Monthly Archives: May 2024

The ceremony took place at the Cullen Family Plaza Fountain which members of SJP called the reclaimed Yaffa Fountain.| Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar

On Wednesday, Students for Justice in Palestine HTX organized a graduation ceremony in response to the University removing parts of the official UH graduation livestream where students called for divestment.

The ceremony took place at the Cullen Family Plaza Fountain, which members of SJP called the reclaimed Yaffa Fountain, according to an Instagram post.

Unfortunately, UH decided to cut the livestream off, obviously disrespecting the memory and forever withholding that memory from them, said biology senior and SJP member Maryam Mohammad. Its a very ugly move and all because the graduates decided to make a moral statement on a war that this university is complicit in.

Another motive of the ceremony revolved around creating a safe space for students, graduates and alumni to come together and celebrate each other, something which the University failed to do, said SJP members.

The celebration began with a moment of silence and a welcome note by industrial design junior and SJP member Amna A.

The graduation censorship that explicitly targeted Palestinian identity is proof to us that UH does not care about its students, Amna said. It shows us that UH only cares about diversity and representation whenever it suits its own image of perfect obedient students.

Each graduates name was called by the SJP organizers and they were given a red flower along with a space to get their graduation pictures clicked. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar

According to SJP members and graduates, the attendees felt unsafe with the presence of police at the SJP graduation ceremony as they were not doing anything against the University policy and even complained about being followed.

The graduates, especially the ones who were censored during the livestream, felt very thankful for this initiative taken by SJP.

I actually didnt realize I was cut out of the livestream until I got home later that day and found out I was edited out, said ecology and sociology graduate Noor Battla. It was very spineless of them but I didnt feel sad, instead I feel that this is an honor for them to be scared of me, my message and every single person who shares the same sentiment.

Students were disappointed by UH because other gestures made by students, like dancing on stage or showcasing other nationalities, were kept in the livestream unlike the Palestinian and divestment centered censorship.

During the ceremony, the graduates pledged to withhold all the donations to UH until the university divests from Israeli arms manufacturers.

The censorship made me feel very bittersweet about graduating from this university and coming back, said management and information system and marketing graduate Samiha Zaman. Im very hesitant to show support at all for this university and wont do the things I thought I might have done, because I realized that UH doesnt care about its own students.

Each graduates name was called by the SJP organizers and they were given a red flower along with a space to get their graduation pictures taken.

The ceremony was also live streamed on the SJP Instagram account and was concluded with a closing note by Amna.

The point of this event was to uncensor what UH did and offer our graduates an opportunity to celebrate with people who respect them and their humanity, Amna said. When there is a crisis and a genocide, you do not turn your face away.

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SJP hosts graduation ceremony in response to UH's divestment censorship - The Cougar - The Daily Cougar

The greatest of all human delusions is that there is a tangible goal, and not just direction towards an ideal aim. The idea that a goal can be attained perpetually frustrates human beings, who are disappointed at never getting there, never being able to stop.

Stephen Spender, poet and co-founder of Index on Censorship

Sometimes it is wise to follow the advice of a great. I have spent my life striving for tangible, if all too regularly unachievable, goals and sometimes you do just need to stopif only to reflect. For the last four years I have led Index on Censorship as we strived to protect and promote freedom of expression in an increasingly polarised world. However it is now my turn to stopat least at Index.

This is my last weekly blog. As of today my brilliant successor Jemimah Steinfeld will be taking over the reins as CEO (which means were looking for a new editor).

My time at Index started during the pandemic when authoritarian regimes used the pretext of Covid-19 as an excuse to restrict access to a free media. Weve seen Putin invade Ukraine, the people of Afghanistan abandoned to the Taliban, the increased repression in Hong Kong and the continuing rise of populist politics around the world. All of this as technology is changing faster than any of us can really comprehend and we are only now starting to appreciate how it can be used as a tool for dissent as well as repression.

At times the world has felt far, far too bleak. Our ability to directly help dissidents has always been limited to paying them for their work but when you are publishing their fears and realities every day it can be beyond disheartening. Yet my amazing team have worked to support people in Egypt, Iran, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Belarus and a dozen other countries. Its been a privilege to lead them, as they sought to protect others.

