Pew Stateline: “Amid the national uproar about whether to allow students access to a wide variety of books, the superintendent of a Virginia school district this week proposed a sweeping solution: Get rid of school libraries altogether. Mark Taylor, who leads the district in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, suggested at a recent school board meeting that… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Free Speech
Libraries Need More Freedom to Distribute Digital Books
The Atlantic: “Last week, a district court judge in New York ruled on Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive, a case that is likely to shape how we read books on smartphones, tablets, and computers in the future. Although the case hinged on technical details of copyright law, the source of the conflict is… Continue Reading
American Library Association reports record number of demands to censor library books and materials in 2022
“The American Library Association (ALA) today released new data documenting 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago [the 2022 data compiled by ALA represents only a snapshot of book censorship throughout… Continue Reading
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan Issues Sweeping Subpoenas to Universities Studying Misinformation
Pro Publica: “In the subpoenas, Jordan asserted that the schools may have contributed to the Biden administration’s “censorship regime by advising on so-called misinformation. House Republicans have sent letters to at least three universities and a think tank requesting a broad range of documents related to what it says are the institutions’ contributions to the… Continue Reading
Freedom in the World 2023
Freedom House – Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy – Key Findings Global freedom declined for the 17th consecutive year. Moscow’s war of aggression led to devastating human rights atrocities in Ukraine. New coups and other attempts to undermine representative government destabilized Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Peru, and Brazil. Previous years’ coups and ongoing… Continue Reading
Section 230 Won’t Protect ChatGPT
Lawfare, Matt Perault: “The emergence of products fueled by generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT will usher in a new era in the platform liability wars. Previous waves of new communication technologies—from websites and chat rooms to social media apps and video sharing services—have been shielded from legal liability for content posted on their… Continue Reading
Annual Transparency Index Links Corruption with Increased Violence Globally
“The 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released yesterday by Transparency International, concludes that 95% of countries have made little to no progress fighting corruption since 2017. This 21st edition of the index ranks 180 countries and territories by experts’ perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very… Continue Reading
What the First Amendment really says – 4 basic principles of free speech in the US
Via LLRX – What the First Amendment really says – 4 basic principles of free speech in the US – Lynn Greenky, Associate Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Syracuse University delves into Elon Musk’s claim that he believes in free speech no matter what. He calls it a bulwark against tyranny in America and promises… Continue Reading
I’m a teacher in Florida. Here’s what the DeSantis book bans look like in my classroom
The Guardian: “A new crackdown on books in Florida schools has had a chilling effect in classrooms. “I’m done! I’m done! What do I do now?” Every teacher, in every classroom, hears this many (thousands) of times daily from their students. In my classroom, for more than a decade, the answer has always been “Get… Continue Reading
How the Supreme Court ruling on Section 230 could end Reddit as we know it
MIT Technology Review: “February, all eyes will be on the biggest players in tech—Meta, Google, Twitter, YouTube. A legal provision tucked into the Communications Decency Act, Section 230 has provided the foundation for Big Tech’s explosive growth, protecting social platforms from lawsuits over harmful user-generated content while giving them leeway to remove posts at their… Continue Reading
2022 Corruption Perceptions Index reveals scant progress against corruption as world becomes more violent
Berlin, 31 January 2023: “The 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released today by Transparency International shows that most of the world continues to fail to fight corruption: 95 per cent of countries have made little to no progress since 2017. According to the Global Peace Index, the world continues to become a less peaceful place.… Continue Reading
Justice – Official Site
Jezebel – “It’s been nearly five years since Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court by the Senate in a 50-48 vote—despite allegations of sexual misconduct by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez and about 4,500 other tips that the FBI seemingly just kind of ignored. Justice, a new documentary about the botched… Continue Reading
