Is keeping up with all of the attacks on intellectual freedom getting tiring? Of course it is. But to keep these conversations going and ignite change, we need to continue bringing up challenges and books being pulled in order to highlight exactly how wide spread and endemic this is.

Each of these stories hit the news in recent weeks, ranging from an author being uninvited from an event in Katy, Texas, to a Hudson, Ohio, mayor demanding school board members resign over a books writing prompt, showcase the ways and means censorship is alive and well in the U.S.

Read and understand whats at stake in each of these stories and then, whether youre local or not, take steps to help put these books back on shelves where they belong. This guide to how to fight book bans and challenges will help you find the right way for you to get involved however you can.

In Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston, award-winning author and illustrator Jerry Craft was uninvited from his scheduled event to speak to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. Parents called his New Kid graphic novel an example of Critical Race Theory, which is not allowed to be taught under Texas law. (It is not, of course, a book about or in any way, shape, or form, related to Critical Race Theory).

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From Katy Magazine Online:

Katy mom Bonnie Anderson received the flyer from her twin third graders school, like many Katy parents did.

I review all of their instructional material whether its a math worksheet or something like this, says Bonnie Anderson, who previously ran for a Katy ISD Board of Trustee position.

Anderson read Jerry Crafts books and grew concerned over how racism was presented in them and believes they push a critical race theory curriculum.

According to Anderson, the book depicts white children displaying microaggressions to children [of] color. She admits that the books do not come out and say, we want white children to feel like oppressors, but that is what she feels the books do.

SB 3739 became law on September 1 and prohibits schools from presenting critical race theory material in social studies.

This is very subversive because they arent calling it Critical Race Theory and its not being presented in social studies, says Anderson.

Anderson created a petition that had 500 signatures before Change.org removed it for violating their policies.

The book is being reviewed by the district and Craft has been invited to speak again just outside the school day.

A single prompt in a book used to help students generate writing is at the center of the Hudson, Ohio, mayors ire. The book, 642 Things to Write About, used in one college-level credit class in the high school called Writing in the Liberal Arts II, has prompts in it parents have complained about. Mayor Craig Shubert said the board should resign or face criminal charges for exposing kids to child pornography.

From the Akron Beacon Journal:

One speakersaid he was appalled by the content and requested that cameras be put into the classroom so parents could monitor what is being taught to their children. Another speaker said the materialwas disgusting and that it amounted to grooming.

Shubert on Monday night gave the board an ultimatum.It has come to my attention that your educators are distributing essentially what is child pornography in the classroom, Shubert told the board.Ive spoken to a judge this evening. Shes already confirmed that. So Im going to give you a simple choice: You either choose to resign from this board of education or you will be charged.

His statement was met with cheers and applause from many of the audience members.

The mayor said he would like to see all five members resign by the end of the month.

Its not clear whether the board can be held criminally liable formaterial that was being used in a class.

Ohio has a new law effective as of September 30 that will allow parents of high schoolers taking part in college-level classes to review the material being used.

The headline for this piece is deceiving, which does some injustice to anti-censorship work. Last week, Kelly Yangs middle grade, New York Times bestselling and award-winning book Front Desk was stopped as a classroom read aloud in Plainedges Eastplain Elementary School. The book wasnt at the center of a ban, but rather, the center of attempted censorship the book wasnt actively being pulled from shelves (it was temporarily for review, per district policy) but from the opportunity of a read-aloud. This distinction may seem minimal, but its not. A book being pulled from a read-aloud is censorship, but it is not an outright ban. The book is back in the classroom.

Whats especially interesting in this case is the complaint not only of Critical Race Theory its a book about an immigrant girl but specifically, its anti-police rhetoric in a community that is home to 200 New York Police Department officers.

From Yahoo News:

This authors books are extremely divisive and controversial, and we are shocked and disappointed that this CRT book is part of Plainedges teachings, wrote the parent behind the letter, referring to the controversialcritical race theory a teaching methodology that acknowledges the role of systemic racism in shaping American history, with tenets including racism has always existed according to screenshotsposted to Yangs Instagram.

The letter continued, Our children are not to be audiences to any books that portray cops as racist, foster the notion of white supremacy or white privilege, teach that America is a racist country where all people are not equal etc.

According to Yang and reports on social media, her book was temporarily banned until the district came to the decision to reinstate it in classrooms while giving parents the choice to opt-out their children from reading it. Those who do opt out, according to the unidentified parent who had been tweeting out details of the unfolding situation, will instead readHome of the Brave,a middle-grade book about an African immigrant written by Katherine Applegate, who responded to the decision by tweeting about how she had bought 20 copies ofFront Desk.

