Berkman Fellow Rebecca MacKinnon has a piece in The Nation about actions the US government is taking about Internet censorship in China and the role of certain technology companies in that censorship and the handing over of data to Chinese authorities.
What role should the United States have in encouraging free speech in other countries?
noticed on [...]
Jessamyn reports on an interesting auction to support the First Amendment Project, a group focusing on protecting and promoting First Amendment rights. Bidders compete to have a name of their choice included in a forthcoming book by several well-known authors.
(Wow. I haven’t posted to this category in /months/!)
Several times, I’ve wanted to start a category for items about free speech and the First Amendment. There’s one now. It includes items about Banned Books Week and challenged library materials, too.
Addendum 3/15: There is going to be some overlap with the Reading department. I’ll try to put items emphasizing the freedom to read in [...]
When I was at a comic book store this weekend my awesome penpal highly recommends, I noticed a collection jar on the counter for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund: Defending the Comic Industry’s First Amendment Rights Since 1986. Based in Northampton, Massachusetts, the nonprofit grew out of donations collected in 1986 to defend someone [...]
LIS News pointed to this item discussing Banned Books Week and the USA Patriot Act. Blake highlights some nice quotes from the article. My favorite is:
“Somewhere these books have been banned from a library, but not here,” said Driftwood library director Sue Jenkins. “All of them are available to check out.”
I still have not finished [...]
Banned Books Week begins today. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on our freedom to read. After I get off work today, I plan to visit my local library to check out some of the banned and challenged books on the lists I pointed to last week. I think I might have some time [...]
Banned Books Week is one of my favorite library-related celebrations. I’ve probably said this a hundred times in this space, but one of the big reasons I became a librarian is to support intellectual freedom. Some people think it’s a appropriate to prevent others from reading materials they find objectionable. Perhaps they never think that [...]
Harry Potter has been unseated as the most challenged book this year, ending a four-year reign of J.K. Rowling’s series. Instead, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s Alice series takes the lead in 2003, according to the American Library Association.
The press release includes the ten most challenged books of the year and some complaints associated with the books. [...]
I had these elaborate dreams of posting something about banned books every day during Banned Books Week. And, well, the week ends Saturday and I haven’t been able to do it. I got swamped at work last week and will still be digging out week after next, so my plans to post something [...]
When I woke up this morning, I pondered why this week is still called Banned Books Week. Surely by now, someone has challenged or tried to ban a CD or movie or other non-book object in a library. Think about all the discussions of Internet filtering. I suppose I went off on [...]