Monthly Archives: April 2022

Nationwide there was an unprecedented effort in the year 2021 to censor and ban books from public and school libraries and Virginia was not immune to that. Thats according to the American Library Associations annual report, issued this week.

The ALA collects tips from librarians, educators and reporters around the country. In 2021 they received more than 700 reports of censorship efforts, representing almost 1,600 targeted books. 30 of the censorship complaints came from Virginia.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director of the ALAs Office for Intellectual Freedom, says the numbers are extraordinary.

Multiple challenges reported every day, when we might have in the past received one or two challenge reports in an entire week, she said in an interview this week.

Many of the targets are books detailing racism or featuring LGBTQ characters and storylines. Caldwell-Stone says the increase comes amidst organized campaigns over social media and at school board meetings.

We have seen some of these advocacy groups describe books as innocuous as Heather Has Two Mommies as sexually explicit because it deals with sexual identity and families headed by same sex parents, she says.

The numbers are from 2021, and Virginia state law is set to change early next year requiring school districts inform parents of any sexually explicit material used in the classrooms. The effect of the law remains to be seen, but Caldwell-Stone predicts it will worsen the situation.

It opens up the door to a wealth of censorship claims and challenges to the practices of schools and will only make it harder for librarians and educators to meet the information needs of diverse communities in Virginia.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

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Virginia part of national uptick in attempts to ban or censor books - WVTF

Did you know that the beloved childrens book Charlottes Web, by E.B. White, was banned in 2006 in the state of Kansas?

A parents group had this childrens classic banned from classrooms because they asserted that talking animals were a work of the devil. Talking animals are blasphemous and unnatural, said one such critical parent.

Another objected to the book because a spider dying was inappropriate subject matter for a childrens book.

Defending family values, religious beliefs, political views and social norms are the main reasons for people defending censorship. As an English and journalism teacher for 29 years, I dealt with parents who wanted to censor books that I was teaching.

I detest censorship and really have little or no respect for people who advocate for it. While teaching, I frequently wore a sweatshirt once a week that said, Read a Banned Book. Under the banner were 10 books that were most often banned in the United States.

Parents who justified their actions in the name of protecting their children usually targeted the following books: Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger; The Color Purple, by Alice Walker; Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain; Black Boy, by Richard Wright; and Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. I will explain more in detail about two of these.

Regarding Catcher in the Rye, two mothers told me it was trash. Asking these women if they had taken the time to read the entire novel, their answers were: Of course not, I read enough.

Most students came to love this novel as much as I love it. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is experiencing a mental breakdown and wants to protect the innocent people in the world, such as the nuns he encounters on the bus, and all of the children little sister Phoebe who are losing their innocence as the phoniness of the world embraces them.

Dont think about censoring a book if you have not read a book in its entirety and if you dont have an understanding of the book.

Likewise, Things Fall Apart is a world classic that I taught in my World Literature class. This book, which was a curriculum-approved book, tells the story of an Igbo warrior named Okonkwo who lives in Nigeria during the time of colonial Africa. Igbo warriors beheaded their enemies and brought back the heads as trophies. There are two sentences in the book that inform the reader of this tradition.

One mothers lament: How could I expose her child to such barbarism. I asked the mother what she thought happened when the United States government sent drones to other countries to take out terrorists who were considered our enemies. Did she think those bodies were left intact, and did she know that sometimes innocent women and children were killed in these attacks? Her reply: Oh, that is completely different.

So what did I do when a parent objected to his or her child reading a book in my class? I assigned another book for the student to read. I did not get into an argument or really even a discussion with these parents, because I knew that they had not read the books in their entirety and did not understand the themes.

Recently, The Pilot reported on a contentious hearing before the Moore County Board of Education on the appropriateness of the book George, by Alex Gino, regarding a transgender child. One particularly outspoken critic of the book was Jim Pedersen. Pedersens objections to the book are based on his political views and prejudice against the LGBTQ community, which should not even be considered when deciding on the merit of a book.

His comment that little kids dont even know human anatomy yet; testicles, ovaries, proper terminology is false. Educated and nurturing parents teach their children proper terminology. My son knew that he had a penis and testicles when he was 4 years old. He asked me about these body parts while he was taking a bath one night, and I named the body parts with no further discussion.

If I had some extra money on hand, I would love to print up some sweatshirts with the banner reading Congratulations, Moore County Board of Education. George Stays on the Shelf. How many citizens of Moore County would proudly wear one along with me?

Yvonne Gale lives in Pinehurst.

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Column: Fear, Ignorance Trigger Efforts of Censorship | Opinion | thepilot.com - The Pilot

Russians are still accessing Deutsche Welle (DW) despite the broadcaster having has its websites in all languages blocked in the country on March 4.