Reiterating the distinction here matters. The book is available again, which is a win. But its a dangerous precedent: teachers now need to worry about the books they can read aloud to their entire class, knowing it can at any time be subject to complaint. This is where quiet censorship thrives not in the big bans, but in the smaller scenarios like this.

We reported on the uniquely challenging book challenge happening in Campbell County, Wyoming, earlier in the week. Librarians were threatened with charges for carrying sex education books in the collection.

As of this week, six of the 35 challenged books were advanced to the final step in the review process and retained in the collection. One of those books advanced to a further step level five where the original complaint seeks further review because they were unsatisfied with the outcome.

The six books retained so far include A Quick Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identitiesby Mandy G. and Jules Zuckerberg,This Book Is Gayby Juno Dawson,Trans Mission: My Quest for a Beardby Alex Bertie,The V-Word: True Stories about First-Time Sexby Amber J. Keyser,Mary Wears What She Wantsby Keith Negley andMeenaby Sine van Mol.

Dawsons book is the title moving to another round of review.

Bastrop, Texas, becomes the third school district with parents challenging Ashley Hope Prezs award-winning novel Out of Darkness. We reported on Lake Travis ISDs challenge last week, where an unhinged parent whod lost the election for a seat on the board this year complained about the books depiction of anal sex. The historical novel indeed has a scene in it with anal sex, but the context of that scene is vital in understanding power and race then and now.

What shes reading from, explained Prez on Instagram, is from a part of the book where the whole point is to capture the utterly relentless sexual objectification and racialization the Mexican American main character endures.

Earlier this fall, Leander Independent School District banned the book, along with several others.

Now Bastrop parents are weighing in, asking the school district to remove the book from libraries. They, like parents in Leander, also complained about Lawn Boy.

From the Austin American Statesman:

Two concerned mothers voiced their frustrations to school trustees Tuesday duringthe public comments period of the boards meetingand read aloud frombooks with explicit imagery that they said areavailable in school libraries.But before reading from the book, Kim Dunlap offered other parents at the meeting a warning to keep their young children from listening.

They may not want to hear this, though they can read it in our library, she said.

Dunlap recited a sentence from Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison: I sucked his (explitive) [sic] and he sucked mine.

Why are we allowing that to be available to our children? Dunlap asked the school board. Is anyone OK with that because I know Im sure as hell not.

Kristi Lee, the districts spokesperson, said Dunlap was referring to the wrong book. The school library, she said, has Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen, a humorous book recommended for middle schoolers about a young boy who learns about capitalism when his grandparents give him a lawnmower.

Lee confirmed that the districts high school libraries do carry Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Prez, which includes the sexually suggestive material, brought up at Tuesdays school board meeting.

Whats clear in this situation is the copycat effort to remove books from shelves across suburban Austin. The parent complaining elected the same titles being challenged in Leander and in Lake Travis, failing to even look at the librarys collection to see there was no Lawn Boy by Evison.

Only Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen.

Groups like these continue to band together and seek out opportunities to censor whats available to students. These efforts replicate and play out in similar patterns, ensuring their morality standards are universal, rather than one part of a larger range of freedoms to think, read, and speak.

How about a frustrating story but in a different manner?

Last week, a couple of board members at Mid-Continent Public Library were blasted for their comments about the librarys banned books week display and honoring of intellectual freedom. Theyre being asked to step down from their positions, given that their voices counter the freedoms which the library and their positions as governance of that library stand for.

From NPR:

In bright red lettering surrounded by paper flames and yellow caution tape, the display reads, Caution: These books are dangerous! Like many others in libraries across the country this week, the display at the North Independence Branch location is meant to highlight the value of free and open access to information a key aim for Banned Books Week.

But three members of the librarys board of trustees took issue on Facebook with the display.

Appalling, Yummy Pandolfi and board Vice President Michael Lazio posted online. Pandolfi continued, Im saddened by this lack of judgment from library employees.

You are crossing a line thats not yours to cross, wrote trustee Michelle Wycoff, in a now-deleted Facebook comment. Influencing someone elses children like this is unacceptable quite frankly.

This isnt the first expression of the boards anti-queer, anti-intellectual freedom stance for the library.

Austin Gragg, a former MCPL employee, said the comments are just the latest in a string of anti-intellectual and anti-LGBTQ views that he said has no place on the librarys board. Those views, he said, have caused some queer former employees to leave their jobs at the library.

