July 14, 2017 – Collated by OIF Staff and News Interns

Intellectual Freedom Highlights

• Sexual harassment and the internet | Intellectual Freedom Blog; “My correspondent made various misleading claims […]. He wrote that “harassment is caused by people having viewed the unfiltered Internet while in the library.” But that’s speculation, not fact. It’s dubious, too. People read mysteries in libraries and don’t feel compelled to commit murders. People are responsible for unwanted or criminal action, not the internet. And not library policy.”
• The Handmaid’s Tale and the freedom to choose | Intellectual Freedom Blog; “Giving into the censor’s choice to embrace the philosophy of “freedom from” means eliminating others’ choices and eliminating true freedom. Whether it’s shades of lipstick, pants or skirt, whether or whom to marry, or which book to read, freedom means confronting the necessary dangers of voice and choice. Freedom is not being silenced or protected.”
• Tessa Kelso and the Los Angeles book burners | Intellectual Freedom Blog; “It’s worth looking back at this formidable librarian and an unusual episode in the history of intellectual freedom where she took the offensive against a would-be book burner by suing him… and winning.”

Censorship

• Sauk Prairie School Board declines to announce fate of controversial book | Sauk Praire Eagle (WI)
• Bolshoi Ballet denies bowing to censorship over canceled Rudolf Nureyev show | The Telegraph

Access

• Booklist webinar: Developing and supporting your LGBTQ collection | Intellectual Freedom Blog
• Free webinar seeks to help libraries launch services for immigrants | ALA

Privacy

• Whose Speech Is Chilled by Surveillance? | Slate
• Don’t let the alt-right fool you: Journalism isn’t doxing | Wired
• Trump’s FBI director nominee shares views on digital privacy | Tech Crunch
• Do digital home devices put your privacy at risk? | CBS
• If you get your face scanned the next time you fly, here’s what you should know| MIT Technology Review
• Trump Campaign Is Sued Over Leaked Emails Linked to Russians | New York Times
• Trump campaign sued for privacy invasion by victims of DNC hack | Washington Times

See more current privacy updates on the Choose Privacy Week blog.

Net Neutrality

• July 12 Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality | American Library Association #NetNeutrality
• Net Neutrality: Corporate censorship is state censorship | International Policy Digest
• How the internet showed up for net neutrality today, from Reddit to Google| Wired
• How to smoke out where broadband companies stand on net neutrality | New York Times
• How to write a meaningful FCC comment supporting net neutrality | Ars Technica

Academic Freedom/ Campus Speech

• Paying professors: Inside Google’s academic influence campaign | Wall Street Journal
  • Scholars cry foul at their inclusion on list of academics paid by Google | Chronicle for Higher Education
• NJ professor fired for Fox News comments points to larger problem| Philly.com
• Law prof’s exam question on Brazilian wax is deemed harassment; is academic freedom threatened? | ABA Journal
• Why NCAC Objects to ‘Restore Campus Free Speech’ Bills | NCAC Blog

First Amendment Issues

• How to defend the Constitution when the KKK comes to town| CNN
• Federal appeals court upholds First Amendment right to film police | Jurist
• Twitter users blocked by President Trump file First Amendment suit | National Law Journal
• The right to non-offensive speech: Reinterpreting the First Amendment | Bloomberg BNA
• Some theaters say they will no longer invite Sun-Times critic Hedy Weiss to openings | Chicago Tribune
• Kill ‘every last muslim’: Michigan official stands by social media post | Detroit Patch
• ABC, NBC under fire after smearing Christian organization as a “hate group” | Fox News
  • Fox News comes to hate group’s defense over ‘hate group’ label  | Think Progress
• Is a noise complain a violation of free expression? | Newseum Institute
• First amendment receives C+ in quarterly ‘report card’ | Newseum Institute
• District judge finds Utah’s “ag-gag” law violates the First Amendment | Constitutional Law Prof Blog

Around the Web

• Respect for minors key to protecting intellectual freedom | CBLDF
• What we know — and don’t know — about hate crimes in America | ProPublica
• Ai Weiwei talks to David Remnick about art, censorship, and Twitter | The New Yorker
• AP Stylebook updates spur controversy over worries of conservative censorship | Washington Free Beacon
• Inside Google’s internet justice league and its AI-powered war on trolls | Wired
• Milo Yiannopoulos sues Simon & Schuster over canceled book deal | Washington Times
• Metro Takes Down Its Milo Yiannopoulos Ads | DCist
• Milo Yiannopoulos labels low sales figures of Dangerous memoir ‘fake news’ | The Guardian

International Issues

• Toronto Public Library reviewing policy after event with ties to racist groups | Toronto
• El Salvador media bill prompts ‘censorship’ claim | BBC
• A few thoughts on the decision to eliminate evolution from Turkey’s high school curriculum | Huffington Post
• The World May Be Headed for a Fragmented ‘Splinternet’ | Wired
• Archive of books censored before end of war can now be viewed | The Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
• China’s Newest Censorship Methods on Display | The Diplomat
• Philippine Senator Moves to Criminalize ‘Fake News’ — Could This Lead to Censorship? | Global Voices
• Huge bookstore, Tehran’s Book Garden, opens in Iran despite government censorship | Newsweek
• International Publishers Association condemns Verona mayor’s books censorship agenda | Publishing Perspectives
• NLB manager jailed and fined for compromising members’ data in attempts to help loanshark | The Independent (Singapore)
• ‘Sweeping actions’ in Turkey are condemned | Inside Higher Ed
• Why China’s censors hate livestreaming | Mashable
• Banned Israeli author warns Americans: It could happen here | Rolling Stone

ALA News

• Open call for submissions to Journal of Intellectual Freedom & Privacy 
• Every child has a right to read; “Reading by Right” available in the ALA Store
• New Session: Creating Inclusive Storytimes for ALL Children; August 17
• Nominate a librarian for 2017 I Love My Librarian Award
• ALISE Awards, Grants, and Competitions: The Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) sponsors several funding opportunities.
• Fight for Libraries! Include #SaveIMLS on Twitter when you advocate for libraries.

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