This, according to DW, is thanks to more than 10 years experience gathered by DW in circumventing censorship by authoritarian regimes.

DW says that when compared to the five months prior to the war in Ukraine, its Russian page has seen a 120% increase in total traffic and even a 24% increase in traffic from Russia.

It adds that this trend is also visible in the DW Russian social media offerings. The services Facebook page, for instance, has also been blocked since March 4 and is seeing a spike in traffic of 370% when compared to the 5-month pre-war period. The Facebook page has also seen an increase in followers from across the globe, another clear indication of the interest of a global audience for DW offerings.

According to Guido Baumhauer, DW MD of distribution, marketing and technology, these numbers are proof positive that our measures for circumventing censorship and our distribution strategy are working, says. Ever since our Moscow bureau was closed on February 4, it has become increasingly difficult to reach our audience in Russia. Therefore, we are glad to see that the citizens of Russia are even more driven to find independent information now, during this illegal war of aggression, than they were even in the months before the invasion of Ukraine

DW, with its 32 language services, says it is no stranger to censorship as its pages have been blocked in other countries such as China and Iran for more than 10 years. Since 2012, it has enabled its users to bypass internet censorship with tools such as Psiphon, which offers open source apps and proxies for circumvention. DW has also had an Onion site in the Tor network since 2019, which allows users to surf websites in the network anonymously. The best way to reach DW content, though, remains the DW App, which enables censorship circumvention with just one click. Users also have the option of accessing DW and other online offerings using various VPNs.

Oliver Linow, DW internet freedom specialist, added: Our years of experience benefited us in circumventing censorship in Russia as well as in Belarus, for example, where we were censored already in late October 2021 and were able to quickly ensure access to our website in the country, says. Following the loss of our license in Russia and the subsequent closing of our Moscow bureau, we were prepared for the complete censorship of our content there, as well. We immediately activated mirrored websites via so-called proxy servers so the people in Russia can continue accessing our Russian-language content. And its working.

Related

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DW standing up to censorship in Russia - Broadband TV News

Volunteers around the world are reaching out to Russian citizens in unusual ways, trying to break through the Kremlin's censorship over the war in Ukraine.

One cyber security expert who calls himself Jan says a website he set up to reach random people in Russia has placed him in the Kremlin's crosshairs. People around the world have clicked on the website more than 50 million times, sending pre-drafted messages about the war in Ukraine, such as: "Putin is attacking cities and helpless people. He's lying."

"We want to start a peaceful dialogue," Jan told CBS News' Roxana Saberi. "They [people in Russia] cannot obtain the truth about the war in Ukraine."

In Russia, the government has essentially criminalized the spread of information opposing its own narrative on the war. Most independent media have shut down. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are blocked.

During the Cold War, the U.S. used to crack the Kremlin's wall of censorship with radio programs and anti-communist leaflets carried in balloons.

Today's grassroots efforts are more advanced. A website "Call Russia" randomly generates 40 million numbers inside Russia, so volunteers can make calls.

"Most ... people don't want to learn the truth. But people still are humans. You know, no one is OK with massive amounts of people dying," co-creator of Call Russia, Paulius Senuta, said.

Senuta and other campaigners says they'll keep reaching out to Russians to share the realities of the war in the hope that eventually, they will help end it.

The rest is here:
People around the world try to break through censorship to reach Russians: "We want to start a peaceful dialogue" - CBS News

Childrens authors and performers say growing censorship, institutional timidity and online backlash are resulting in stories about diversity, sexuality and even contemporary world events being deemed inappropriate for younger readers.

It feels like were living through a second section 28, but one that the UK government has outsourced to an anonymous Twitter lobby, one performer says.

When acclaimed gay author Simon James Green was banned from school visits in the south of England by the Catholic church last month, it drew attention to what many believe is a developing trend that mirrors the escalating censorship of childrens reading in the US, described by Art Speigelman recently as a culture war thats totally out of control.

Savita Kalhan was expecting to take a school assembly with a group of teenagers for World Book Day recently. She planned to touch on themes of respect and consent that appear in her young adult novels That Asian Kid about institutional racism in schools and The Girl in the Broken Mirror which includes a sexual assault. But the event was cancelled because the deputy head deemed her work inappropriate.

Since then, Ive had lots of school librarians message me to say they believe the situation is getting much worse and more widespread, with a backlash against certain topics from school management and parents, Kalhan says. There seems to be a fear of something that might or might not happen, and its unnecessarily affecting childrens choice of reading.

Young adult books, covering diversity, sexuality, even contemporary world events, are now being deemed unsuitable for teenage readers, she adds. This is completely out of touch with what teenagers are actually reading and watching, and the expertise of librarians themselves is completely overlooked.