It really does seem that these board members are more interested in not only furthering political goals, but treating the library board as a political country club, said Gragg, who is helping organize a group of current and former library employees who want to see the trustees off the board.

Read this piece to look at the history of the boards discriminatory behavior and where and how the library and community are working to get these politically driven appointees recalls from their seats.

Go here to read the rest:

Censorship Attempts in Texas, New York, and More - Book Riot

How convenient that Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen just gave the social network another excuse to crack down on conservative content.

In her congressional testimony Tuesday, Haugen, a data scientist, called on Congress to enact more regulations on her former employer to combat misinformation on the platform, saying the company puts profits over public safety.

At issue for Haugen is Facebooks algorithm, which in 2018 the company changed to prioritize high-engagement content, thereby contributing according to Haugen to increased divisiveness and polarization among users. Haugen even went so far as to say that Facebooks switching off of safeguards after the 2020 election led to the Jan. 6 US Capitol riot.

Fast forward a couple months, we got the insurrection, she said in an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday.

Whatever you think of the Capitol riot, Facebook did not cause it. The way Haugen used the word insurrection hinted of her likely progressive-lefty politics revealing her true motives. And what Haugen means by safeguards is no doubt censoring of conservative content, in a way Post readers know all too well.

Thats her main objective: censorship. She wants a complete overhaul of the content-moderation rules on Facebook, including an independent governmental body overseeing such changes. And as a good progressive, she pushes these new regulations under the guise of safety.

Facebook has demonstrated they cannot act independently, Haugen told 60 Minutes. The company over and over again chooses its profits over safety. It is subsidizing it is paying for its profits with our safety, and Im hoping that this will have a big enough impact on the world that they get the fortitude and the motivation to actually go put those regulations into place.

Like clockwork, a couple of hours after Haugens congressional testimony, Facebooks Director of Policy Communications Lena Pietsch jumped on Haugens push for more regulations.

We dont agree with her characterization of the many issues she testified about, Pietsch said in a statement. Despite all this, we agree on one thing; its time to begin to create standard rules for the Internet. Its been 25 years since the rules for the Internet have been updated, and instead of expecting the industry to make societal decisions that belong to legislators, it is time for Congress to act.

It seems like Haugen and Facebook have been on the same side this entire time. And it makes sense, as Haugen doesnt actually want to break up Facebook.

Instead, shed like the company to remain a billion-dollar monopoly imposing extreme-content regulations on its users. All while this is overseen by a federal agency created at her behest and staffed, no doubt, by former Facebook employees.

Haugen did leak some important information on Facebooks coverup of Instagrams negative effects on teen girls mental health (although who doesnt know this to be true?) and its lax treatment of drug cartels and human traffickers on its platform. But her drive for censorship wont remotely fix those issues.

Her objective is censorship. She wants Facebook and Instagram and all social-media companies, for that matter to enact safeguards to combat misinformation and hate.However, given the hyper-politicized arena and the Democrats past form for weaponizing supposedly impartial government agencies to push a progressive-elitist agenda, many will assume thismeans banning of conservative content or that which is negative to the Democratic Party.

It is one thing to propose an independent body to force Big Tech platforms to reveal the mechanics behind their algorithmicmachines of virality to spark a transparent discussion about how information is distributed and controlled. But it is far more perilous to police what is acceptable or fact. Without proper independence and rigor, it has been proven time and again that what is deemed fact and what is not merely depends on whether the person in charge wants it to be.

In this case, without once defining either misinformation, or hate, (again, the subtext was clearly right-wing content all along), Haugen opened the door for all content Silicon Valley dislikes to be banned.

If that happens, say goodbye forever to stories like The Posts expos of Hunter Bidens e-mails, which Facebook banned. Or suggestions that COVID may have originated at the Wuhan lab the theme of another squelched Post column long before the idea gained broader acceptance.

Some whistleblower, Frances Haugen. She just gave Big Tech and its progressive buddies the go-ahead to ramp up its censorship and control of the American public.

Victoria Marshall is the Collegiate Network Fellow atThe Post.

See the original post here:

What Facebook 'whistleblower' Frances Haugen really wants: more censorship of conservative views - New York Post

On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, the Daily Wires Ian Haworth, host of the Ian Haworth Show and a former Facebook software engineer, joins Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky to discuss hisarticle Facebook Releases Content Distribution Guidelines, Will Target Untrusted News and his time on the fact-checking and misinformation teams at Facebook.

