April 9, 2022 - Collated by OIF Staff and News Editor on the Intellectual Freedom Blog

Highlights

• Free Speech Under Attack: Book Bans and Academic Censorship | House Oversight Committee on Oversight and Reform
  • ALA Letter Submitted to House Oversight Committee Addressing The Unpopularity and Unconstitutionality of Banning Books from our Libraries

Censorship

• Efforts to ban books jumped an 'unprecedented' four-fold in 2021, ALA report says | OPB/NPR
  • Book challenges reach record highs | Book and Film Globe
  • Book banning efforts surged in 2021. These titles were the most targeted. | New York Times
  • Book banning and threats against librarians soared over past year, report shows | Huff Post/AP
  • In a record year for book ban attempts, ALA says these 10 books were challenged most | NPR
• Follett reverses course on parental controls for customers facing censorship legislation | Publishers Weekly
  • School library software tests parent-controlled censorship system | Input
• Texas Senate committees ordered to review university tenure, public school library books | KERA News
• Author of Pulitzer Prize-winning Attica history suing New York over ban on book in prisons | Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
• Williamson County Schools temporarily removes library app over social justice book | Tennessean
• Francis Howell School Board candidates talk critical race theory, controversial books | KMOV (MO)
• Adams 12 parent complains about graphic books, 1 of them in school library | KDVR (CO)
• Anti-censorship group slams Rep. Jared Patterson's book ban quest | Dallas Morning News
• Controversial books continue to be topic of public comment at county school board meetings | Daily News-Record (VA)
• Sharpsburg Library says someone is moving books around in possible attempt at censorship | KDKA (PA)
• Despite challenge, Kan. school district won't remove Bible form libraries, classrooms | Salina Post
• Parents livid over 'explicit' books in Ga. schools, one mom banned from board meetings | WSET
• Alabama civil rights speaker says she was snubbed by Florida school over CRT fears | AL.com
• More books are banned than ever before, as Congress takes on the issue | Washington Post
  • Chairman Raskin to hold hearing on politically motivated efforts to ban books and censor free speech in schools and public libraries | House Committee on Oversight and Reform
  • Midstate students, librarian testifies at banned books hearing | WHTM
• NCAC objects to removal of library books in Texas school district | National Coalition Against Censorship
• Board votes to ban critical race theory in Placentia-Yorba Linda school district | Los Angeles Times
• Warren County supervisor says 'inappropriate' books spark parents' concerns | Northern Virginia Daily
• Wilson County board keeps books in school libraries | WSMV (TN)
• Ridgeland board, library yet to come to agreement | Online Madison (WI)
• Protesters accuse Wake of having obscene books in schools: ‘There is no excuse’ | News & Observer (NC)
• Hudson school board set to vote on whether 'Gender Queer' can return to library bookshelf | Akron Beacon Journal

Privacy & Cybersecurity

• You're still being tracked on the Internet, just in a different way | New York Times
• Utah joins California, Colorado, and Virginia with omnibus privacy law | JD Supra
• Google's EdTech data raises questions for Illinois privacy law | Bloomberg Law

More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.

First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties

• Picking out American Muslims at border, to question about religion, is unconstitutional | San Diego Union-Tribune
• First Amendment at center of lawsuit against 'don't say gay' law | Flagler Live (FL)
  • Florida sued by activists, students, parents, and teachers over LGBT school censorship bill | Reason
• Judge rules removal of artwork depicting man killed by police did not violate free speech | The Art Newspaper
• U.S. must face suit over Trump's separation of migrant kids | Bloomberg Law
• Republican judges are waging a bizarre war against the First Amendment right to protest | Vox
• Texas District Court strikes down state drone law on First Amendment grounds | JD Supra
• Noem administration ordered to pay attorney fees after First Amendment violation | Dakota News Now (SD)
• Supreme Court reflects nation’s deep divide over Constitution and religion | ABA Journal

Academic Freedom & Campus Speech

• Little-known civil liberties group tests limits of free speech at San Diego State University | San Diego Union-Tribune
• I’m a Conservative Professor Who Opposed Safe Spaces. I Was Wrong. | New York Times
• Judge refuses to block 'intellectual freedom' surveys | Citrus County Chronicle
  • Read the intellectual freedom survey being sent to all Florida public college campuses | Tallahassee Democrat
  • Florida university professors react to implementation of 'intellectual freedom' survey | WUSF
  • Union urges ignoring 'intellectual freedom' surveys | WCTV
  • UW System delays free speech survey that contributed to resignation of UW-Whitewater Chancellor | Badger Herald
• Provost's academic freedom letter praised but panel wants stronger protections | University Times
• The cure for hate speech is not more speech | American Prospect
• At UF library, the Karl Marx study room is gone, sparking protests | Yahoo! News
• Colleges Should Pay Heed to Oberlin’s Costly Libel Case | Washington Post

