Intellectual Freedom News 5/9/2025
Highlights
- Federal court blocks funding cuts to US libraries and museums | Jurist
- ALA Disappointed by Senate Vote to Block Hotspot Funds | ALA
- ALA Annual Preconference: The George Blood LP Facility Tour | ALA
Censorship
- Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden is fired by Trump | Politico
- Utopian Dreamers Founded This Alabama City. Now, a Fight Over Books Is Dividing It. | New York Times (AL)
- Voters will select a new Community Library Network trustee while Post Falls waits for adults-only room to open | Spokesman-Review (ID)
- Huntsville-Madison Library book for juveniles teaches racial categories ‘invented to advantage white people and to justify slavery, colonialism, and genocide’ | 1819 News (AL)
- City Council to Revisit Controversial Resolution on Displaying Materials | Fullerton Observer (CA)
- Professor Pete Simi experiences censorship as his book was banned and funding revoked | Panther
- ‘I was stunned’: U.S. Naval Academy bans books by Williams professors | Williams Record
- Spanish Fort Library Board approves policies safeguarding minors from inappropriate materials | 1819 News (AL)
- My School Visit was Cancelled. I Fought Back and Won. | Opinion | School Library Journal (VA)
- New Lancaster County library system board member wants parent control | LancasterOnline (PA)
- Columbia County library system set to become partially independent | WFXG (GA)
- 10 more books must be removed from SC public K-12 schools, board rules | South Carolina Daily Gazette (SC)
- Alabama library showdown: Book battles and power struggles set stage for explosive meeting | AL.com (AL)
- NHC school board again votes down ‘Stamped’ discussion despite book ban protest | Port City Daily (NC)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- US government is using AI for unprecedented social media surveillance | New Scientist
- Signal app clone used by Trump officials was hacked in less than 30 mins | Silicon Angle
- Trump Officials Say Ex-Leader of Cybersecurity Agency Is Under Investigation | New York Times
- FTC Amends COPPA Rule To Address Changes in Technology and Online Practices | JD Supra
- Congressman raises alarm over warrantless surveillance of Americans | WFIR
- How Being Watched Changes How You Think | Scientific American
- The Surveillance Machine, Pt. 1: How We Got Here | KQED
- Trump’s Sneaky Plot to Steal Your Data—and Weaponize It Against You | New Republic
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- Orders to Investigate Columbia Protesters Raised Alarms in Justice Dept. | New York Times
- Is This the End of the Separation of Church and State? | New Yorker
- Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump’s Use of Alien Enemies Act to Deport Venezuelans | New York Times
- Texas AG suing Austin ISD over ‘unwritten’ policies around alleged critical race theory curriculum | KVUE (TX)
- Trump Says ‘I Don’t Know’ When Asked About Due Process and Upholding Constitution | New York Times
- It’s Official: Executive Order Targeting Perkins Coie Is Unconstitutional | Above the Law
- Trump Administration Slashes Research Into L.G.B.T.Q. Health | New York Times
- Transgender Federal Worker Challenges Trump’s Federal Bathroom Ban | ACLU
- Spy Agencies Do Not Think Venezuela Directs Gang, Declassified Memo Shows | New York Times
- Trump’s attack on ActBlue violates the First Amendment | Hill
- For Trump, the Constitution Is a Hindrance as He Pushes for Deportations | New York Times
- CCIA Files Amicus Brief Defending the First Amendment Rights of Email Service Providers | CCIA
- Trump Seeks to Strip Away Legal Tool Key to Civil Rights Enforcement | New York Times
- Ken Paxton drops “critical race theory” lawsuit against Coppell ISD | Texas Tribune (TX)
- Military Families Seek Preliminary Injunction Against Censorship in Department of Defense Schools | ACLU
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- Rufo, New College trustees headed to trial for hiding public records | Florida Bulldog (FL)
- Ex-Harvard president Lawrence Summers says Trump’s endgame is getting universities to “bend the knee” | CBS News
- ACPS ‘censorship’ of Alexandria City High School’s student newspaper Theogony ignites firestorm of criticism | ALXnow (VA)
- Censorship Threatens Papers Throughout ACPS and FCPS | West Potomac Wire (VA)
- Students threatened into silence due to US’s stance on visa status | Ticker
- Pro-Palestinian Protesters Take Over Columbia Library | Wall Street Journal (NY)
Legislation
- Texas governor signs largest US school voucher law in win for conservatives | Guardian (TX)
- Bookstores brace for legal risks as Texas House targets ‘harmful’ content in new bill | Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
