Category: Self-Censorship
Q&A with Author Lance Rubin on the Suppression of his YA Novel in South Carolina
Author Lance Rubin published Denton Little’s Deathdate in 2015. It follows a teenage boy named Denton Little who – like everyone else in the world he inhabits – knows the exact date on which they are going to die. Based on a single complaint in August of 2017, the book was pulled from all the Beaufort County School District’s physical and digital library shelves without following the district’s own procedure.
Be Wary of “Self-Censorship”
Conservatives who decry the evils of political correctness often attack it for demanding self-censorship. Progressives argue that they’re just asking for civil discourse, not enforcing self-censorship. So, who’s right?
Self-Censorship as Self-Preservation
Advocating for and ensuring access to diverse books and resources was one of the main reasons I decided to become a librarian. But, as a new librarian in a huge new city, I’ve become more unsure of myself and have found myself self-censoring.
Xicanas/Latinas and Intellectual Freedom in College: When Reading is Political
As information communities, as librarians, and educators, information literacy principles and first amendment freedoms are at the core to motivating students in college. Confronting self-censorship, academic development, and the ability to practice intellectual freedom is what Xicana/Latina students encounter in higher education.
Somewhere in Pakistan: Diary of a Young Aspiring Writer
It is not only the religion that becomes the cause of censorship; politics and interests of the government are secondary causes. Censorship has always been strongly imposed upon journalism, and due to this tradition, authors have gotten into the habit of self-censoring their work.
Trigger Warnings and Intellectual Freedom
Trigger warnings, initially designed to give advance notice of content potentially detrimental to those who have suffered trauma, have made their way into everyday situations and become code for ‘stuff that may be offensive or upsetting.’
Lester Asheim in Cyberspace: A Tribute to Sound Reasoning
This article first appeared in American Libraries in October 2002 and connects Lester Asheim’s timeless arguments and applies them to the cyber age. Asheim’s article is still cited by library science community decades later when dealing with the problems of cyber materials.
‘Safe’ Censorship: A Twisty Road of Understanding
One of the hardest things about censorship is that it can come from a good place — an urge to protect or shield someone from something “bad.”
Translators on Trial: A Form of Post-Censorship in Turkey
Censorship has proved in many periods and contexts to be one of the most common products of this tension. Turkish history of translation is no exception.
Kate Messner’s Wish
“When we quietly censor books that deal with tough issues like heroin addiction or books like Alex Gino’s GEORGE, which is a wonderful story about a transgender fourth grader, we are hurting kids. Because no matter where we teach, we have students who are living these stories. When we say, “This book is inappropriate,” we’re telling those children, “Your situation…your family…your life is inappropriate.” This is harmful. It directly hurts children. And that’s not what we do.”