Legislation

• Georgia Senate votes to limit discussions on race in public schools | Ebony
  • School censorship bills clear both Georgia chambers | St. Clair News-Aegis
• Organizers condemn anti-critical race theory bills as another is introduced | FOX 28 (SC)
• Opponents of Mississippi's anti-critical race theory law fear whitewashing of history | Guardian
• Reading list: CRT and book bans in Tennessee schools | Chalkbeat
  • Tennessee students: CRT laws promote bias in school, hurt mental health | Chalkbeat
• Florida 'curriculum transparency' law draws ire from LGBTQ+ activists | Bay News 9
• Constitutional ban on 'critical race theory' in Arizona schools, universities is one vote away from the November ballot | The 74
• Texas Senate committee ordered to review university tenure, public school library books | KERA/NPR
• Two bipartisan bills would protect kids and teens from Instagram | The Hill
• South Dakota restricts teaching of critical race theory | CNN
• Indiana lawmakers forgo bill restricting school library materials | Ballotpedia
• Now Republicans are defunding libraries | Idaho State Journal
  • Lawmakers are forming a committee to investigate the library menace. Why stop there? | Idaho Statesman

Social Media

• Roger Stone says he was 'censored' on Trump's Truth Social app | Business Insider
• Facebook is facing a much more black-and-white content battle against Russian misinformation than it has with the pandemic and 2020 US presidential election, expert says | Yahoo! News

Journalism & Media

• Local media's access to breaking news threatened by encrypted police radios | Times of San Diego

Information Literacy & Disinformation

• The big idea: How to win the fight against disinformation | Guardian
• Russia disinformation on Ukraine spreads on Spanish-speaking social media | NBC News
• Ukraine war is more about disinformation than cyberattacks | Washington Post
• US rightwing figures in step with Kremlin over Ukraine disinformation, experts say | Guardian
• We're all being manipulated the same way | Atlantic

International News

• Canadian agency says it's observed 'numerous Russia-backed disinformation campaigns' | The Hill
• Marlborough's libraries don't censor books just because someone takes offence | Stuff
• 'I won't stop talking': Ukrainians in China fight disinformation | France 24
• Canada's Supreme Court declines to overturn the country's first anti-piracy web-block | Complete Music Update
• India blocks 22 YouTube channels over alleged disinformation | La Prensa Latina

Around the Web

• Speak up for school librarians in Ohio | The People's Defender
• Library offers special morning hours for homeless people | Mail Tribune (OR)
• ‘An Assault on Many Fronts’: Students, parents, employees and administrators at historically Black colleges and universities are wrestling with the mental health challenges caused by repeated bomb threats. | Inside Higher Ed
• Critical race theory sticking point among Arkansas Senate District 22 candidates | Arkansas Online
• How a diverse coalition in a red state shut down anti-CRT legislation | CNN (IN)
• Opinion: Critical race theory is just the latest political boogeyman | Deseret News
• Anti-CRT candidate, former state school board member on shortlist for Ohio's new education superintendent | LimaOhio.com
• The viral classroom Nazi salute video has an even darker backstory. I lived it | Rolling Stone
• A book list for teens who refuse to be told what they can't read | KCUR/NPR
• Johnson County librarians share opposition to book banning | Daily Iowan
• Arlington Public Library takes a stand against banning books in schools | FOX 5 DC
• Missoula library board letter emphasizes stance against censorship | NBC Montana
• 10 Black writers' names are added to Central Library's limestone engravings | Indianapolis Star
• The banning of Persepolis to be turned into its own graphic novel | Bleeding Cool
• Despite rising 'book bans,' queer romance novels have never been more popular | Teen Vogue
• Riverside bookstore hosts Drag Queen Story Time despite opposition | Press-Enterprise
• These kids' authors are telling the stories of trans youth. Book bans won't stop them | NPR
• Impact of censorship discussed at Bexley Public Library event | Columbus Dispatch
• Nikole Hannah-Jones calls wave of book bans inevitable backlash to 2020 protests | Bloomberg
• Imagine IF Library Board Affirms Decision to Not Appeal Loss of Funding | Flathead Beacon
• Kalispell's ImagineIF Library faces lack of donor confidence | NBC Montana
• Hall pass: Your ticket to understanding school board politics, edition #7 | Ballotpedia
• Voters cite critical race theory, book bans, teacher pay in Springfield school board votes | Springfield News-Leader (MO)

More ALA News

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