[Libs-Or] Multnomah County Library's Intellectual Freedom Newsletter – January 2026

[Jennifer Keyser]

Dear Oregon Library Community,

Here is the latest edition of Multnomah County Library's Intellectual
Freedom Newsletter. PDF attached. 🫆👁️‍🗨️ 🖥️ This week was Data Privacy
Week <https://www.staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-week>! 🫆👁️‍🗨️ 📱 It
can be overwhelming, but this article from Consumer Reports highlights a
few easy steps
<https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics/privacy/30-second-privacy-fixes-simple-ways-to-protect-your-data-a9402343475/>
you
can take to protect your data. Also, this week the State of Oregon
announced the new universal opt-out program
<https://www.doj.state.or.us/media-home/news-media-releases/oregon-doj-highlights-new-universal-opt-out-tool-on-data-privacy-day/>
.

Thanks for reading all that you do to support intellectual freedom.


-Multnomah County Library's Intellectual Freedom Committee


Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions
Multnomah County Library's Intellectual Freedom Newsletter – January 2026

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

IFC Book Recommendation:

On Book Banning <https://multcolib.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S152C2658417>
by Ira Wells, part of the Field Notes series
<https://www.biblioasis.com/product-category/field-notes/>, offers a
compact but dynamic look at censorship. Wells ties together ancient history
to present times with the underlying desire of social control by those in
power. Thoughtful and provocative through the exploration of free speech
and the harm of censorship, while bringing forth the need to embrace
ambiguity and curiosity.

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

Intellectual Freedom News

Authors Alliance provides an insightful look at the Book Removal Law
<https://www.authorsalliance.org/2026/01/14/do-you-hear-your-government-speak-in-the-library/>
in Utah and the related lawsuit brought on by students and authors (11
min). On a positive note, an educator was reinstated
<https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/us/new-butt-book-appeal.html> after
being fired for reading a book about butts to students (New York Times, 4
min). censorship, first amendment, legislation

The American Sunlight Projec <https://www.americansunlight.org/>t just released
a dataset
<https://americansunlight.substack.com/p/just-launched-our-trump-censorship>
that captures the rampant and varied censorship by the current
administration of the U.S. government. censorship

Libraries remain at risk while democracy is under threat, see this
call for funding
of  libraries
<https://organizingmythoughts.org/you-cant-fight-fascism-while-defunding-libraries/>
(Organizing My Thoughts, 12 min) and an interview of a critical cataloger
<https://lowereastsidelibrarian.info/interviews/sandy-2025> on the need for
activism within libraries (Lower Eastside Librarian, 11 min). democracy

This opinion piece
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/01/07/privacy-internet-loud-family-politics/>
examines the erosion of privacy in the public sphere –drawing from Strangers
and Intimate <https://multcolib.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S152C2713708>s
by Tiffany Jenkins (9 min). privacy

Check out these tips for supporting privacy literacy: Teaching Practical
Privacy: Notes from a Librarian
<https://www.civicsoftechnology.org/blog/teaching-practical-privacy-notes-from-a-librarian>
(4 min). Dig deeper with Civics of Technology’s recent talks
<https://www.civicsoftechnology.org/privacy> from their Data Privacy Week,
including links to resources. Find more tips for the National Cybersecurity
Alliance’s Data Privacy Week page
<https://www.staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-week>. Also, the State of
Oregon announced the new universal opt-out program
<https://www.doj.state.or.us/media-home/news-media-releases/oregon-doj-highlights-new-universal-opt-out-tool-on-data-privacy-day/>.
privacy

Take a deep dive into the technical and access aspects of the Internet
Archive
<https://hackernoon.com/the-long-now-of-the-web-inside-the-internet-archives-fight-against-forgetting>
as a keeper of information (Hacker Noon, 25 min). access

Big Think offers a look into historic forgeries
<https://bigthink.com/high-culture/the-worlds-largest-library-of-lies-has-good-news-about-fake-news/>
to uncover ties to the current wave of fake news (8 min). disinformation

Electronic Frontier Foundation created a series of articles on copyright
<https://www.eff.org/copyrightweek-2026> as part of Copyright Week, pulling
in the concepts of censorship, AI and policy. For copyright nerds, the
Authors Alliance is unpacking the Copyright Act
<https://www.authorsalliance.org/2026/01/16/celebrating-the-copyright-act-at-50/>
in a series of blog posts to celebrate 50 years of the law (3 min).
copyright

AI Spotlight

In Oregon, lawmakers propose to regulate AI chatbots
<https://www.oregonlive.com/health/2026/01/oregon-lawmakers-propose-to-regulate-ai-chatbots-to-protect-kids-mental-health.html>
to protect kids’ mental health (Oregonian, 5 min). legislation, access

