Intellectual Freedom News 9/4/2020
Highlights
- How Libraries Can Save the 2020 Election | New York Times; “In surveys, libraries rank among the most trusted institutions in America. They assist with the census and offer voter registration services. They are open to everyone. They are nonpartisan. They are free.”
- Freedom to Read Foundation announces six recipients of 2020 Banned Books Week event grants | FTRF
- Douglas County Library Director speaks about BLM investigation, community response | Sierra Nevada Ally
- Douglas County’s disheartening reaction to Black Lives Matter| Reno Gazette Journal
Censorship
- Update: An 8th grade social studies assignment is pulled after criticism from a police group and Texas governor | CNN
- 8th-Grader Suspended for “Search[ing] for Inappropriate Topics,” Such as “Worst WWI Gun” | Volokh Conspiracy (NY)
- Libraries don’t hide controversial material, especially during a national movement | Intellectual Freedom Blog
Privacy and Cybersecurity
- Surveillance program that gathered Americans’ phone data was illegal, court finds | The Washington Post
- Eight case studies on regulating biometric technology show us a path forward | MIT Technology Review
- Facial Recognition: CBP and TSA are Taking Steps to Implement Programs, but CBP Should Address Privacy and System Performance Issues | GAO
- GAO report on DHS use of facial recognition on travelers | Papers, Please!
- How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism | OneZero
- Trump administration plans expanded use of personal data | KSAT (TX)
- Tech’s deepening split over ads and privacy | Axios
More privacy news is available at the Choose Privacy Every Day blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, and Civil Liberties
- High court upholds criminal conviction of Greenwich man who uttered racial slur | CTInsider.
- EDITORIAL: ‘Hate speech’ isn’t necessarily protected | The Tahlequah Daily Press (OK)
- Panama City Beach wins First Amendment lawsuit filed by local talk show host | Panama City News Herald (FL)
- Some see age-old playbook in new Tennessee protest law | The Associated Press
- Sixth Circuit Considers Public Employee’s Off-the-Clock Social Media Post in First Amendment Case | The National Law Review
- Former ACLU president says censoring hate speech can backfire – just like it did in Nazi Germany | Jewish Telegraphic Agency
- Apple formalizes freedom of speech commitments following investor pressure over China censorship | 9to5Mac
- Cussing Cheerleader Case Needs Supreme Court Review, School Says | Bloomberg Law
- Will Joe Rogan Have The Guts To Call Out Spotify For ‘Censorship’? | CNN
Access
- By the Numbers: Rural and Small Libraries | American Libraries
- Libraries Roll Back In-Person Services Due to COVID-19 Contact, Local Resurgence | Library Journal
- Getting to Know Your School Librarian from a Safe Distance | Knowledge Quest
- How Vendors Are Working with Academic Libraries in Their Pivot to Digital | Library Journal
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- Bipartisan, Bicameral Tribal Connect Act Introduced To Increase High-Speed Internet Access In Indian Country | U.S. House of Representatives
- Internet Access and the Digital Divide | WORT (WI)
- Hypocritical AT&T Makes A Mockery Of Itself; Says 230 Should Be Reformed For Real Net Neutrality | Techdirt
- Fighting Hate Speech Online Means Keeping Section 230, Not Burying It | Tech Policy Greenhouse by Techdirt
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Central Michigan University drops professor who used racial slur from website, report says he’s gone | MLive Media Group
- UMD student starts petition against hate symbols on campus | KBJR Television
- EDITORIAL: CU gets ‘Green Light’ for protecting freedom | The Gazette (CO)
- Missouri State students upset over masking guidelines that had previously mentioned swastikas | KY3 (MO)
Fake News, Free Press, Social Media
- The Pentagon has ordered Stars and Stripes to shut down for no good reason | USA Today
- Americans See Skepticism of News Media as Healthy, Say Public Trust in the Institution Can Improve | Pew Research Center
- Facebook ‘Update to Our Terms’ October 2020: Here’s what that weird message is all about | Fast Company
- Facebook removes GOP lawmaker’s post for inciting violence | The Hill
- Facebook tries to head off election turmoil, angering both Trump and Democrats | The Washington Post
- How hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweet | Brookings Institution
- Facebook takes down Russian operation that recruited U.S. journalists, amid rising concerns about election misinformation | The Washington Post
- Russians Again Targeting Americans With Disinformation, Facebook and Twitter Say | The New York Times
- Online Platforms and the First Amendment Problem | The McGill International Review
- Senate candidate Marshall slams Facebook virus ‘censorship’ | The Charlotte Observer
- Social Media Censorship: A Necessary Evil? | The Humanist.com
- Censorship on social media? It’s not what you think | CBS News
- After sending content moderators home, YouTube doubled its video removals | Protocol
Copyright
- Publishers, Internet Archive Propose Yearlong Discovery Plan for Copyright Case | Publishers Weekly
International News
- Charlie Hebdo Republishes Cartoons That Prompted Deadly 2015 Attack | New York Times
- Rejecting Censorship of His Book, a French Star Economist Stands Up to China | The New York Times
- Thomas Piketty refuses to censor latest book for sale in China | The Guardian (UK)
- Facebook may block news from being shared on its platforms in Australia | The Verge
- Is Facebook Finally Standing up for Free Speech in Southeast Asia? | The Diplomat
- Bangladesh Bans Novel About Sexual Abuse of Boy in Islamic School | BenarNews
- Netflix’ docuseries on Indian billionaires faces censorship battle in courts — thanks to a billionaire | TNW (The Netherlands)
- Textbook censorship threatens to spread China’s collective amnesia to Hong Kong | Hong Kong Free Press
- As Virus Spread, China Ramped Up Keyword Censorship on Social Media | PC Magazine
- Belarus: Internet Disruptions, Online Censorship | Human Rights Watch
- Belarus Turned Off the Internet. Its Citizens Hot-Wired It. |Gizmodo
Around the Web
- Opinion: Covid Is Accelerating a Global Censorship Crisis | Wired
- Parents’ business highlights kids’ books with Black characters | The Washington Post
- What other cities can learn from LA in wake of violent anti-transgender attack | Weis Radio
- Pump Up The Volume! Boosting the Signal of School Librarians | Knowledge Quest
- Necessary Trouble: Eradicating information poverty | American Libraries
- Opinion: Controlling Thought | The Statesman (India)
- 2020 ALA Award Winners: Honoring excellence and leadership in the profession | American Libraries
- Newsmaker: Laurie Halse Anderson | American Libraries
- 10 Great Children’s Books About Voting and Elections | Book Riot
- The Right and Wrong Way To Make Decisions in a Crisis | Reimagining Libraries | School Library Journal
- After Crisis, Opportunity: Embracing Antiracist Teaching | School Library Journal
- Rival groups contest free speech in Huntington | The Daily Hampshire Gazette
- The bizarre rise of woke kids’ books | Spiked
ALA News
- Libraries Ready to Code Opens Call for Applications: Virtual Learning and Enhancement Grants; Due September 17, 2020
- ALA Scholarship Application for 2021 Now Open; Due March 1, 2021
- Core webinar will help you build a communications plan to convey your library’s values
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