Intellectual Freedom News 8/27/2026
Highlights
- ALA Opens 2027 Annual Conference & Exhibition Call for Proposals | ALA
- Skip Dye to Receive BISG Lifetime Achievement Award | Publishers Weekly
Censorship
- Deja Vu Part Two | Tx FReadom Fighters (TX)
- Somerset Board of Education Responds to State Superintendent’s Stay of New Media Policy | WMDT (MD)
- Maryland blocks controversial Somerset school library policy | Baltimore Sun (MD)
- Children’s book ‘Elmer’ sparks classroom-content dispute on Higley school board | Queen Creek Independent (AZ)
- West Valley NAACP challenges Peoria school district’s removal of three books | Arizona’s Family (AZ)
- Utah schools ban book that inspired 2009 Sundance film ‘Precious’ | KPCW (UT)
- St. Charles City-County Library rejects challenge to ban Bible | FOX2Now (MO)
- This Utah school district didn’t talk about ‘Fight Club.’ Now, it could be in trouble with the state. | Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
- Wake schools set to update policies on equity, book challenges after state budget | WRAL (NC)
- Harford County schools seek community members to review challenged library books | CBS News (MD)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Spying device detectors may give domestic abuse victims false sense of security, study finds | Guardian
- As workplace surveillance grows, experts say it’s good to know the ways your employer is watching | AP
- Amid intense backlash, people are vandalizing Flock surveillance cameras | NPR
- Flock Safety alternatives: new names, same surveillance | NPR
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- Texas’ limits on certain drag shows ruled unconstitutional again | Texas Tribune (TX)
- Postal Service Publishes Finalized Plan to Restrict Mail Ballots | New York Times
- Trump threatens lawsuit against nonprofit that questioned whether National Guard plan lessened crime | PBS
- Federal judge says FIU violated First Amendment rights of anti-ICE student protesters | WLRN
- Speech, Not Citizenship: NCAC Backs First Amendment Rights of Noncitizens in Two Federal Appeals | NCAC
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- Where Fighting Antisemitism Ends and Censorship Begins | LA Progressive (California)
- U.S. Department of Education Proposes Sweeping Overhaul of Higher Education Accreditation System | JD Supra
- UH removes over 45% of courses from its ‘core’ curriculum to comply with SB 37 | Houston Public Media (TX)
- As school year starts, Iowa campuses told to answer Trump administration questions | Gazette
- New Ohio-required civics class raises questions of academic freedom | Cincinnati Enquirer (OH)
- Nebraska school district censors anti-ICE cartoon, forces prior approval on student press | FIRE (NE)
- Academia’s Problem Is Bigger Than Tenure’s Decline | Dispatch
- Trump Attack on Higher Ed ‘More Serious Than McCarthy Era’ | Inside Higher Ed
- AFT and AAUP on Department of War Directive Targeting 30 Universities | AFT
Legislation
State & Local Governance
- NYSED warns Peninsula Public Library board over governance issues | LI Herald (NY)
- Alabama Public Library Service staff, board at odds over new compliance employee | Alabama Reflector (AL)
- Library service punts on hiring compliance czar | Alabama Political Reporter (AL)
Social Media & A.I.
- How Do You Safely Test ‘Superhuman’ A.I. Models? No One Really Knows. | New York Times
- Shortly After Filing, Government Upholds CatsOnACouch Creator’s Right to Attend Vance Event Today | ACLU
Media & Digital Literacy
- Washington Post Ordered to Rehire Fired Columnist | New York Times
- One battle after another: A warrior for press freedom in the time of Trump | Seattle Times
- Why Polling Chaos Could Create Big Problems for American Politics | New York Times
- Pentagon dismisses Stars and Stripes leadership after editor, reporter oppose military interference | AP
- Presidents and the press: Trump’s unprecedented assault | Free Speech Center
International
- SHC directs Sindh censors to ‘reconsider’ decision barring screenings of Ghost School | Images (Pakistan)
- Coverage of My Book Being Banned Proves the Thesis of the Book | Column (Australia)
Around the Web
- We must not let our history books be banned and burned | Letter | Portland Press Herald
- Letter: Utah’s book bans protect adults, not young people | Salt Lake Tribune
- Why Dan Patrick should focus on getting kids to read, not police their books | Houston Chronicle
- Let Utah Read co-founder to lead Park City conversation on book bans, First Amendment | TownLift
- Dan Patrick called this book ‘dirty, filthy and vulgar.’ So we read it. | Houston Chronicle
- Moffitt Library is back — and built for a new generation of UC Berkeley students | UC Berkeley Library
- Dan Patrick has a Parent Problem. | Anger & Clarity
- Cleveland Public Library workers are set to strike after rejecting contract offer | Cleveland.com
- Cancellation backfires but we are at it again | Jewish Independent
- It’s One of Our Greatest and Most Controversial Novels. How Should It Be Taught? | New York Times
- Massachusetts has a better approach for book challenges: due process | FIRE
- Come and Take Them, Dan Patrick | Texas Observer
- Internet Censorship’s Implications on Academic Research: Motivating an Academic Accessibility by Design | Communications of the ACM
- DC Public Library says Dolly Parton program helped over 100K local children | WPDE
ALA News
- AASL Opens Call for Standards Crosswalk and Position Statement Task Forces
- AASL Commends Linked2Literacy
- Core Webinar: Building Equitable, Actionable Feedback Cultures
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