The joy of Index is that our supporterswell youoften rightly claim ownership of our work. Challenging us to do more. Before I leave I think its important for my successor that I explain why we do what we do. Our remit is promoting the work of dissidents; that means we touch on areas of media or academic or artistic freedom but when we do it should always be through the prism of censorship and repression. In the UK, the EU and the US we also engage on issues which we think undermine our ability to promote freedom of expression in countries where repression is the normwe cannot forgo the moral high ground. And our rights are as important as anyone elses.

This means that sometimes we wont cover issues in the same depth that others do because were a small team. Index undoubtedly punches above its weight but there are less than a dozen of us, so we cant cover everything. We also might not cover an issue because as important or as valid as it is, it might not be a matter of freedom of expression but rather underpinned by an alternative human right.

There is also the fact that some of the team travel to the very places that we write about. So sometimes we dont publish until they come home. So occasionally you may need to indulge us.

Even with all of these constraints Index does exceptional work. I am so proud of the work weve done on SLAPPs, on digital rights and of course the work we do with dissidents. So thank you for your support in making it happen.

And while I am doing thank-yous, it would be remiss of me not to thank my amazing Chair, Trevor Philips, and our brilliant board of Trustees. With me, they have helped Index rebrand, relaunch and celebrate our 50th birthday. They have rebuilt the organisation into the force I believe it to be. Their commitment to Index has been unwavering and without them Index wouldnt be here today. Simply put they are exceptional people and I am grateful to them.

Going forward Index has a huge work programme freedom of expression will be challenged by AI, deepfakes, transnational repression and a shifting world order with nation states whose actions can mean it is no longer always clear who are goodies. This is all compounded by a public space that no longer encourages debate but rather seeks to silence the alternative view. Issues quickly become toxic and ideological purity is seemingly a prerequisite for engagement in any controversial debate. This is at odds with the very basic tenets of freedom of expression debate and engagement leads to change and enables societies to thrive and grow. We should always be prepared to protect the boundaries of our public space to protect speech not hate speech but genuine thought and considered debate. After all that is the basis for any strong democracy.

So as the UK heads towards a general election, my focus will be on the best bit of our democracy the election campaign.

So thank you for your support, your views and most importantly your commitment to freedom of expression.

Heres hoping that as a third of the world heads to the polls this year freedom of expression will end up as the protected and cherished human right that we all need it to be.

PS Make sure you use your vote if you have one!

PPS Be kind to Jemimah, she is going to be brilliant.

Read more here:
On never being able to stop - Index on Censorship

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Israel must immediately return camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to The Associated Press that it seized earlier today, and the Biden administration must strongly condemn Israels escalation of its attacks on the free press.

Threats to press freedom around the world are at an all-time high. Sign up to stay up to date and take action to protect journalists and whistleblowers everywhere.

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If Israel wants to claim the mantle of the only democracy in the Middle East, it needs to act like it. Banning broadcasters because Israel disagrees with their coverage is the hallmark of an authoritarian state, not a democracy. Seizing equipment from the AP just for supplying a news outlet with video footage is disgraceful, said Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Deputy Advocacy Director Caitlin Vogus.

In April, Israel passed a new censorship law that allows its government to ban foreign media organizations, a move that many saw as a transparent attempt to silence Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera and its coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. Weeks later, Israel used the law to ban Al Jazeera and raid its offices in Jerusalem.

At the time, FPF warned that the law was a pretext for silencing criticism of the war and that Israel wouldnt limit its use to Al Jazeera.

Now, Israel has seized equipment from the AP, one of the worlds largest news agencies, after accusing it of violating the foreign media law by providing a live video feed of northern Gaza to Al Jazeera, as the AP does for thousands of other clients.

All Americans should be outraged that Israel seized equipment from a U.S. news outlet and stopped it from broadcasting video footage of Gaza. Israels actions against the AP strip millions of people of a view into Gaza at a time of war and mass atrocities, said Vogus. President Joe Biden must condemn Israels seizure of the APs equipment and insist on its immediate return. While hes at it, President Biden should demand Israel stop killing journalists in Gaza and allow foreign journalists into Gaza to report.

Israel is going after The Associated Press for doing exactly what its supposed to do: provide truthful information to the world, said FPF Advocacy Director Seth Stern. A few weeks ago, Israel banned Al Jazeera. Today, it seized AP equipment and stopped its video feed from Gaza. What news outlet will be the next target? Stern added.

