Intellectual Freedom News 5/27/2022
Highlights
Censorship
- Central Bucks is proposing a library policy that targets ‘sexualized content.’ Here’s why people are concerned. | Philadelphia Inquirer
- Map: Which books have been banned in Greater Houston school districts? | KHOU (TX)
- Frisco schools leader rebukes GOP lawmaker on ‘sexually inappropriate’ library book claims | Dallas Morning News (TX)
- Conroe ISD considers changes to its library materials policy | Houston Chronicle (TX)
- Florida’s Department of Education asked textbook publishers to avoid references to critical race theory and social justice | Business Insider
- Protest held over proposal to ban books from Hillsdale Community Library | WILX (MI)
- Kutztown School Board approves controversial parental consent form for ‘Gender Queer’ | Reading Eagle
- ‘Speech police’: Hood County law enforcement investigates ‘porn’ in Granbury ISD library | Dallas Observer (TX)
- Parents weigh in on Wentzville school district’s decision to ban ‘Fun Home’ | KSDK (MO)
- Pasco braces for book challenges with ideas for new school library rules | Tampa Bay Times (FL)
- Book bans in prison cut inmates’ lifeline to outside world | NBC News
- Upstate school board looks at rating system for appropriateness in books | WSPA (SC)
- Schools, public libraries now censoring digital library apps within hours of complaints | The Mary Sue
- Divided St. Johns County School Board votes to keep 7 controversial books on library shelves | News4Jax (FL)
- Several audience members escorted out of St. Johns County School Board meeting | St. Augustine Record
- Nampa district’s book ban to affect AP English classes, along with school libraries | Idaho Press
- Hillsdale librarian resigns in wake of failed LBTQIA+ children’s book ban proposal | Hillsdale Daily News
- Fireproof ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ edition is up for auction: A ‘symbol against censorship’ | CBS News
- Greenville Co. school board votes to restrict access to transgender children’s book | WSPA
- ABFE responds to Virginia judge’s tentative ruling on ‘obscene’ books | Book Web
- More people file objections with county library over book controversy | Crested Butte News (CO)
- A Florida library’s LGBTQ pride display started a yearlong battle | Tampa Bay Times
- Enid LGBTQ+ group planning Pride library exhibit after board changes policy | Enid News & Eagle (OK)
- Kansas library board decides to keep ‘Fred Gets Dressed’ despite mother’s complaint | Kansas Reflector
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Chicago cops can use fake social media profiles to spy on you, with the FBI’s help | Gizmodo
- 2-year investigation reveals ICE has data on most of the American public | NPR
- FTC Unanimously Adopts Policy Statement on Education Technology and COPPA | Inside Privacy
More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Judge Finds Probable Cause That “Court of Mist and Fury” and “Gender Queer” Are “Obscene for … Minors”: This finding is now being used as a basis for seeking a restraining order banning Barnes & Noble from distributing the books to minors. Is that constitutional? | Volokh Conspiracy
- Recent Supreme Court ruling shakes up campaign finance law and leaves future restrictions in doubt | JDSupra
- CCIA, NetChoice file Supreme Court reply brief on First Amendment issues in Texas social media case | CCIA
- First Amendment attorney weighs in on new Florida law banning protests at homes | News4Jax
- Florida’s firewall against abortion restrictions is in peril | Politico
- Lewd license plates and the First Amendment | Governing
- What many on the right get wrong about the First Amendment | Washington Post
- Former teachers sue Sewickley Academy for discriminatory practices against Black employees | The Times (PA)
- The surveillance state is primed for criminalized abortion | WIRED
- Future of the First Amendment 2022: High schooler views on speech over time | Knight Foundation
- Civil rights groups: Overturn racist Supreme Court rulings used to deny benefits to Puerto Ricans | NBC News
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- How to protect DEI requirements from legal peril | Chronicle of Higher Ed
Legislation
- NC Republicans push ban on teaching LGBTQ issues, plus other rules for schools | News & Observer
- NC parents’ bill that bars K-3 LGBTQ curriculum clears panel | WFAE / Asscociated Press
- NJ lawmakers worried about ‘anti-racist’ indoctrination want school library ‘transparency’ | NJ101.5
