[Libs-Or] Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions Intellectual Freedom Newsletter – June 2023

[Jennifer Keyser]

Dear Oregon Library Community,

The July edition of Multnomah County Library's IF Newsletter is now
available. Censorship continues to dominate the news, however we are seeing
more coverage of champions for the right to read and access to all types of
materials. Publishers are getting caught up in censorship and libraries are
drawing attention for their meeting room policies. Concern around AI
continues, checkout the AI Corner section for more details.

By request, a PDF version of the newsletter is attached.

Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions
Intellectual Freedom Newsletter – July 2023

------------------------------

In response to the uptick in book bans, President Obama penned an open
letter to libraries
<https://barackobama.medium.com/thank-you-to-americas-librarians-for-protecting-our-freedom-to-read-80ce373608b3>.
He extended gratitude for all that library workers do to create access to
books, information and more (Medium, 4 min). Jay-Z has also joined the
fight against censorship: Jay-Z Finances Anti-Book Ban Initiatives In New
York
<https://www.blackenterprise.com/jay-z-finances-anti-book-ban-initiatives-in-new-york/>
(Black Enterprise, 3 min). (censorship, access)

The Digital Public Library of America <https://dp.la/> (DPLA) launched The
Banned Book Club <https://www.thebannedbookclub.info/>, an interactive site
that creates awareness of censorship efforts while providing access to
digital copies of banned books via The Palace Project app
<https://thepalaceproject.org/app/>. For more details, see DPLA launches
The Banned Book Club
<https://dp.la/news/dpla-launches-the-banned-book-club-to-ensure-access-to-banned-books>
(DPLA, 3 min). (censorship, access)

The Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association
called out book rating systems as a form of censorship
<https://www.oif.ala.org/prejudicial-rating-systems-are-a-form-of-censorship/>
(ALA, 5 min). (censorship)

Conservative community members emboldened by the Hide the Pride campaigns
<https://www.oif.ala.org/catholicvote-announces-hide-the-pride-campaign-to-remove-lgbtqia-books-from-library-pride-month-displays/>
and calls for actions by Moms for Liberty
<https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/moms-liberty>
are seeing their efforts backfire as community members rally to support
their local libraries: These Umbrella-Twirling Drag Defenders Are
Protecting Libraries from Bigots
<https://www.thedailybeast.com/these-umbrella-twirling-drag-defenders-are-protecting-libraries-from-bigots>
(Daily Beast, 9 min) and They Checked Out Pride Books in Protest. It
Backfired
<https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/22/us/pride-books-library-protest.html>
(New York Times, 11 min). Plus a San Francisco church embraced drag queen
storytime
<https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco-drag-queen-bible-story-hour/3254933/>
(NBC News, 2.5 min).  And of course, librarians continue to step up: LGBTQ
librarians are trying to keep vital books accessible to queer youth,
despite bans
<https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/lgbtq-librarians-keep-books-accessible-queer-youth-despite-bans-180920466.html>
(Yahoo, 14 min). (censorship, access)

Publishers are finding themselves in the middle of textbook censorship
battles with recent state laws
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/07/19/textbook-publishers-florida-critical-race-theory/>
(Washington Post, 13 min). In response, several governors voiced their
opposition
<https://www.themontynews.org/single-post/nine-governors-join-governor-murphy-in-opposing-censorship-of-school-textbooks>
to publishers censoring school textbooks  (Montgomery News, 2 min). (
censorship, legislation)

Book bans and state laws further discrimination and racism in the US, see How
new state laws and book ban movements have made the teaching of US history
contentious
<https://theconversation.com/how-new-state-laws-and-book-ban-movements-have-made-the-teaching-of-us-history-contentious-5-essential-reads-208576>
(The Conversation, 5 min), ACLU Warns New Jersey Library Not to Censor
LGBTQ+ Book
<https://www.advocate.com/books/new-jersey-library-censoring-book>
(Advocate, 2 min), and Ta-Nehisi Coates attends school board meeting to
back teacher
<https://apnews.com/article/tanehisi-coates-racism-book-banned-school-a3cddd62a7d780433913d951ee7a7cfa>
(AP News, 3 min). Related, Asian American advocates slam DeSantis for land
law that they say 'will legalize Asian hate'
<https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/asian-american-advocates-slam-desantis-land-law-say-will-legalize-asia-rcna94923>
(NBC News, 5 min). (censorship, legislation, civil liberties)

