Intellectual Freedom News 6/26/2020
Highlights

- Fight Censorship During Rainbow Book Month and Beyond | I Love Libraries
- ALA statement affirming the rights of transgender people
- 2020 ALA Virtual IF highlights
- Women’s Activism is Black Activism: Librarians dig into the history of women’s activism in the profession
- Taking a stand: Librarians discuss efforts to respond to and lead social change
- Recommending diverse voices: How to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion through collection development and reader’s advisory
- Top Tech Trends: COVID Considerations: Panelists discuss privacy, access, and programming
- Resisting Hate with Speech: A conversation about the role of libraries and free speech
- Ridding Schools of Reading Trauma: Tips for interrupting traditional practices and diversifying collections
- Retaining Librarians of Color: Panelists emphasize community and inclusive hiring practices
Library Services & COVID-19 Resources
- ALA COVID-19 Response
- Pandemic Preparedness: Resources for Libraries | American Library Association
- Research Shows Virus Undetectable on Five Highly Circulated Library Materials After Three Days | Institute of Museum and Library Services
- Coronavirus Tests the Limits of America’s Public Libraries | Bloomberg
- Reopening Libraries: Campus Concerns | Library Journal
Censorship
- Petition aims to stop Drag Queen Story Time at Brownsville library | Valley Morningstar (TX)
- Petition calls for ending story time at library | The Brownsville Herald (TX)
- Drag queen book reading gains support from city | KVEO Brownsville (NY)
- Alleging censorship, ACLU sues Miami Beach for removal of painting memorialising the police shooting of Raymond Herisse | The Art Newspaper
- Trump blasts attempts to remove historic statues as ‘censorship’ | Fox News
- Judge Allows Bolton Memoir to Proceed, Despite Trump Administration Objection | NPR
- Parental Fear and Cultural Erasure: The Logic Behind Banning Books | Book Riot
First Amendment, Free Speech, and Civil Liberties
- Vermont principal removed for statements on Black Lives Matter | NCAC Blogging Censorship
- PHOTO ESSAY: Librarians Join Black Lives Matter Protests | School Library Journal
- Free Speech in the Era of COVID-19: Geoffrey R. Stone | Knight Foundation (Video)
- Scholar Stanley Fish on Bolton, Trump and why there’s too much free speech | Los Angele Times
Privacy and Cybersecurity
- The Cost of Privacy | Okta; “Consumers underestimate the extent to which their data is being tracked.”
- Wrongfully Accused by an Algorithm | New York Times; “In what may be the first known case of its kind, a faulty facial recognition match led to a Michigan man’s arrest for a crime he did not commit.”
- Senators Introduce Legislation to Ban Government Use of Facial Recognition, Other Biometric Technology | U.S. Senator Ed Markey (MA)
- Republicans push bill requiring tech companies to help access encrypted data | CNET
- The Senate’s New Anti-Encryption Bill Is Even Worse Than EARN IT, and That’s Saying Something | Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Defund the Police, and Defund Big Data Policing, Too |Jurist
- It’s unconstitutional for cops to force phone unlocking, court rules | Ars Technica
- NYCLU suing state Education Department over Lockport schools’ facial recognition technology | WBFO NPR Buffalo (NY)
- The Trump 2020 app is a voter surveillance tool of extraordinary power | MIT Technology Review
Additional privacy posts, news, and updates are available at the Choose Privacy Every Day blog.
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- America’s digital divide is an emergency | Washington Post
- These Young Entrepreneurs Have A Plan To Bring The Internet To Detroit, The Least Connected City In America | Forbes
- End of broadband pledge could cut lifelines for families | Axios
- Does the Federal Broadband Definition Reflect Real-World Need? | Government Technology
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Admissions Offers Revoked Over Racist Comments | Inside Higher Education
- Auto-Censorship and Institutional Racism | Data and Society (Video)
Fake News, Free Press, Social Media
- Trump-appointed head of media agency sued over firings at anti-censorship organization | Fox News
- A new Trump appointee has put internet freedom projects in crisis mode | The Verge
- Author Of Section 230 Chris Cox Says All The Critics Are Wrong About The History And Intent Of 230 | TechDirt
- Why creating an internet “fairness doctrine” would backfire | Brookings
- Further thoughts on moderation vs. discretion vs. censorship | TechDirt
- Social Media Giants Support Racial Justice. Their Products Undermine It | New York Times
Around the Web
- Cook Memorial library board president resigns over homophobic statements | Daily Herald
- Twelve Terrific Challenged LGBTQIAP+ Titles for Kids and Teens | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- Your Bookshelf May Be Part of the Problem: A Rebuttal | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- Pride Displays During Rainbow Book Month | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- ‘Hamilton’ will be censored on Disney+, Lin-Manuel Miranda says: ‘I literally gave two f–ks’ | Fox News
- Overwhelmed With Orders, Some Black-Owned Bookstores Ask for Patience | New York Times
- Librarians and the power of social media | Book Riot
- Supporting Students during This Period of Unrest | Knowledge Quest
- Weeding Out Racism’s Invisible Roots: Rethinking Children’s Classics | School Library Journal
ALA News
- ALSC 2020 Institute to be Held Virtually
- New ALA resource, free webinar spotlight changes to the 2020 Census in response to COVID-19; July 8
- Information literacy and democracy
- Libraries Transform Book Pick digital reading program returns Sept. 14-28 with an epic saga
- Volunteer for ACRL Diversity Alliance Task Force by June 30
- Open access digital scholarship in action
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- articles about privacy, internet filtering and censorship
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