The whole point of the fact-checking organization or arm of the company was to add a layer of truth to things. Whether or not you agree with fact-checking it at all, the goal was to push something forward as is this true or not true? and give people more tools to handle information. But now if theyre demoting things via the fact-checking arm without actually fact-checking, then its really just an abuse of power in another way thats going to impact conservatives even harder, Haworth said.

Haworth said its right to be skeptical of Big Techs influence and inclination towards censorship but he is optimistic about change.

I think there are a lot of people who just want their tools to be used for people for the good. And I think if we can create a culture that mirrors what we believe to be a bit more moderate than what we have right now, I think some elements of Big Tech will follow suit. Id like to be slightly optimistic in that manner, Haworth said.

Read the original post:

Former Facebook Engineer On Censorship And The Future Of Big Tech - The Federalist

Former BBC producer Patrick Howse explores why the broadcaster is unwilling to speak truth to power over Brexit

A recent exchange on BBC Question Time told us a lot about the current state of the country, and the BBCs reporting of it. Supply chain problems resulting from a lack of lorry drivers was the issue being discussed. As the vast majority of people acknowledge, Brexit has undoubtedly played a role in this crisis.

A man in the audience told presenter Fiona Bruce that there was a bit of an irony in the current situation because, in his opinion, a lot of people voted Brexit because they didnt want foreign workers coming over here and taking their jobs. And now thats exactly what weve got weve got a lack of foreign workers, which is why weve got these shortages.

Bruce snapped back that she wanted to hear from someone who voted for Brexit, only to be told by the man in the audience: actually, I did.

Bruces clear irritation was accompanied by an almost throw-away remark with which she moved on the discussion. A majority of people here voted for Brexit, we select this audience very carefully to be representative.

I found this remarkable even though Ive had serious concerns about Question Time and its sister Radio 4 programme Any Questions for a long time. It raises two big questions: how do these programmes determine whether someone is pro-Brexit, and why do they feel its so important to ensure their audiences are stacked in this way?

The BBCs press office confirmed to me that the evaluation is based on referendum and election results. They did not elaborate on which elections they mean, nor how a Labour vote for example is interpreted: was a vote for Labour in 2019 pro- or anti-Brexit?

All of which suggests that the BBC is basing its calculations on the 2016 referendum. Ergo, the BBC has taken a decision that the people of the UK irrevocably made up their minds in 2016, voted Leave, and ended the debate. More than five years later, theres no room in a Question Time audience for anyone who has come to understand the reality of the project and has thus changed their mind.

Fiona Bruces clear exasperation at the audience member is telling. The BBC is frightened. It fears the wrath of the Government, but it is also terrified of Leave voters, and wants to avoid at any cost appearing to say that they got it wrong.

I have previously written for Byline Times about a feeling among some former colleagues that there was something approaching a BBC policy not to run stories that might undermine public trust in Boris Johnson.

Its likely that key people in the BBC have decided that Brexit must be respected, and that its not the BBCs job to take a view on it particularly if that means portraying the project in a negative way. Both the chairman and the director general are known to have been Conservative supporters, after all, with the former having donated more than 400,000 to the party.

Anyone who has worked at the BBC will confirm that the corporation is not cohesive. It is a diverse, loose coalition of hostile fiefdoms and mini empires. Even within news, there are competing factions: newsgathering against programmes against the World Service; radio against TV against online, and dozens of further, mind-boggling sub-divisions.

Former colleagues of mine tend to blame other departments for the reluctance to tackle Brexit-related issues. For example, one household name told me, its all coming from Millbank, a reference to the BBCs offices in Westminster a view that appears to be quite widely shared in the New Broadcasting House newsroom.

Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and support quality, investigative reporting.

Its clear, though, that the 2016 referendum took the BBC into anxious territory. I had left the BBC by this time, but friends tell me that the result shook the corporation. The result was taken to be an unambiguous statement of disillusionment from a large group of voters against the establishment. The BBC didnt understand this group, and feared that it wasnt addressing or serving it.

Since then, the BBC has desperately sought to represent these voices on air and crucially to not offend them. The net result has been fear-driven self-censorship at every level. This is not just a desire to appease the BBCs Government critics, but to placate Leave voters as well.

This has been felt across the BBCs output. Theres a clear reluctance to mention the B-word at all. That is unlikely to change any time soon because the BBC does not feel as though its job involves holding the Government to account over Brexit.

In normal times, with a government presiding over such a mess, you would expect Britains newspapers to be scenting blood. The BBC would be following in their slipstream, always taking care not to find itself at the head of the pack.

