Intellectual Freedom News 5/3/2024
Highlights
- How a librarian became a social media sensation spreading a message of love and literacy | USA Today
Censorship
- NY Commissioner of Education Upholds Decision to Retain Challenged Books in School Library | Intellectual Freedom Blog (NY)
- Spartanburg Co. school district removes dozens of books under strict new content policy | Post and Courier (SC)
- ACLU investigates whether library board violated First Amendment by moving books | Gillette News Record (WY)
- Fort Worth ISD to return some banned books to libraries after over 100 pulled for review | Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
- Book challenges, content controversies roil Fremont County libraries | News from the States (WY)
- Albuquerque School’s Staff on Leave After Drag Show at Prom | New York Times (NM)
- Lawmakers, moms and books – educators in the crossfire | Clinton Chronicle (SC)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- N.S.A. Disclosure of U.S. Identities in Surveillance Reports Nearly Tripled in 2023 | New York Times
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- How ‘History and Tradition’ Rulings Are Changing American Law | New York Times Magazine
- 1st Amendment Lawsuit Over Florida School District’s Ban of Children’s Book Cleared to Proceed | Flagler Live (FL)
- Push to restrict LGBTQ+ rights hits a snag in state legislatures | Washington Post
- Judge hears arguments in suit challenging Arkansas critical race theory ban | KUAR (AR)
- ACLU Condemns House Passage of Dangerous Bill That Would Chill Free Speech | ACLU
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- Do students and faculty facing arrest at protests have First Amendment Rights? | NPR
- A student club is suing its school, saying its pro-Palestinian views were censored | OPB
- Academic Freedom Under Fire | New Yorker
- Those Who Preach Free Speech Need to Practice It | Atlantic
- H.B. 1309: Protecting Student Journalists’ 1st Amendment Rights | WENY (PA)
- Open letter to Georgia college and university presidents on student protests | ACLU Georgia (GA)
Legislation
- Louisiana House committee shelves bills targeting libraries | Louisiana Illuminator (LA)
- Maryland’s governor signs Freedom to Read Act | Los Angeles Blade (MD)
- Alabama librarians facing threat of arrest over books: ‘We don’t have smut’ | AL.com (AL)
- Colorado lawmakers make second attempt at curbing book bans in public libraries | Colorado Newsline (CO)
- Kim Reynolds must veto the nation’s most extreme ban on DEI and expression | Des Moines Register (IA)
State & Local Governance
- Alabama Public Library Service Board to hold hearing on rules that could affect book access | Alabama Reflector (AL)
- House speaker punishes Democrats for hosting a drag king story hour at AZ Capitol | KJZZ (AZ)
Social Media
- Byte-Dance was told to sell TikTok or face a ban. There are legal complications | NPR
- Americans’ Views of Technology Companies | Pew Research Center
Disinformation & Media Literacy
- The vocabulary of disinformation | Economist
International
- Top writers boycott State Library Victoria over accusations of censorship | Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
- Drag Queen Storytime founder defiant in face of threat to ‘cut him up and throw him into the river’ | Pink News (U.K.)
Around the Web
- A Prominent Free-Speech Group Is Fighting for Its Life | Atlantic
- As Book Bans Soar, Public Libraries Are the New Battleground | Capital & Main
- Book bans, threats and cancellations: Asian American authors face growing challenges | ABC News
- PEN America Cancels World Voices Festival Amid Israel-Gaza Criticism | New York Times
- Girl Scout who created banned book nooks thanks Hanover for ‘censored’ Gold Award | Richmond Times-Dispatch
- AP African American Studies connects Michigan students to their own history while they make it | Chalkbeat
- Living with VANxiety: The Present and Future of Progressive Movement Tech | Mica L. Sifry
- Where Howard County school board candidates stand on book ban debates | Baltimore Banner
- Ruby Bridges Blasts Book Bans As “Ridiculous” Attempts to “Cover Up History” | Mother Jones
- How comics can spark conversations about race and history in the classroom | ACLU
- Who Are the Book Banners on Saturday’s North Texas School Board Ballots? | Dallas Observer
- What Anne Arundel County school board candidates think about book bans | Baltimore Banner
- The Cover-Up: Under Pressure, Some School Librarians Alter Illustrations to Avoid Book Challenges | School Library Journal
ALA News
- New from ACRL – “Predatory Publishing and Global Scholarly Communications”
- PLA and ALSC launch digital edition of the Every Child Ready to Read® Toolkit
- Carnegie Whitney Grant 2024 award winners
- PLA launches new telehealth training module on DigitalLearn.org
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