Juno Dawson author and former teacher, whose acclaimed sexuality handbook for young people, This Book is Gay, is the subject of removal petitions in the US agrees there is a shift in mood.

Its part of a wider culture war, she suggests, now gaining traction in the UK. You cant stop a kid being trans or LGBT but you can stop a book. A lot of these attempts to have books pulled or readings cancelled feel vexatious, so huge credit to the librarians and teachers who are dealing with irate parents and campaigners.

Elle McNicoll joined Simon James Green on the platform for the Bristol Teen Book Awards the week after his ban, which she describes as sending a painful message to young gay pupils.

Ive seen the absolute force for good that Simon is when he visits a school, and Im just sorry that some children will be denied that joy.

McNicolls latest book, Like a Charm, includes a dyspraxic protagonist; her debut featured a heroine who is autistic, like McNicoll herself.

Diverse authors take on a lot more than questions about plot and story, she argues. Were also often expected to fix societal problems or defend ourselves outside of our work.

Hazel Plowman, head of creative learning at the Bath Childrens Literature festival, says there has been a definite shift towards more inclusive stories in children and young peoples books since she started working there a decade ago.

Were programming our autumn festival, and while theres still work to do, we are getting all kinds of voices pitched as commercial books now, rather than being pigeonholed as an issues book for example. There are LGBTQ+ books for all ages, picture books with two mums, British-Indian detectives and neurodiverse authors and characters.

Jodie Lancet-Grant is one of the authors Plowman lists. Her debut picture book for 37 year olds, The Pirate Mums a swashbuckling adventure about a boy called Billy who happens to have two mothers attracted some trolling earlier this year. The idea that anyone would think this story is not appropriate for children beggars belief. Its just a different family circumstance, but its incredibly important that children see that represented.

There is a worrying trend of censorship of LGBTQ+ authors and books happening as a consequence of the more polarised world we are living in, she says, suggesting that section 28 the legislation enacted in 1988 to prohibit the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities and only abolished in 2003 still has an impact. A lot of adults grew up not reading about these subjects because of clause 28, and now assume they are not acceptable because they accepted that absence as children.

Drag performers have attracted particular controversy, with a number of schools caught out in recent years after booking an act seen as having a non-child friendly name or online presence. Sab Samuel AKA Aida H Dee, childrens author and founder of Drag Queen Story Hour UK, is clear that not all drag acts are suitable for education, but believes that schools and local councils are becoming increasingly aware of the potential for backlash, and consequently steering clear of anything that could be deemed risky.

Adam Carver, whose drag performance for kids Palaver! generated complaints to local authorities and the Arts Council England last year, is blunt: It feels like were living through a second section 28, but one that the UK government has outsourced to an anonymous Twitter lobby.

Carvers company, Fatt Projects, is working on a model to support arts organisations facing similar attacks, offering advice on how best to respond to criticism.

There is a resurgence of the idea that queer people shouldnt be around children, he says. There is a perfect storm now where venues and organisations are so afraid of backlash that they dont take any risks. But there is still demand from children and families for work that explores difference.

More here:
Out of touch: childrens authors describe increasing censorship of books on diversity - The Guardian

NCAC Objects to Removal of Library Books in Texas School District

NCAC has written to officials at Fredericksburg Independent School District in Texas after numerous books were removed from district libraries without a formal review based on arguments that they are pervasively vulgar.

The books in question, which include, among others, Jesse Andrewss Me and Earl and the Dying Girl andStephen Chboskys The Perks of Being a Wallflower, address issues that students or their families and friends often confront in their daily lives. To allow one or two administrators to remove such books without ensuring that they hear from those who might benefit from them ignores the obligations of the school district to serve the needs of all its students.

The formal review process is essential for resolving disputes over the suitability of a book. Pervasively vulgar is a very vague term, and different people can disagree as to whether a book includes vulgar material, and also whether that material is pervasive. It is for this reason that the reviews are conducted with input from a variety of individuals, including teachers, parents, community members, and students.

NCAC is urging the District to return books to library shelves and to make clear to all district personnel that compliance with board regulations is not optional. Read our full letter to the District below. Click here for a full-screen view:

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NCAC Objects to Removal of Library Books in Texas School District - Blogging Censorship

While a brutal armed conflict rages on Ukrainian soil, an information war is unfolding online.

Russia is seeking to control the narrative by muffling dissent. Last month, the Kremlinblocked several social media platforms andthreatened lengthy jail terms for spreading false information about the invasion.

A series of domestic alternatives to American apps are now being promoted, from RuTube to Rossgram. Critics describe the latteras absolute shit.

The next service that may require a Putin-approved replacement is Wikipedia.

Regulators last week threatened to fine the site up to 4 million rubles (around $47,000) if it doesnt remove prohibited information about the special operation.