If it wasnt already clear, Israels seizure of the APs equipment proves that laws that give the government the power to ban media outlets in the name of national security can and will be abused to go after any member of the press that the government dislikes, said Stern. The U.S. should take note of how quickly Israel began abusing its foreign media law and stop passing its own laws empowering the government to shut down or censor the media, like the purported TikTok ban which actually opens the door to broad censorship of online news.

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Israel's seizure of AP equipment is censorship, plain and simple - Freedom of the Press Foundation

ST. PAUL, Minn. | As a queer and out youth, Shae Ross was alarmed when she heard that conservative groups were organizing in her community to ban books dealing with sexuality, gender and race. So she and her friends got organized themselves, and helped persuade their school board to make it much harder to remove books and other materials from their libraries and classrooms.

Ross, an 18-year-old senior in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, is glad to see that her governor and leaders in several other states are fighting the trend playing out in more conservative states where book challenges and bans have soared to their highest levels in decades.

For a lot of teenagers, LGBT teenagers and teenagers who maybe just dont feel like they have a ton of friends, or a ton of popularity in middle or high school literature becomes sort of an escape. Ross said. Especially when I was like sixth, seventh grade, Id say reading books, especially books with gay characters was a way that I could feel seen and represented.

Minnesota is one of several Democratic-leaning states where lawmakers are now pursuing bans on book bans. The Washington and Maryland legislatures have already passed them this year, while Illinois did so last year. It was a major flashpoint of Oregons short session, where legislation passed the Senate but died without a House vote.

According to the American Library Association, over 4,200 works in school and public libraries were targeted in 2023, a jump from the old record of nearly 2,600 books in 2022. Many challenged books 47% in 2023 had LGBTQ+ and racial themes.

Restrictions in some states have increased so much that librarians and administrators fear crippling lawsuits, hefty fines, and even imprisonment if they provide books that others regard as inappropriate. Already this year, lawmakers in more than 15 states have introduced bills to impose harsh penalties on libraries or librarians.

Conservative parents and activists argue that the books are too sexually explicit or otherwise controversial, and are inappropriate, especially for younger readers. National groups such as Moms for Liberty say parents are entitled to more control over books available to their children.

But pushback is emerging. According to EveryLibrary, a political action committee for libraries, several states are considering varying degrees of prohibitions on book bans. A sampling includes California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, though some in conservative states appear unlikely to pass. One has also died in New Mexico this year.

One such bill is awaiting Democratic Gov. Wes Moores signature in Maryland. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill last month that sets a high bar for removing challenged materials, especially those dealing with race, sexual orientation and gender identity. A version pending in New Jersey would protect librarians from civil or criminal liability.

Some proposals are labeled Freedom to Read acts.

Thats whats so critical here. The voluntary nature of reading, said Martha Hickson, a librarian at North Hunterdon High School in New Jersey. Students can choose to read, not read, or totally ignore everything in this library. No one is asking them to read a damn thing.

Hickson recalled how parents first suggested her book collections contained pedophilia and pornography during a school board meeting in 2021. She watched the livestream in horror as they objected that the novel Lawn Boy and illustrated memoir Gender Queer were available to students and suggested she could be criminally liable.

Tears welled up, shaking Hickson said. But once my body got done with that, my normal attitude, the fight side kicked in, and I picked up my cell phone while the meeting was still going on and started reaching out.

Book bans have been a sore point for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a former high school teacher. The Minnesota Senate passed his proposal this month. It would prohibit book bans in public and school libraries based on content or ideological objections, and require that the key decisions about what books will or wont be offered be made by library professionals.

The state House is considering an approach with more teeth, including penalties and allowing private citizens to sue to enforce it.

Im working with stakeholders, with the Department of Education, librarians, school districts and their representatives, said Democratic Rep. Cedrick Frazier, of New Hope. Were working to tighten up the language, to make sure we can come to a consensus, and just kind of make sure that everybodys on the same page.

Because of her activism, Ross, a student at Jefferson High School in Bloomington, was invited when Walz went to Como Park Senior High School in St. Paul last month to view a display of books banned elsewhere. The governor called book bans the antithesis of everything we believe and denounced what he depicted as a growing effort to bully school boards.

At a House hearing last month, speakers said books by LGBTQ+ and authors of color are among those most frequently banned. Karlton Laster, director of policy and organizing for OutFront Minnesota, who identifies as Black and queer, said reading their works helped him communicate my hard feelings and truths to my family and friends, and helped him come out to his family.