But we are not in normal times. The right-wing press is complicit, compliant, and silent on the grave problems looming ahead. Labour has shown that it doesnt really want to talk about Brexit. And at every level within the BBC, theres an institutional reluctance to fill the gap; to inform and educate the nation about the consequences of Brexit.

Aside from harming the country, this poses a danger to the BBC. When this all plays out, and the disastrous impacts of Brexit become clear as they are beginning to will the people of Britain feel they were well served by our public service broadcaster?

At the moment, the answer is an emphatic no.

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The BBC Has an Institutional Culture of Brexit Self-Censorship Byline Times - Byline Times

Stand-up comedian, actor, and writer Jim Norton will perform at the Punchline in Atlanta, tomorrow through Saturday. After a hiatus from live shows due to COVID, Nortons spicy and irreverent humor returns to the stage with new material and plenty to joke about. The comedian joined City Lights host Lois Reitzes via Zoom for a conversation covering such weighty topics as flat-Earthers, Lost, and gaining pounds in quarantine.

Interview highlights:

On committing to comedy:

It was honestly the only thing I ever wanted to do. I wanted to be a lawyer at one point, but Princeton wouldnt accept me because I had dropped out of high school. So I said, You know what? I have no education, Im driving a forklift and this is what I really want to do. I left myself no backup plan on purpose because it forced me to be a good comic, or I would have no way to make a living.

On Joan Rivers and other heroes:

I saw [Joan Rivers] at the Cutting Room here in New York She was 80 at the time, and she had note cards on the stage, on the floor, said Norton. She was a barbarian for an hour, and it was great. There was nothing off-limits Shes one of the all-time greats and she doesnt get the credits she deserves.

[Richard Pryor] was my favorite comedian of all time. I imagine if he saw my act now, he would say, Take my name out of your bio. Hed be slightly embarrassed that I love him so much, but he was the guy that made me want to do comedy.

On sensitivities and censorship in comedy:

Comedians have to deal with things through humor, but no one is telling Stephen King not to kill children in his books. No one is telling actors not to play slave-owners, not to play slashers, not to play murderers, or not to play rapists. So for people to think that comedy is harmful, when portraying someone committing a horrible act in seriousness can get you an award, I just reject the idea that comedians as performers should be limited in a way that any other form of the arts is not limited.

I think, as a performer, any subject you want to touch is absolutely acceptable; all that matters is, do you do it well, or do you do it poorly? And I think thats what you should be judged on.

Jim Norton performs stand-up at the Punchline in Atlanta on Thursday, Oct. 7, and Saturday, Oct. 9. Tickets and information are available at http://www.punchline.com/shows.

Read the rest here:

Comedian Jim Norton discusses censorship, flat-Earthers and his admiration for Joan Rivers | 90.1 FM WABE - WABE 90.1 FM

"If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear," George Orwell, the celebrated author of dystopian novels, once wrote.

Partisans love to cite Orwell when accusing their opposing political tribe of intolerance.

While these comparisons are often ridiculous we are not "living in 1984" no matter what alarmists say it is true that many on both the left and the right have grown too comfortable with censorship.

In progressive activist circles, certain words and ideas are considered "violence" and thus worthy of prohibition.

The right has made plenty of political hay out of such sentiments sneering that leftists are "snowflakes" hiding in safe spaces and coddled by trigger warnings. But at the same time, conservatives have a long, ignoble history of proudly embracing "Moral Majority"-style censorship and cancellation of the insufficiently "patriotic."

Despite this legacy of "value-based" censorship, the right has recently sought to recast itself as the defender of Western civilization including the principles of free speech and open inquiry.

Don't buy into the branding.

Over the past two years, state governments have been awash in Republican-authored bills that criminalize legitimate protest and lay broad blanket bans on ideas and words associated with "wokeness."

Prominent voices on the right have also cleverly co-opted the language of the left insisting that they're not censoring anything, they're just protecting marginalized voices. Only the names are changed.

It's all a sham.

Republicans are using the force of government to ban books, words, and ideas that offend their sensibilities.

The recent "Banned Books Week" spearheaded by librarians, academics, and writers' advocates helped lay bare just how triggered conservatives can be words and ideas that run counter to their moral codes.

Young adult novels with LGBTQ protagonists and books dealing with antiracist philosophies, once again, represented the lion's share of banned content.

Case in point, a Wyoming pastor is trying to get librarians criminally prosecuted for stocking books dealing with LGBTQ-related themes.

