute video has an even darker backstory. I lived it | Rolling Stone
- A book list for teens who refuse to be told what they can’t read | KCUR/NPR
- Johnson County librarians share opposition to book banning | Daily Iowan
- Arlington Public Library takes a stand against banning books in schools | FOX 5 DC
- Missoula library board letter emphasizes stance against censorship | NBC Montana
- 10 Black writers’ names are added to Central Library’s limestone engravings | Indianapolis Star
- The banning of Persepolis to be turned into its own graphic novel | Bleeding Cool
- Despite rising ‘book bans,’ queer romance novels have never been more popular | Teen Vogue
- Riverside bookstore hosts Drag Queen Story Time despite opposition | Press-Enterprise
- These kids’ authors are telling the stories of trans youth. Book bans won’t stop them | NPR
- Impact of censorship discussed at Bexley Public Library event | Columbus Dispatch
- Nikole Hannah-Jones calls wave of book bans inevitable backlash to 2020 protests | Bloomberg
- Imagine IF Library Board Affirms Decision to Not Appeal Loss of Funding | Flathead Beacon
- Kalispell’s ImagineIF Library faces lack of donor confidence | NBC Montana
- Hall pass: Your ticket to understanding school board politics, edition #7 | Ballotpedia
- Voters cite critical race theory, book bans, teacher pay in Springfield school board votes | Springfield News-Leader (MO)
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