Intellectual Freedom News 8/31/18
August 31, 2018 – Collated by OIF Staff and News Editors
Intellectual Freedom Highlights
- Dear Banned Author – What would you say to your favorite banned and challenged author? This Banned Books Week (September 23-29), we’re hosting a Dear Banned Author letter-writing campaign, and we hope you’ll join us! Visit the website to find author addresses, programming tools and printable postcards.
Censorship
- Official: Library budget cut not a retaliation for Drag Queen Story Hour | AL.com (AL)
- Official resigns amid debate over ‘Drag Queen Story Time’ | The New York Times (LA)
- Do inmates have access to crime novels? | CrimeReads.com
- Classic books among titles challenged in Texas schools, libraries | San Angelo Standard Times (TX)
- Most wanted: The books banned at the Guantanamo Bay detainee library | Independent
Privacy
- Who needs democracy when you have data? Here’s how China rules using data, AI, and internet surveillance. | MIT Technology Review
- Welcome to the Age of Privacy Nihilism | The Atlantic
- Beware of Tech Companies Bearing Privacy Laws | Slate
- FBI’s encryption fight with Facebook could have broad impact on smartphone users’ privacy | Washington Post
- The way you hold your phone. They can’t take that away from you, but they can track it. | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- The Fight Over California’s Privacy Bill Has Only Just Begun | WIRED
- Bipartisan Senate Quartet in Talks on Data Privacy Bill | Bloomberg
- How to protect your privacy on the internet (Infographic) | Library for Smart Investors
- The future of privacy | Lexology
See this week’s additional privacy news and updates on the Choose Privacy Everyday blog.
Net Neutrality and Broadband Access
- Library (ACRL, ALA, ARL) and education organizations file amicus brief in support of net neutrality | InfoDocket
- California passes far reaching net neutrality rules | Forbes
- California pledged to protect net neutrality – the showdown is here | Los Angeles Times
- In Utah visit, FCC chairman says Congress – not his agency – should pass rules on ‘net neutrality’ | The Salt Lake Tribune
- Internet groups urge U.S. court to reinstate ‘net neutrality’ rules | Reuters
- Robocalls tell seniors net neutrality raises phone bills by $30 | Ars Technica
- Verizon’s throttling of firefighter data during California fire raises net neutrality concerns | C|Net
- Verizon pledges to no longer throttle first responders’ data speeds | Digital Trends
- Small-town ingenuity is making gigabit broadband a reality | Wired
Access
- Defending Intellectual Freedom: LGBTQ+ Materials in School Libraries – AASL Webinar on October 10, 2018
- U.S. judge extends ban of online 3-D printed gun blueprints | Reuters
- Chicago, suburban libraries brace for the question: Can I print out a 3D gun? | Chicago Tribune
- 3-D Printing in Libraries: Policies & Best Practices | ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom
- Who gets to read the research we pay for? | Slate; “Peer-reviewed research, often funded at least in part by taxpayers, is still difficult to access, as it’s almost entirely published in scientific journals that sit behind some of the priciest paywalls imaginable. “
- California bill is a win for access to scientific research | Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Getting Started: New IFLA guide on making the Marrakesh Treaty real | IFLA
- US appeals court in Chicago revives lawsuit on books in jail | AP News
- Closed Georgia libraries win reprieve | Library Journal
- The Tor e-book embargo and reluctant readers | OIF Blog
Internet Filters
Free Press, Social Media, and Fake News
- Trump Has Changed How Teens View the News | The Atlantic
- Congress to Hold Hearings on Social Media, Big Tech Regulation Issues | eWeek
- Potential Policy Proposals for Regulation of Social Media and Technology Firms | U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner
- Trump warns that Google and other tech giants ‘better be careful’ | Politico
- Google responds to Trump: Denies favoring ideologies in search results | The Hill
- Why Google Doesn’t Rank Right-Wing Outlets Highly | The Atlantic
- Trump broadens attack on Silicon Valley companies | The Hill
- Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple ‘censored’ conservative content, $1 billion lawsuit claims | San Jose Mercury News
- DARE: Pittsburgh becomes largest U.S. city without a daily print newspaper | PEN America
- Why social media shouldn’t censor hate speech | The Atlantic
- Trump vows to fight censorship of conservatives by social media firms | The New York Times
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Do college librarians have academic freedom? Amid push, California’s ‘will not be silent’ | The Chronicle of Higher Education
- As anti-academic anger goes global, 11 American colleges revive an institution for exiles | The Chronicle of Higher Education
First Amendment and Free Speech
- Trump’s economic adviser: ‘We’re taking a look’ at whether Google searches should be regulated | The Washington Post
- What role should governments play in regulating speech online? | Marketplace
- Trump complains about bias on Twitter and Google — but what can he do about it? 8 experts weigh in. | Vox
- Federal appeals court rules rejects challenge to ‘In God We Trust’ on currency | Jurist
- Trump unblocks more Twitter users after U.S. court ruling | Reuters
Around the Web
- Leading the Conversation against Book Ratings and “Red Flags”: A Call to Action for English Teachers | NCTE Blog
- What Rural America Can Teach Us About Civil Society | Stanford Social Innovation Review
- The Internet of Garbage by Sarah Jeong | The Verge
- Homosexuality shouldn’t be censored | The Daily Eastern News
- Vast theft of antiquarian books sends a shudder through a cloistered world of dealers | The New York Times
- 15 cities across U.S. to hold Banned Together censorship concerts during Banned Books Week | Playbill; “Theatre artists in 15 cities across the U.S. will unite during Banned Books Week (September 23–29) for Banned Together 2018, a series of “censorship cabarets” featuring material from plays and musicals that have been censored or challenged on American stages.”
- An interview with poet and editor H. Melt | OIF Blog
- Happy (belated) birthday, Alex Haley! | OIF Blog
International Issues
- Leading rights groups call on Google not to censor its search engine in China | Time
- State Counselor tells Education Minister to improve library access | Irrawaddy.com (Burma)
- When freedom isn’t free: Journalism, Facebook, and censorship in Bhutan | The Diplomat
- In Brazil, ‘Queer Museum’ is censored, debated, then celebrated | The New York Times
ALA News
- Jefferson, Werner seek 2020-21 ALA presidency
- ALA files amicus brief in support of net neutrality protections
- Volunteer to serve on ALA, Council, and joint committees for 2019 – 2021
- I Love My Librarian! 2018 Award nominations now open
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