Intellectual Freedom News 8/13/2021
Highlights
- Register for the inaugural ALA Virtual Volunteer Fair on September 14, 2021; The fair will be an opportunity for ALA Members to drop in and speak with committee members and staff liaisons from various ALA groups that offer volunteer opportunities, including ALA Association committees, Divisions, and Round Tables. This is an opportunity for members to ask more specific questions about a committee or group’s work, time commitment, typical schedule, how to volunteer, etc!
Censorship
- Leander ISD Pulls More Books From Curriculum | Book and Film Globe
- South Dakota Board of Regents and Gov. Kristi Noem release varied statements on Critical Race Theory | Grand Forks Herald
- It’s mind boggling that books about Black people are controversial at a Northampton [PA] school district | The Morning Call
- Putnam Parents Challenge Book On Summer Reading List | Patch
- Alabama teachers, students fear critical race theory resolution could hamper needed discussions | AL.com
- Craighead County Library Board votes no on two policy changes | Jonesboro Sun
- Donation of children’s books promoting racial identity riles parents in Northampton Area School District | The Morning Call
- NASD books donation still tabled | Times News Online
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Big Data Clashes With Patron Privacy: OverDrive’s Digipalooza 2021 | NewsBreaks
- Apple’s Plan to “Think Different” About Encryption Opens a Backdoor to Your Private Life | EFF
- Facebook will soon be able to scan your texts – sparking privacy panic | The U.S. Sun
- 16 Civil Society Organizations Call on Congress to Fix the Cryptocurrency Provision of the Infrastructure Bill | EFF
More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- ACLU calls on DOJ to enact permanent protections for journalists covering protests | The Hill
- Courthouse News sues New Mexico First Judicial District over public access lag | Santa Fe New Mexican
- A California Bill Would Limit Protests at Vaccination Sites. Does It Violate the First Amendment? | California Healthline
- Subcommittee Requests Briefing From DHS After Allegations Of Discrimination By Border Patrol Agents In Michigan | Jamie Raskin
- Colorado National Guard fights captain’s First Amendment lawsuit | Colorado Newsline
- ACLU files First Amendment lawsuit against Woonsocket mayor | Boston Globe
- Opinion: Biden must act to get racism out of automated decision-making | The Washington Post
- Denver jail chaplain not liable for First Amendment violation against inmate, appeals court rules | Colorado Politics
- 10th Circuit reinstates First Amendment lawsuit of Muslim inmate forced to shave beard | Colorado Politics
- Cruise ship vaccine mandates are great. The latest ruling for them wasn’t. | The Washington Post
- As Texas GOP leaders continue targeting transgender children, state’s protective services agency takes aim at surgeries rarely used on kids | Texas Tribune
- Eighth Circuit breaths life back into Iowa’s ‘ag-gag’ law | Food Safety News
Access
- Overdue books? Here’s why you won’t be fined at Southern Tier public libraries. | The Evening Tribune
Copyright
- Major record labels sue Charter Communications again for alleged copyright infringement | The Verge
- In Copyright Case, Judge Evaluates Use of 9/11 Footage in 16 Films | The Hollywood Reporter
- Oh, where does the Seuss-Star Trek copyright battle go next? To a jury. | Reuters
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Florida’s “intellectual freedom” law faces constitutional challenges | Florida News Times
Social Media
- TikTok Censored the Words “Black Lives Matter” But Not “White Supremacy” | Futurism
- YouTube eases up on COVID-19 misinformation censorship after local government backlash | Yahoo! News
- Louisiana, Alabama AGs launch initiative to report social media censorship | ArkLaTex
- Google Wants to Make the Internet Safer for Teenagers | Make Use Of
Journalism & Media
- Censorship Alert: Arkansas high school physically cuts out pages of published yearbook before distributing | Student Press Law Center
Information Literacy & Disinformation
- The Arizona “audit” finally seems to be wrapping up. Prepare for a blizzard of disinformation. | Vox
- How The ‘Disinformation Dozen’ Spreads Vaccine Misinformation Online | NPR
- Russian Disinformation Targets Vaccines and the Biden Administration | The New York Times
- The social network for doctors is full of vaccine disinformation | CNBC
- Students Across US Take On COVID Disinformation | Voice of America
- Black Hat: Scaling Automated Disinformation for Misery and Profit | Threatpost
- Vietnamese and Latino micro-influencers fight against vaccine disinformation in San Jose | Coda
- Facebook pulls down fake accounts that spread COVID-19 vaccine disinformation | CNET
- Dominion sues Newsmax and OANN, alleging deliberate disinformation on 2020 election | Yahoo! News
- Guest Opinion: Pennridge United says GOP school board campaign will divide | Bucks County Courier Times
International News
- China’s Growing Censorship Is Training the Public to Be Online Snitches | Foreign Policy
- National security law: Hong Kong schools remove books at risk of breaking Beijing-decreed legislation | South China Morning Post
- Bill to restrict Internet in Iran could threaten pandemic-era Instagram commerce boom | The Washington Post
- Churches in Hungary to be subject to anti LGBTQ law | WION
- Censorship on the Rise Worldwide | Publishers Weekly
- Students protest for academic freedom on Palestinian issues in support of CAUT censure | The Varsity
- Hong Kong: Disbandment of teachers’ union signals intensifying crackdown on independent labour organizations | Amnesty International
- China market turns frosty for Taiwan books, as tensions rise | ABC News
- Ugandan blogger seized in Turkey as censorship tightens on social media activists | Amsterdam News
Around the Web
- Jones Library petition tug of war in Amherst: legal battle carries on | Mass Live
- Romance Writers Of America Was Doing Better With Race — Until A Recent Award Choice | NPR
- Who Jason Reynolds Writes His Best-Sellers For | New Yorker
- As Students Return to In-Person Learning, There’s One Thing Missing: Librarians | The Progressive
- MTSU Free Speech Center, Poynter Institute Collaborate on First Amendment Education | News Wise
- Yes, we should be teaching critical race theory in public schools | Pennsylvania Capital-Star
- ‘Must reflect the communities we serve’: The critical role that Black librarians play | IndyStar
ALA News
- ALA praises passage of Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, inclusion of library broadband funding
- ALA offers free Library Card Sign-up Month tools to promote the power of a library card
- United for Libraries to livestream Gala Author Tea, sponsored by Data Axle, free to all during United Virtual 2021
eLearning
- ALA eLearning—webinars, courses, workshops, e-forums and more—covers library-related fundamentals, advances, trends, and hot topics for all types of libraries. Find the online options that can best keep you and your colleagues and staff current.
Publishing
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- current book challenges in libraries and schools
- articles about privacy, internet filtering and censorship
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- how to get involved and make the most of what ALA offers