August 2, 2019 – Collated by OIF Staff and News Editors

Highlights

• Make a powerful statement about censorship. Purchases of Banned Books Week materials supports the office’s work in defending and promoting the freedom to read.

Censorship

• Teacher’s transgender book request fuels Marysville controversy | Columbus Dispatch (OH)
• Protecting the internet from censorship is key to future of global trade | Forbes

Privacy

• Libraries guarantee patrons’ privacy. That’s why LinkedIn’s policy is so troubling | CAL Matters
• Nevada and Maine have introduced new internet privacy laws | Bo Herald
• Privacy group files legal challenge to Facebook’s $5 billion F.T.C. settlement | New York Times
• Young Instagram users give up privacy in search of metrics | Bloomberg
• Court: Arizonans have the right to privacy from authorities without warrants | Tuscan.com
• The terrible anxiety of location sharing apps | Wired
• More NSA call data problems surface as law’s expiration approaches | New York Times
• Google hit with new privacy suit over voice recordings | Digital News Daily
• Apple contractors ‘regularly hear confidential details’ in Siri recordings | The Guardian
• The fun of having our gadgets spy on us | Wall Street Journal
• Washington State helps former felons ditch their records | Pew Stateline

Additional privacy news updates are available at the Choose Privacy Everyday blog.

Access

• The Census could undercount people who don’t have internet access | Slate
• In plain sight: Supporting students who are homeless | School Library Journal
• Possible threats to the E-rate program | American Libraries
• Should a public library rent space from a church that condemns being gay? The city of Salem says yes. | Willamette Week (OR)
• Let’s get ‘mad as hell’ about the vital information we won’t get to see | Freedom Forum Institute

Net Neutrality & Broadband Access

• What to expect when you’re expecting a net neutrality decision | Benton Foundation
• How states support broadband projects | Pew Trusts
• Net neutrality activists demand AT&T-owned CNN ask 2020 candidates where they stand on an open Internet | Fight for the Future
• Pai’s FCC orders cities and towns to stop regulating broadband | Ars Technica

Academic Freedom & Campus Speech

• Trump administration welcomes Chinese students, State Department says | Chronicle of Higher Education

Fake News, Free Press, Social Media

• These two legal reforms could end social media censorship for good | Washington Examiner

First Amendment & Free Speech

• https://www.wxpr.org/post/media-organizations-bring-attention-1st-amendment-knowledge-shortage#stream/0
• Media organizations bring attention to 1st amendment knowledge shortage | WXPR Radio (WI)

Around the Web

• Happy Birthday, J.K. Rowling! | OIF Blog
• Dewey Decibal podcast: 50 years of the CSK Book Awards | American Libraries
• We Need Diverse Books celebrates fifth anniversary, sets agenda for the next five years | School Library Journal
• Libraries act as cooling centers in heatwaves | Book Riot
• New CBLDF webinar addresses barriers to comics | CBLDF
• A school librarian’s philosophy of lost books | School Library Journal
• Tulsi Gabbard sues Google for $50M over censorship claims | Inside Sources

International Issues

• Pakistan censorship: ‘Hovering above the mute button’ | BBC
• Iranians still manage to surf the web despite tide of censorship | YNet News
• You can read Yuval Noah Harari’s book in Russian, except for the parts about Russia | New York Times
• News TV blackouts in Pakistan draw fresh accusations of censorship | Reuters
• Cuba expands internet access to private homes and businesses | New York Times
• Limits on free expression: An international view | Federation of American Scientists
• Trump threatens retaliation against France over digital service tax | Ars Technica
• Europe experienced a surge in government restrictions on religious activity over the last decade | Freedom Forum Institute

ALA News

• Public Library Association condemns MacMillan Publishers library lending models
• AASL releases guide to develop inclusive learners and citizens
• ALA releases recommendations for improved public library services to new Americans
• LLAMA webinar helps library leaders guide their staff through changing roles
• ACRL releases “2018 Academic Library Trends and Statistics”
• Volunteer to Serve on ALA, Council, and Joint Committees for 2020-2022
• Accepting Applications for 2020 Class of ALA Emerging Leaders
• Nominate a superstar librarian for the I Love My Librarian award
• 2020 ALA Annual Conference Program Proposals are Now Open

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• current book challenges in libraries and schools
• articles about privacy, internet filtering and censorship
• ALA activities, conferences and institutes, products, online learning opportunities, awards and grants, international exchanges, and more
• how to get involved and make the most of what ALA offers

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