And even after some civil libertarian backlash to the many "anti-Critical Race Theory" laws including from organizations with uber-Republican donor Charles Koch Republicans across the country are running rampant in their efforts to stamp out words and ideas they find offensive.

The Wisconsin Assembly last week overwhelmingly approved a Republican-authored bill that, among other things, prohibits teaching students that any individual "by virtue of the individual's race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously."

A lot of parents are not comfortable with their children being taught to essentialize people based on immutable characteristics, which frankly is one of the tenets of social justice activism.

But the bill also bans dozens of words and ideas to the point of grotesque absurdity.

Among the prohibited "terms and concepts" are:

The apparent intention is to stamp out not just "Critical Race Theory," but the mere discussion of any topic that was once known as "politically correct." If that isn't censorship, then the word has no meaning.

The bill hasn't been passed by Wisconsin's Senate, and even if it is, it's likely to be vetoed by the state's Democratic governor. But it's a revealing window into the speech-chilling aspirations of the right.

In Johnston County, N.C., the Board of Commissioners threatened to hold millions of dollars in public school funding unless the school board adopted a policy that essentially deems off-limits any criticism of the Constitution, the founding fathers, and "people who contributed to American Society."

The newly-adopted "Code of Ethics" even bans "fictional accounts or narratives" that can be "used to invalidate actual objective historical events."

Got that? Me, neither.

Would the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" be prohibited for depicting the horrors of slavery in the antebellum South? What about Toni Morrison's "Beloved"?

Does any book depicting many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence as owners of human beings violate the Code's edict that they should be "recognized and presented as reformists, innovators and heroes to our culture"?

Rather than stimulate a nuanced discussion of the founders' admirable contributions that also recognizes their moral deficiencies and hypocrisies, the Johnston County Code of Ethics aims to dictate a "positive vibes only" version of America. Instead of opening the discussion to provide historical accuracy and context, it's about forcing an "America, F--- Yeah!" version of history down students' throats.

School districts, rightfully, have a great deal of autonomy in determining curricula including the books that are assigned to students and the framing of historical events.

This won't always yield great results.

San Francisco last year wasted countless hours on removing "problematic" names from school buildings at times getting the historical justifications completely wrong.

Meanwhile, the South still has a smattering of counties which dabble in teaching creationism to public school children.

Like I said, not good.

What's far worse, however, are elected officials using childrens' educations to fight political battles by imposing overbroad bans with vague language on the curriculum of these schools.

It's wrong when woke progressives do it. It's wrong when reactionary conservatives do it.

But it's particularly galling when cynical hacks on the right claim the pro-speech Enlightenment mantle while literally calling for words that upset them to be banned and teachers to be fired.

Don't let conservatives who support these speech bans get away with calling them "anti-woke" or "anti-Critical Race Theory."

Call them what they are, "anti-free speech" and wholly "un-American."

See the article here:

Republicans Cancel Words, History, and Ideas in Libraries and Schools - Business Insider

A controversial bill that would allow parents to have online access to what their children are learning in public schools won passage on Wednesday in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

The bill, which if enacted would take effect starting next school year, would provide information about curriculum, including the academic standard to be achieved, instructional materials, course syllabus, and assessment techniques.

With its approval by the House on a 110-89 vote with all Democrats and three Republicans opposing, the bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

The measures sponsor, Rep. Andrew Lewis, R-Dauphin County, said he seeks to standardize a practice already happening in some districts in the commonwealth that makes it easy for parents to annually review a schools curriculum materials, rather than having to visit a school or administrative building to see them.

The bill would apply to school districts, career and technical centers, charter schools and intermediate units.

It simply brings our state into the 21st Century by making sure that especially in an environment of remote learning, parents can access the information that theyre entitled to [by state law] online, Lewis said.

Pa. Rep. Andrew Lewis, R-Dauphin County, referred to his bill requiring the posting of curriculum materials online as bringing the state into the 21st Century but one critic called it "an invitation to censorship."Oct. 6, 2021Screenshot from Pa. House of Representatives website

Republicans have touted the bill as a tool for transparency. But critics said it placed an unnecessary burden on school officials and suggested hidden motives are at play in this measure.

This bill will drag education right into the middle of the culture wars, said Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny County, Your neighbor, her grandfather in Florida, your crazy uncle and his best friend in California can all weigh in on what the schools are teaching your child. Lets be clear.

Frankel said teachers are happy to share with parents what their children are supposed to learn and parents also could ask their children directly about it.