Russians are now rushing to secure the sites content before a potential ban. In March, the country had almost twice as many downloads of Wikipedia as any other nation.

These fears have caught the eye of advocates for web3, the nebulous term for a decentralized internet built on blockchains.

Proponents of Web3 argue that blockchain can eradicate censorship. Among the supporters areSwarm, an Ethereum-based decentralized storage platform, and Kiwix, an offline reader for online content.

The pair want to add a mirror version of Wikipedia to a peer-to-peer network thats always available even when internet access is restricted.

Kiwix says Wikipedias entire collection of 6 million articles with images can be compressed into just 80Gb, which could then be hosted on Swarm as a read-only snapshot.

Instead of storing the content on centralized servers, the data would be distributed across numerous nodes, which makes it censorship-resistant.

The idea is that we split the big file into chunks, and those chunks are scattered across the network, Swarms Antonio Gonzalo told TNW. As a host, you dont know exactly which files youre hosting, which can prevent sudden takedowns.

If the main domain was blocked, anyone running a node and connected to the network could still access and share the information. Users would cover the costs via a built-in incentive system enforced through smart contracts.

Some foundations for the project have already been laid. At a March hackathon, participants created read-only versions of Wikipedia and offline search tools for the site.

Russia is far from the only country thats tried to censor Wikipedia, but the Kremlins threats have provided a compelling use case for blockchain boosters.

The backers claim a web3 Wikipedia could provide provenance of facts, protection from authoritarian control, and financial compensation for contributors.

The vision has won support from crypto enthusiasts but not everyone shares their excitement.

Molly White is one of the prominent skeptics. The Wikipedia editor, software engineer, and creator of the website Web3 Is Going Just Great warns that paying contributors will distort the sites objectives.

The majority of people contributing to Wikipedia are doing so out of a desire to improve an encyclopedic resource, she told the Verge. With web3 you have a whole mix of motivations, including wanting to support a srupecific project, wanting to do good in various broader ways, and just wanting to make a lot of money. Those things can be in conflict a lot of the time.

White points to another for-profit online encyclopedia based on blockchain: Everipedia. Seven years after launching, the site is largely comprised of content copied from Wikipedia, articles contributors wrote about themselves, and crypto spam. Everipedia also has a reputation for publishing inaccurate information about tragic events.

These worries join more general concerns about web3s technical limitations, financial backers, and popularity with scammers.

Nonetheless, a decentralized Wikipedia could provide a useful service. It certainly sounds more appealing than a prospective Putinipedia.

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A web3 clone of Wikipedia may help Russians, but it's dividing the tech community - The Next Web

An unknown person on Top Channels show Top Storys Facebook page on Thursday sent shockwaves across Albania after claiming that the TV channels bosses had cancelled the airing of an important documentary entitled The Oligarchs of the Urban Renaissance.

This #Investigation sheds light on abuses and corruption in town centre reconstructions carried over the last eight years, the anonymous statement read.

Top Story staff have been under pressure from the directors, starting from the way in which themes were dealt with to the firing of the shows director, it adds.

Shortly after, Top Channel issued a statement naming former director Endrit Habilaj as the author of the Facebook post, and accusing him of blackmail. The channel called the statement defamatory and said Habilaj had been fired for breach of ethics.

Our legal team is preparing the documents and will forward them to the authorities to ascertain the legal responsibilities and damages that the individuals caused the company by using the profession and the show as a tool for extortion and threats, also misusing foreign donations, the statement read.

It claimed that the doc was axed for breach of ethics.

When the board analyzed the materials and observed serious ethical and professional breaches, it decided to not air this extortion, done in the name of two individuals who once worked for Top Channel but not in the interests of the truth, the statement added.

Habilaj, who anchored the show for four years, responded by accusing the CEO and owner of Top Channel, Vjollca Hoxha, of a list of extortion campaigns against other businessmen and state officials.

He did not deny, nor did he confirm authoring the statement on the shows Facebook page but dismissed claims that the canceled show was an act of blackmail.

Oligarchs of the Urban Resonance was not produced by me but by Esmeralda Keta, the winner of two EU Awards [on Investigative Journalism], Habilaj said.

This show was produced through an EU-funded project, he added, listing several alleged acts of blackmail carried out by channel owner Hoxha.

Habilaj is also an entrepreneur who owns two companies whose stated activities are media production, marketing and media buying.

A number of businessmen in Albania have been targeted as oligarchs in reference to their alleged sway over the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama.

Rama has claimed these oligarchs do not exist and has accused the media of using its own influence on public opinion to extort money from businesses.

Excerpt from:
Censorship and Blackmail Accusations Rock Albania's Top TV Station - Balkan Insight