Intellectual Freedom News 8/28/2020
Highlights
- Douglas County Library Board of Trustees will investigate library director, staff over support for BLM movement | The Sierra Nevada Ally
Censorship
- Debate Over Discussing Race In Grade School Leads to New Teaching Policy | Vermont Public Radio (VPR)
- Gov. Abbott wants Wylie ISD teacher fired for using cartoon comparing police with KKK | Fort Worth Star Telegram
- Remarks On LGBTQ+, BLM Books Bring Calls To Oust Library Trustee | Patch Media
Privacy and Cybersecurity
- As Teachers Livestream Classes, Privacy Issues Arise | Education Week
- Tech’s deepening split over ads and privacy | Axios
- Even Google engineers are confused about Google’s privacy settings | The Verge
- Microsoft says the pandemic has changed the future of cybersecurity in these five ways | TechRepublic
- Clearview AI CEO says “over 2,400 police agencies” use its facial recognition software | The Verge
- How Police Are Using ‘Super Recognizers’ Like Me to Track Criminals | Vice
- Macy’s uses facial recognition software to identify customers on security cameras, lawsuit claims | ABA Journal
- Pittsburgh City Council Introduces Police Facial Recognition, Predictive Policing Ban | Pittsburgh City Paper
- Meet the Star Witness: Your Smart Speaker | Wired
- Utes gotta be kidding me… University of Utah handed $457K to ransomware creeps | The Register
Additional privacy news for this week is available at the Choose Privacy Every Day blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, and Civil Liberties
- Why Trump’s attack on USPS is an attack on the Constitution, democracy, and racial equality | Brookings Institution
- Fighting Words in the Connecticut Supreme Court | Volokh Conspiracy
- Beyond Bostock: The Future of LGBTQ Civil Rights | Center for American Progress
- Weekly anti-Israel protests outside Michigan synagogue protected by First Amendment, federal judge rules | Jewish News Syndicate
- Court finds parts of anti-riot law violate free speech | StarTribune (MN)
- Commentary: Free speech is not free of consequence. Never has been. Never will be. | Virginia Mercury
Access
- From the Editor: “Pods” for the People: Libraries Host Learning Pods to Serve Students in Need | School Library Journal
- US faces back-to-school laptop shortage | AP News
- Zoom is now critical infrastructure. That’s a concern | Brookings
- Library makes tough decision, but correct |Daily Leader Extra (SD) (Internet Filtering)
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- Online school forces America to confront the digital divide | Fast Company
- Digital divide, homework gaps mar move to online learning, engagement, says Quizlet report | ZDNet
- It’s Not Too Late to Save the Internet | Slate
- Chamber Of Commerce Backs Bid To Block California Net Neutrality Law | Digital News Daily
- High speed internet access still an issue for rural areas | NNY360
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- SIU Discussion Focuses on Hate Speech, Accountability | WSIU
- EFF Sues Texas A&M University Once Again to End Censorship Against PETA on Facebook and YouTube | Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Syracuse University places professor on leave after syllabus calls COVID-19 ‘Wuhan flu’ | The Daily Orange
Fake News, Free Press, Social Media
- Alert: NTIA Section 230 Petition Raises Significant Legal and Policy Issues at FCC | JD Supra
- NTIA Petition is Next Step in President’s Retaliatory Campaign Targeting First Amendment Protected Speech | Center for Democracy and Technology
- What should we do about QAnon now that it has gone mainstream? | Columbia Journalism Review
- Most Americans think social media companies are censoring people | Vox
- Social media censorship spawns Parler popularization and free speech discussions | Baylor Lariat
- Reddit reports 18 percent reduction in hateful content after banning nearly 7,000 subreddits | The Verge
- Threatened by Facebook Disinformation, a Monk Flees Cambodia | The New York Times
- Llewellyn King: Save Disgusting Social Media From Censorship | Prescott eNews
Copyright
Around the Web
- How Labeling Books as “Diverse” Reinforces White Supremacy | Lee & Low Blog
- Federal Appeals Court Backs Gavin Grimm in Long-Running Transgender Case | Education Week
- Rebecca Solnit on Twitter Conspiracies, QAnon, and the Case of the Two-Faced Mailboxes | Literary Hub
- Speak Up Book Club aims to educate children on issues of social justice | KTSP
- Burnout, splinter factions and deleted posts: Unpaid online moderators struggle to manage divided communities | The Washington Post
- Oscar nom Jacki Weaver hopes drag queen dramedy ‘Stage Mother’ will inspire real life acceptance | New York Daily News
- Shutting down political entertainment signifies a shift toward authoritarianism and censorship | The Hofstra Chronicle
- Liberation Library Is Pushing for Prison Abolition, One Book at a Time | Vogue
International News
- Anti-Vaxxers Are Suing Facebook Because Fact-Checking is “Censorship” | Gizmodo UK
- Hong Kong censorship fears as protest slogans removed from some textbooks | The Guardian
- Saudi Arabia professors use lasers to create “Aqua-Fi” for underwater internet | TechRepublic
- A limited violation of Net Neutrality can help the education sector in Zimbabwe without serving corporate greed | Techzim
- Kuwaiti writers welcome change to book censorship laws | The National
- Facebook blocks group critical of Thai monarchy amid government pressure | Reuters
- Bloomsbury India pulls Delhi riots book after anti-Muslim controversy | The Guardian
- The Zen Master Explains: Why banning ‘fascist’ books is completely ‘liberal’ | The Free Press Journal
- Australian public servant condemns censorship after blogpost cost him his job | The Guardian
ALA News
- ‘Moana’ star Auli’i Cravalho encourages families to be counted in the U.S. Census
- Public Library Association, National Center for Families Learning grant aims to support increased Latinx parent participation in U.S. libraries
- AASL partners with the Human Rights Campaign to help LGBTQ students THRIVE
Subscribe to future issues of Intellectual Freedom News, a free weekly compilation of news delivered to your inbox by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, including
- 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