This bill isnt about transparency for parents, Frankel said. Its about bringing the fights that get started on Fox News to the kindergarten classroom near you. ... This legislation is an invitation to the book burners and anti-maskers to harass our schools and our teachers.

Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, picked up on that point, saying he sees it as having the potential to intensify threats and violence against teachers and school administrators already under fire over masking requirements and other matters.

It encourages certain factions in our country to be emboldened and to continue to spread lies about what is happening in our classrooms, Kenyatta said.

Rep. Aaron Bernstine, R-Butler County, countered those arguments, saying, There will be no lies because information will specifically be online so people can see it.

Referring to the bills critics, Bernstine said, Theres no reason to hide if theres nothing to be scared of.

Since broadband access is still limited in areas of the state, though, Rep. Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster County, said the only people who will be able to view the curriculum in those districts are those who are outside those areas. Secondly, he faulted the bill for failing to include private schools that receive public funding through various state programs.

This is a bad bill even if it did include those things, Sturla said. This is simply an attack on public education, plain and simple.

Lewis said the bill puts the responsibility for placing the curriculum and instructional materials online on the chief school administrator or a designee, not teachers. However, opponents argued teachers will be the ones who have to gather that information together and insisted it will be a burden for them.

The Pennsylvania School Boards Association and other public school advocacy organizations have opposed the bill.

This mandate would amount to a crushing level of work for educators at a time when they are navigating in-person instruction, addressing student learning delays, and meeting students needs during a global pandemic, said Rich Askey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Its an absolutely unnecessary distraction from what is really important teaching kids.

Among other concerns, Askey and Rep. Mark Longietti, D-Mercer County, said the bill raises questions related to the posting of copy-written materials, quizzes and tests online.

Sharon Ward, senior policy advisor of the Education Law Center, agreed with opponents that the bill is burdensome and unnecessary.

We are also concerned that the bill invites censorship in the guise of transparency, Ward said.

The bill was amended on Tuesday to require schools to update curriculum information each time a new or revised curriculum is used within 30 days of its approval.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

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Pa. schools may be required to post their curriculum online. Is it about transparency or censorship? - PennLive

Nevada Senate candidate and Purple Heart recipient, Sam Brown, issued a stark warning to social media users during an interview on "Fox & Friends First" on Wednesday saying American voices are "at risk" after Twitter admitted it censored his account by mistake.

"This is this isn't just a warning to me," Brown stated. "This is a warning to America that all of us, all of our voices are at risk here."

GOP SENATE CANDIDATE SAM BROWN FIRES BACK AT TWITTER AS TECH GIANT ADMITS HIS ACCOUNT WAS BANNED BY MISTAKE

The Purple Heart recipient stressed the importance of civil discourse and the ability to speak freely in America through the First Amendment.

"The fact of the matter is this is not in alignment with the spirit of the First Amendment and what our country is about, which is being able to have a debate in the public domain," said Brown.

"These companies are definitely censoring some voices and others a lot more than than they should."

WHISTLEBLOWER SAYS FACEBOOK IS A US NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE

Brown's account was permanently suspended for hours earlier this week. He filed an appeal after he realized his account had been affected. Fox News reached out to Twitter amid Brown's suspension, which was lifted less than two hours later.

"We're writing to let you know that we've unsuspended your account," Twitter told Brown in an email obtained by Fox News. "We're sorry for the inconvenience and hope to see you back on Twitter soon."

Twitter added, "A little back background: we have systems that find and remove multiple automated spam accounts in bulk, and yours was flagged as spam by mistake. Please note that it make take an hour or so for your follower and following numbers to return to normal."

"Twitter did not provide a very good explanation as to what occurred," said Brown. "They gave sort of a standard response that I was caught up in some sort of anti-spam initiative and my account was deemed to be something like a spam account, and so with no warning, no 12-hour suspension."

Twitter did not respond to Fox News' multiple requests for comment.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"I think this is a question that America needs to ask itself is why is this occurring to conservatives?" Brown questioned.

"But beyond that, if this can happen to me, if President Trump was de-platformed completely and never to be allowed back on, what will these big tech companies like Twitter or Facebook do in the future?"

Brown said censorship is an issue he hopes to tackle if he gets elected to represent Nevada in 2022. Brown is running in the Republican primary hoping to unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.

Fox News' Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

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Nevada Senate candidate, Purple Heart recipient blasts Twitter censorship: 'This is a warning to America' - Fox News

YouTube isnt just the biggest video platform in the world, its actually the second-biggest search engine in the world, after Google. Which, as it so happens, owns YouTube.