- Iowa House won’t continue aid that regent campuses spent on DEI | Gazette (IA)
- Four-bill package to protect civil liberties filed in Delaware legislature | Delaware Public Media (DE)
- Texas House bill would target teachers and schools that support transgender kids | San Antonio Current (TX)
- New law could soon have parents recommending books to school libraries | News4SA (TX)
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
Social Media & AI
- Trump says he’s willing to extend pause on TikTok ban again | Hill
- Virginia Amends Data Privacy Law To Impose New Restrictions on Social Media Platforms | JD Supra (VA)
- Attorney General Bailey Files Landmark Rule to Combat Social Media Censorship in Missouri | Ozark Radio News (MO)
Journalism & Media
- Trump Signs Executive Order Seeking to End Federal Funding for NPR and PBS | New York Times
- Department of Education Eliminates Grant for PBS Children’s Shows | New York Times
- The Trump Administration and the FCC Are Weakening Freedom of the Press and Hurting Americans | American Progress
- Attorney General Lifts Ban on Subpoenaing Reporters’ Notes in Leak Investigations | New York Times
- China Wants to Silence My Organization. Why Is Trump Doing It? | New York Times
- Voice of America to Receive Feeds From Pro-Trump Network, Administration Says | New York Times
Disinformation & Media Literacy
- C.I.A. Fires Top Doctor Targeted by Far-Right Activist | New York Times
- Disinformation Experts Band Together as Online Abuse Escalates | Bloomberg
- Kennedy Orders Search for New Measles Treatments Instead of Urging Vaccination | New York Times
- Why all climate misinformation should be seen as disinformation | National Observer
- Trump’s Return to Power Elevates Ever Fringier Conspiracy Theories | New York Times
- A Russian fake news ring was struggling. Then it targeted USAID. | Washington Post
International
- How Russia is using Gaelic and AI to peddle disinformation in Scotland | Times (Scotland)
- With Acts of Subversion, Some Russians Fight Propaganda in Schools | New York Times (Russia)
Around the Web
- No One Has Ever Defeated Autocracy From the Sidelines | New York Times
- Reading is Political – Here’s Why | Her Campus
- Trump Seeks to Eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts | New York Times
- A legal resident’s nightmare reveals how fragile our civil liberties really are | PennLive letters | PennLive
- Trump Administration Cancels $1 Billion in Grants for Student Mental Health | New York Times
- TEXAS VOTERS PUNISH BOOK BANNERS AT THE POLLS | Anger & Clarity
- Conservative Texas School Board Voted Out Amid Book Bans | Newsweek
- Texas voters oust book-banning school board members in major suburban shakeup | Chron
- Fort Bend ISD trustee election won by candidates who opposed controversial book and gender policies | Houston Public Media
- School board races across Texas deal losses for many conservatives | Texas Tribune
- In Suits and Ties, Lawyers Protest Trump’s Attacks on the Legal System | New York Times
- Cuts have eliminated more than a dozen US government health-tracking programs | AP
- Institute of Museum and Library Services Shutdown Stopped in Federal Court | ARTnews
- Salt Lake City library workers officially unionize, move to bargain ahead of ban | ABC4
- WWII-era queer and trans history inspired debut novel | WBUR
- ‘At this point, we are a liberal democracy in decline’ | Washington Post
- OPINION: Book bans draw libraries into damaging culture wars that undermine their purpose | Hechinger Report
- Community Safety Experts, Members of Congress Say Federal Funding Cuts Harm Public Safety During Press Conference on the Hill | ACLU
- County Commission rejects fellow Commissioner Goodson’s request for grant to Pridefest | Florida Today
- West Point Is Supposed to Educate, Not Indoctrinate | New York Times
- An author responds: Why is sex so scary to book banners? | South Carolina Daily Gazette
ALA News
- Apply to host reading groups on religion, assimilation, identity and immigration with the Yiddish Book Center
- Meet the 2025 Class of Emerging Leaders at a Poster Session during ALA Annual Conference
- Nominations open for ALA honorary membership
- Kelvin Watson is the recipient of the ALA Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship
- Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table Announces 2025 Comics Librarian Conference Travel Grant Recipients
- Dr. Emily D. Spunaugle selected as the 2025 Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award recipient
- ALA Information Today Library of the Future Award Jury Announces Columbus Metropolitan Library’s AI Task Force for Adult Programming as Winner
- The legacy of black women in librarianship
- ALA offers advice on federal grant cancellations
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