- Arizona House Republicans advance bill addressing critical race theory in public schools | Courthouse News Service
- Education Legislation Largely Focuses on Funding, Censorship | Nashville Scene
Social Media
- Texas’ ‘Anti-censorship’ law censors social media. What if it goes into effect? | Texas Observer
- Federal appeals court rules for social media companies in battle over content moderation | CNN (FL)
Information Literacy & Disinformation
- She joined DHS to fight disinformation. She says she was halted by… disinformation | WMFE
- Epidemiologist Beyrer tells HWS graduates to beware of disinformation | PR Newswire
- Debunking 3 viral rumors about the Texas shooting | New York Times
International News
- Government bill on Holocaust denial ineffective and likely unconstitutional: civil liberties group | Canada.com
- Bookstore owner detained over Orwell’s ‘1984’ | Happy
- Dutch journalists, rights group file lawsuit challenging EU ban on RT, Sputnik | Today Online
Around the Web
- Hate Crime Reported at Hamilton Public Library
- Book bans in prison cut inmates’ lifeline to outside world | NBC News
- At Subcommittee hearing witnesses warn classroom censorship laws hurt students and teachers, erode constitutional freedoms | House Committee on Oversight and Reform
- Kid lit authors petition Congress to condemn book banning | Publishers Weekly
- New Data From NPD Finds “Press Coverage of ‘Antiracist Baby’ and Other Banned Books Led to Increased Sales” | InfoDocket
- Banned books–‘Gender Queer,’ ‘Maus,’ Antiracist Baby’–see jump in sales | School Library Journal
- Parents weigh in on Wentzville School District’s decision to ban ‘Fun Home’ | KDSK (MO)
- Teens fight book banning with their own banned book clubs | ABC News
- For Black Americans, teaching about systemic racism is more urgent than ever | Washington Post
- Video captures vandal removing $1,000 in LGBTQ books from roadside library | LGBTQ Nation
- Barnes & Noble pressured to restrict sales of 2021’s most banned book | CBS News
- National school board group says it wrongly took sides in political debate | Washington Post
- Marjorie Taylor Greene says Democrats “want to turn your kids gay” | LGBTQ Nation
- My queer life is not inappropriate, and neither are the books that reflect it | Literary Hub
- New York City’s three public library systems announce the launch of the NYC banned books challenge | Library Journal
- School privatizers are leaning hard into the culture wars | Jacobin
- Florida high schooler who says he was censored in graduation speech speaks out | ABC News
- Why the MLIS is a powerful weapon in fighting book bans | Publishers Weekly
- The dark secret behind those cute AI-generated animal images | MIT Technology Review
- What’s it like to be banned? We spoke to the author of one of America’s most controversial books | Katie Couric Media
- As students rally, Orange school board shows support for LGBTQ concerns | Orlando Sentinel
- The long history of book burning | The Hill
- Youth detective story flagged due to young homosexual character | Spectator
- Anti-CRT group holds forum in West Fargo, small protest held outside | KFGO
- Pasco’s sensible idea on school library books – Editorial | Tampa Bay Times
ALA News
- Sourcebooks and ALA present 17-month weekly planner for book lovers
- Meet the 2022 Class of Emerging Leaders at a Poster Session during ALA 2022 Annual Conference
eLearning
- Digital Equity through Literacy: Framing the Conversation
- Graphic Novel Book Clubs In School Libraries
- A Place to Belong: Supporting Neurodiversity and Mental Health in Your Library
- Core Webinar: Core New Members Interest Group Cover Letter Workshop
- Who Manages, Who Leads
- More eLearning opportunites
Publishing
- Save 50% on more than 400 products during the ALA Store Spring Sale
- Michael Cart’s updated YA lit survey
- New from ACRL – “Interim Leadership in Libraries”
Awards & Grants
- The Arab Federation for Libraries and Information is the 2022 winner of the prestigious EBSCO Information Services Library Staff Development Award
- ‘The Eagles Claw’ by Jeff Shaara wins the W. Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction
- 2022 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries awarded to Evergreen Park Public Library, Miami-Dade College Libraries, and RCS Community Library
- ALA Announces 2023 Carnegie Selection Committee
- Five projects receive 2022 AIA/ALA Library Building Award
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