Intellectual Freedom News 7/18/2025
Highlights
- American Library Association to present during the United Nations High-Level Political Forum | ALA
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Albin O. Kuhn Library, Dean | Isaacson, Miller
Censorship
- Here Are the 596 Books Being Banned by Defense Department Schools | Military.com
- Book bans seemingly continue after being prohibited in Minnesota | MN Daily (MN)
- JLARC says some school districts are incorrectly citing a 2022 law when removing books from libraries | Virginia Scope (VA)
- Hanover Schools has removed more books from its libraries than any other school division in Virginia | WRIC (VA)
- Controversial Sumner County policy banning transgender books fails, again. What to know | Tennessean (TN)
- Georgia officials who fired librarian over LGBTQ book face pressure to reverse decision | Chattanooga Times Free Press (GA)
- St. Charles City-County Library board to consider revising book ban policy | St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
- “Gender Queer” Gets Stashed: Roxbury Board’s Vote Sparks Policy Clash | TAPinto Roxbury (NJ)
- State report: Hanover County leads Virginia with most removed books | WVTF (VA)
- Book battle: Another Alabama library debating what’s appropriate for children – ‘It’s an agenda’ | AL.com (AL)
- APLS board chair bans books connected to ‘gender ideology’ | Alabama Reflector (AL)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Justice Dept. Demands Patient Details From Trans Medicine Providers | New York Times
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- I.R.S. Says Churches Can Endorse Candidates From the Pulpit | New York Times
- US Supreme Court’s opt-out for LGBTQ materials doesn’t cancel out Oregon’s new book ban law | Oregon Public Broadcasting (OR)
- Federal judge orders stop to indiscriminate immigration raids in Los Angeles | NPR (CA)
- Natural Rights in State Courts | State Court Report
- Who are First Amendment auditors? Encounters with them prompted police calls in California | Scripps News (CA)
- How covering your face became a constitutional matter: Mask debate tests free-speech rights | Free Speech Center
- Greene County staff permitted to speak to press after pushback from First Amendment groups | Daily Progress (VA)
- Lafayette Public Library board votes to settle federal free speech lawsuit | Arcadiania Advocate (LA)
- Evanston teacher to file discrimination complaint; advocates say appeals for Palestinian human rights are squelched | Chicago Tribune (IL)
- Anti-Israel speech from lawful non-citizens likely protected by First Amendment, federal judge says | CNN
- Appeals court reinstates Arkansas Critical Race Theory ban | NPR (AR)
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- Inside the Conservative Campaign That Took Down a University President | New York Times (VA)
- UVA President Jim Ryan’s Resignation and the Cost to Academic Freedom | Feminist Majority Foundation
- Educators, students criticize a ‘pattern of censorship’ at Evanston Ceasefire event | Daily Northwestern (IL)
- Are ‘divisive concepts’ the new evolution? | Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN)
- Ohio’s smart people exodus? How many out-of-state schools will seize on disastrous college law? | Cleveland.com (OH)
- Texas just gutted free speech on college campuses. Is your state next? | Washington Post (TX)
- Trump targets university accreditation—a non-governmental designation | University Business
- Trump’s War on Education Is Driving Academics Like Me to Europe | TIME
- Knight Institute Sounds Alarm Over New Restrictions On Campus Speech | Knight First Amendment Institute
Legislation
- In Wake of Court Losses, Rhode Island Codifies ‘Right to Read’ | Publishers Weekly (RI)
- Senate Advances Trump Clawback of Foreign Aid and Public Broadcast Funds | New York Times
- Defying party, Ayotte vetoes school book removal bill, other Republican legislation | New Hampshire Bulletin (NH)
State & Local Governance
- She lost her Hillsborough school board bid. Now she’s on the State Board. | Tampa Bay Times (FL)
- Budget cuts “significant, not devastating” according to Mahoning library director | Mahoning Matters (OH)
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- Carr Eliminates Already Defunct Net Neutrality Regulations | BroadbandBreakfast
Social Media & AI
- Texas Social Media Law Violates First Amendment, ACLU Argues | ACLU (TX)
- Justices pass on review of teacher’s free speech claim | Minnesota Lawyer
- AI poses threats of discrimination and violations of civil liberties, ACLU says | My Ozarks Online
- Orwellian ‘newspeak’ and political censorship on social media | Baptist News Global
- The campaign to make it illegal for ChatGPT to criticize Trump | Platformer
Journalism & Media
- The conservative weapon bringing down university presidents and law reviews | Boston Globe
- Congress Agrees to Claw Back Foreign Aid and Public Broadcast Funds | New York Times
- This Is Why America Needs Public Media | New York Times
- Foreign journalists in the U.S. are self-censoring to protect themselves from the Trump administration | Poynter
- Defeat the Press: How Donald Trump’s Attacks on News Outlets Undermine the First Amendment | Variety
Disinformation & Media Literacy
- What’s the real cost of disinformation for corporations? | World Economic Forum
- The Climate Of Misinformation: Why Business Must Now Defend The Truth | Forbes
- Combat disinformation about gender research | Science
International
- Banned Book Week UK to return in October 2025 after hiatus | Bookseller (United Kingdom)
- Alberta used lists of America’s most banned books and a controversial database to identify ‘inappropriate’ material in schools | Albertan (Canada)
- A look at new rules for school library books and what won’t be allowed on shelves | Cochrane Eagle (Canada)
- Case closed after ‘Russian disinfo’ claims led to persecution of NZ journalist | Grayzone (New Zealand)
- Russia Makes ‘Unprecedented’ Censorship Admission | Newsweek (Russia)
- German court slaps down library ‘warning labels’ on ‘controversial books’ | Brussels Signal (Germany)
- Pakistan dispatch: Islamabad court targets Pakistan’s last social media outlet for dissent with YouTube censorship order | Jurist News (Pakistan)
Around the Web
- ‘There is no political power without power over the archive’ | Observer
- Pride Is Disappearing in Libraries Across the U.S.: Book Censorship News: July 11, 2025 | Book Riot
- What a Smaller Education Department Is Doing Under Trump | New York Times
- 24 States Sue Trump Over $6.8 Billion Withheld From Education | New York Times
- Self-Censorship Is Silencing Americans in Public | FlaglerLive
- Book bans and good trouble | Fernandina Observer
- How Do You Fix Schools? Teachers Union Says Stop Trump, ICE, and Fascism | Free Press
- After months of debate, St. Tammany Council picks two 2 library board members | NOLA
- A Brooklyn Church Opens a Banned Book Library | BKReader
- The Ugly Stereotype Beneath the Supreme Court Ruling on LGBTQIA+ Books | Opinion | School Library Journal
- Downers Grove Library Board turns first page in search for new executive director | Daily Herald
- California Shows How States Can Step Up for Young Students With Disabilities | 74
- Why You Should Exercise Your Freedom to Read | Psychology Today
- Author Margaret Atwood to Receive Eleanor Roosevelt Lifetime Achievement Award for Bravery in Literature Oct. 11 with PEN America Co-Presenting Awards at Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Ceremony | PEN America
ALA News
- Susan D. Ballard receives AASL Distinguished Service Award
- Critical information literacy topics, programs, and lessons
- The AI and data revolution
- Social media in healthcare information
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