Users on Goodreads <https://www.goodreads.com/> are targeting authors and
delaying the release of books by leaving bad reviews for unpublished books,
often prompted by a social media influencer on BookTok
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BookTok>. For more details, see How
Review-Bombing Can Tank a Book Before It's Published
<https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/26/books/goodreads-review-bombing.html>
(New York Times, 7 min) and  The Wrath of Goodreads
<https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/goodreads-review-bombing-amazon-moderation/674811/>
(The Atlantic, 14 min). (censorship, social media)

Libraries are being questioned about meeting room policies from conservative
groups
<https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/07/kirk-cameron-demands-the-government-investigate-anti-christian-bias-in-library-organization/>
to civil right organizations
<https://publicola.com/2023/06/15/seattle-library-kicked-out-of-trans-pride-after-hosting-anti-lgbtq-activist-kirk-cameron/>
(LGBTQNation, 5 min and PubliCola, 5 min). For a deeper take, see
BookRiot’s Brave Books, Kirk Cameron Plan Public Library Events
<https://bookriot.com/kirk-cameron-public-library-events-august-5/> (13
min). (first amendment)

Coming soon to smart devices:  Cybersecurity labeling
<https://apnews.com/article/cybersecurity-smart-devices-fcc-cyber-trust-mark-74af5829296ba65cddd2b2287b47422a>
to help people choose devices that are less vulnerable to hacking. (AP
News, 4 min). (privacy)

This opinion piece looks at the collective memory of the internet, and what
is saved and lost: How Big Tech Threatens Our Digital Archives and Data
<https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/opinion/digital-archives-memory.html>
(New York Times, 7 min ). (access)

AI Corner: Currently, AI chatbots are not reliable due to the accuracy of
the information, which may be hallucinated, biased or paid ads. Consumer
protection and transparency laws have the potential to create more
trustworthy AI: Can you trust AI? Here's why you shouldn't
<https://theconversation.com/can-you-trust-ai-heres-why-you-shouldnt-209283>
(The Conversation, 7 min -includes 18 min video of Shoshanna Zuboff on
privacy and surveillance capitalism). (digital literacy, privacy)

AI has become entangled with copyright infringement as datasets draw from
the works of authors, artists and other makers: Thousands of authors urge
AI companies to stop using work without permission
<https://www.kdlg.org/as-heard-on-npr/as-heard-on-npr/2023-07-17/thousands-of-authors-urge-ai-companies-to-stop-using-work-without-permission>
(NPR, 4 min). For a deeper dive, see Generative AI Has an Intellectual
Property Problem
<https://hbr.org/2023/04/generative-ai-has-an-intellectual-property-problem>
(Harvard Business Review, 11 min). (copyright)

AI brings forth the challenges to addressing disinformation, especially
around elections, see 6 ways AI can make political campaigns more deceptive
than ever
<https://theconversation.com/6-ways-ai-can-make-political-campaigns-more-deceptive-than-ever-209760>
(The Conversation, 9 min),  Disinformation reimagined: how AI could erode
democracy in the 2024 US elections
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/19/ai-generated-disinformation-us-elections>
(The Guardian, 11 min), and AI Disinformation Drives Lawmaker Fears About
2024 ‘Wild West’
<https://about.bgov.com/news/ai-disinformation-drives-lawmaker-fears-about-2024-wild-west/>
(Bloomberg Government, 10 min). (disinformation)

Additional Intellectual Freedom Resources

ALA Intellectual Freedom Blog: https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/ A blog
dedicated to intellectual freedom issues, and includes the Intellectual
Freedom News
<https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/category/intellectual-freedom-news/> –a weekly
roundup of IF related articles

Oregon Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Toolkit
<https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/iftoolkit/home> (published February 8,
2022). A range of tools and resources relating to IF challenges and
policies created by the OLA Intellectual Freedom Committee.

------------------------------

Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions is a monthly roundup of Intellectual
Freedom News compiled by the Multnomah County Library Intellectual Freedom
Committee. We welcome suggestions at lib.ifc at multco.us.

*Jennifer Keyser *(she/her)
*Policy Coordinator Librarian*
Monday - Friday
971-429-4699
Multnomah County Library
multcolib.org
[This email was encrypted for your privacy and security]
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