Popular Science reports on the myriad of issues that AI brings to library
workers <https://www.popsci.com/technology/librarians-bad-ai/> (3 min).
Related, hungry AI companies gobble up books
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/01/27/anthropic-ai-scan-destroy-books/>
and impact authors (Washington Post, 9 min). information literacy,
disinformation, access

Infophilia looks at the entanglement of intellectual freedom and
information health,
<https://infophilia.substack.com/p/the-self-censorship-they-didnt-want> as
it relates to AI and self-censorship -calling for critical reflection
within the library profession on the impact of ongoing changes (22 min).
Related, Tech Policy calls out the need for a critical approach to AI:  We
Need to Talk About How We Talk About 'AI'
<https://www.techpolicy.press/we-need-to-talk-about-how-we-talk-about-ai/>
(8 min). information literacy

MIT Technology Review spotlights AI Chatbots
<https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/12/1130018/ai-companions-chatbots-relationships-2026-breakthrough-technology/>
and AI Data Centers
<https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/12/1129982/hyperscale-ai-data-centers-energy-usage-2026-breakthrough-technology/>
in their Breakthrough Technologies for 2026. Speaking of data centers,
communities
close to them
<https://capitalbnews.org/data-center-south-carolina-black-community/>are
"overwhelmingly" non-white (Capital B News, 9 min). On the flipside, The
American Prospect reports on an increase of moratorium on datacenters
<https://prospect.org/2025/12/22/demands-for-data-center-moratoriums-surge/>
(10 min). information literacy

This article from the Atlantic expounds on the limits of AI: AI's
Memorization Crisis
<https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/01/ai-memorization-research/685552/>
(12 min). information literacy

Disinformation continues to be bolstered by AI:

   -

   The Verge on AI-generated headlines
   <https://www.theverge.com/tech/865168/google-says-ai-news-headlines-are-feature-not-experiment>
   (7 min)
   -

   The Conversation on advancements with deepfakes
   <https://theconversation.com/deepfakes-leveled-up-in-2025-heres-whats-coming-next-271391>
   (4 min), people getting their news from AI
   <https://theconversation.com/people-are-getting-their-news-from-ai-and-its-altering-their-views-269354>
   (5 min), threat of manipulation through ads
   <https://theconversation.com/could-chatgpt-convince-you-to-buy-something-threat-of-manipulation-looms-as-ai-companies-gear-up-to-sell-ads-272859>
   (7 min)
   -

   The Guardian on the impact of misleading health information
   <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/02/google-ai-overviews-risk-harm-misleading-health-information>
   from AI (5 min)
   -

   Journal of Democracy looks at how autocrats weaponize AI
   <https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclusive/how-autocrats-weaponize-ai-and-how-to-fight-back/>
   (12 min)

This article from Nature highlights the issues between privacy and access
<https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-04064-7> with using AI. For
more on privacy, see this explainer from the Washington Post
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/01/27/google-personal-intelligence-privacy/>
on Google's quest to personalize your email and photos with AI (4 min). See
also, this article from Wired about an AI-generated browsing
<https://www.wired.com/story/google-chrome-auto-browse/> feature released
by Google (4 min). And AI data leaks
<https://www.404media.co/massive-ai-chat-app-leaked-millions-of-users-private-conversations/>
-more to worry about from 404 Media (5 min).  privacy

All Tech Is Human released a report on AI Companions
<https://alltechishuman.org/all-tech-is-human-blog/ai-companions-community-reflections-and-multistakeholder-recommendations-from-all-tech-is-human>
that includes insights on use and recommendations for governance, policy
and others involved in tech regulation and creation (50 min). Related, The
Conversation examines reports of of ‘AI psychosis’
<https://theconversation.com/reports-of-ai-psychosis-are-emerging-heres-what-a-psychiatric-clinician-has-to-say-273091>
(5
min) and The New York Times covers the issue
<https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/us/chatgpt-delusions-psychosis>as well
(10 min).  information literacy

The Baffler delves into how AI slop can be a list
<https://thebaffler.com/after-the-fact/list-and-shout-kiesling> displacing
the care and labor that goes into a beloved book list (20 min).
disinformation

Additional Resources

ALA Intellectual Freedom Blog: https://www.oif.ala.org A blog dedicated to
intellectual freedom issues, and includes the Intellectual Freedom News
<https://www.oif.ala.org/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)
*Library Policy Coordinator*
Monday - Friday
971-429-4699
Multnomah County Library
multcolib.org

[image: Copy of MultCoLib_2LineLogo_252px_RGB.jpg]

  [image: All are welcome here. Multnomah County.]
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