Google and YouTube are far more powerful than Facebook or Twitter, which get more press because a lot of journalists are on Twitter, and its a primary battleground for the political class to talk to itself.

But Google and YouTube not only control their own platforms, they control you access to all other platforms. Ill Google that is shorthand for Ill search for that most people dont even think of other search engines. But that in itself is a source of control what Google puts on its first page of results is often quite political. What it boosts versus what it suppresses. And even what it simply refuses to show you at all, even if you type it in precisely. And the same goes for its YouTube search.

For example, if you simply type the words Rebel News into the YouTube search engine, https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rebel+news you get very political results.

You do get a few actual Rebel videos. But one of the first hits is this one:

Trudeau slams Rebel News: I wont call it a media organization.

Its not the most current; it doesnt have the most views; its not by Rebel News but its an attack on us.

Under that is this old one, from years ago:

Environment minister tells Rebel Media reporter to stop calling her 'Climate Barbie

Four years old but its the CBCs attack on us.

There are two legitimate Rebel News results in the top ten results. The rest are attacks on us including obscure attacks with few views. But YouTube has made it that way.

It bugs me, but luckily millions of people have been able to overcome the built-in bias to find us and get their news from us directly.

So the censorship grows:

Updating our ads and monetization policies on climate changeOctober 7, 2021

...In recent years, we've heard directly from a growing number of our advertising and publisher partners who have expressed concerns about ads that run alongside or promote inaccurate claims about climate change. Advertisers simply dont want their ads to appear next to this content. And publishers and creators dont want ads promoting these claims to appear on their pages or videos.

Thats why today, were announcing a new monetization policy for Google advertisers, publishers and YouTube creators that will prohibit ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change. This includes content referring to climate change as a hoax or a scam, claims denying that long-term trends show the global climate is warming, and claims denying that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity contribute to climate change.

But what is this about? How is disputing astrophysics or the like a danger to the public?

I know the answer because its really about the danger of thinking for yourself. Thats what all of these things are about. And youll notice that, at least for the virus and global warming, the United Nations is taken as the global arbiter of truth. Thats right the place that puts the likes of Cuba and China on the human rights commission, the place that promotes the Taliban but condemns Israel thats the place that can decide what you can and cant say.

This really isnt surprising. And it really wont be surprising when the next subject is banned. The only surprise will be: what subjects are off-limits next? Me, Im guessing its transgenderism in womens sports. What do you think will be next?

GUEST: New Rebel News contributor Kelly Lamb (@LittleGoatCR on Twitter) to talk about her report on the Saskatchewan parents pushing back on school COVID rules.

FINALLY: Your messages to me!

Originally posted here:

YouTube expands its censorship to global warming - Rebel News

Although he developed a very practical tool for Facebook users, one developer was permanently banned from the social network.

If you have been using Facebook for many years, you may have amassed a considerable number of friends, discussion groups and interests. Yes, but lo and behold, the years go by and sometimes it gets harder Organize your digital life. A situation that contaminates your feed, and forces you to spend more time on the platform than you need to enjoy content that you are really interested in.

To fix this problem, developer Louis Barclay came up with the solution he thought of: called an extension Do not follow everything, As its name implies, is allowed Unsubscribe automatically Their friends, but also the pages and groups they follow. Until now, Facebook has allowed this process but manually, one friend at a time.

In addition to cleaning up your relationships, this tool, which comes in the form of a browser extension, makes it possible above all else. Spend less time on social networking Mark Zuckerberg, and Apple boss Tim Cook to escape the worrying permanent scroll. The time I spent on Facebook has dropped dramatically, The developer explains in an interview published Stone slab. Overnight, my Facebook addiction was overcome. I no longer want to scroll through an endless stream of content.

Yes, but here it is, Facebook doesnt really like this idea. The social network first sent a formal notice to Barclays a few months ago, telling him he had violated the platforms terms of use. As it was a few months ago, when Facebook banned a group of researchers who worked on the transparency of the social network, the US company denied that it was actually automating third-party software platform and user interaction. Despite the developers cooperation, GAFAM finally decided to remove its web extension. Disable their Facebook and Instagram accounts permanently.

I have to say that Facebook has all the interest behind its security hypotheses Attract the attention of its users as much as possible. By massively opt-out of content provided by the company, Internet users not only reduce their engagement rate which is bad for advertisers but spend less time scrolling through their feed. A situation that arises at the same time with the revelations of Francis Hagen around Facebook files, and does not help the companys business.

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Facebook censors a tool that will make you waste less time on Facebook - The Press Stories