Kendra Redmond, a Bloomington mother with three children in public schools, testified about efforts to push back against a petition drive by conservatives to pull about 28 titles from the citys school libraries.

Pushback from Ross, Redmond and others succeeded. The Bloomington School Board last month made it much harder to seek removals. Parents can still restrict access by their own children to material they deem objectionable.

Many challenges in the district came from the Bloomington Parents Alliance. One of its leaders, Alan Redding, recalled how his sons 9th grade class was discussing a book a few years ago when graphic passages about date rape were read aloud in class. He said his son and other kids were unprepared for something so explicit.

They were clearly bothered by this and disgusted, Redding said. My son absolutely shut down for the semester.

Minnesota Republican lawmakers have argued that instead of worrying about book bans, they should be focusing instead on performance in a state where just under half of public school students can read at grade level.

Every book is banned for a child that doesnt know how to read, said GOP Rep. Patricia Mueller, a teacher from Austin.

Catalini reported from Trenton, New Jersey. Associated Press reporters Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, contributed to this story.

Excerpt from:
Minnesota and other Democratic-led states lead pushback on censorship. They're banning the book ban - Sentinel ... - Sentinel Colorado

A new online map launched this week by the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) tracks the suppression of pro-Palestine voices in the United States arts and culture sectors in a powerful visualization of an alarming trend.

The Art Censorship Index: Post-October 7th documents incidents involving visual, performing, and literary artists who have faced professional consequences for invoking Israel or Palestine. In one case, a musician said his concert in Arizona was canceled because of his public support of Israel. But the majority of the 22 instances logged by the NCAC so far (the map will be updated regularly) demonstrate a clear pattern: the silencing of individuals who vocally advocate for Palestinians right to self-determination, criticize Israels war on Gaza, or question Zionist ideology.

The Art Censorship Index conveys the severity of the phenomenon by classifying the increasingly chilling reasons artists or artworks are targeted sometimes because of their ethnicity or social media activity. In January, renowned 87-year-old Palestinian painter Samia Halaby saw her first retrospective in the US abruptly canceled by Indiana University, presumably on the basis of her online activism in support of her people.

The map shows where we are seeing conversations being shut down based on ideas in the artwork, ideas of the artist, or a regional or cultural affiliation that is extrapolated from the shows, explained Elizabeth Larison, director of the NCACs Arts and Culture Advocacy Program, in an interview with Hyperallergic.

In October, for instance, the Frick Pittsburgh postponed a historical exhibition of Islamic art, citing a scheduling conflict, and New Yorks El Museo del Barrio removed a Day of the Dead altar from programming over its inclusion of a single Palestinian flag.

Then its Samia Halabys personal opinion on social media, and later on, at the Center for Book Arts, theres an artwork that in and of itself does not allude to this recent iteration of the conflict but might remind audience members of it, Larison continued. So you see this creep first you see it in the work, then in the artist, and then we start looking for any signal that the work will reference this conflict or offend somebody.

Users can click through the map to explore incidents around the country, each presented with a brief summary and links to reports from news outlets including Hyperallergic. Zooming in on New York City, for example, brings up six red dots for locations including UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, whose board voted to remove a neon artwork with the phrase from the river to the sea, and Hunter College, which canceled a screening of Israelism (2023), a documentary film that follows Jewish Americans reexamining their relationship to Israel.

The tendency is far from limited to the cultural sector. Human Rights Watch, for instance, warned of systemic online censorship after Meta took down over a thousand posts by Palestinians and their supporters, including content referencing human rights abuses, between October and November 2023 alone.

The Art Censorship Index excludes works deliberately removed by their author or instances in which curatorial frameworks precluded an artwork from being selected in the first place. Censorship, Larison explained, involves a work that has been selected and then is retracted out of fear of how people will perceive it. It is not always a First Amendment violation or even illegal, but it represents a violation of the spirit of freedom of expression.

This is exactly the threat of censorship and particularly artistic censorship during times of political upheaval or geopolitical conflicts the removal of works prevents society from being able to engage in conversations, Larison noted. Organizations operating outside the mainstream and independent entities that do not rely exclusively on private funding are providing an important platform for dialogue in the art world.

Institutions have a right to only have certain programming, but we advocate for them to adopt a statement to artistic freedom which is to say that they support the work of artists and wont discriminate based on a specific viewpoint, Larison said. We try to remind curators, institutions, and artists that work can be debated, contextualized, or critiqued.

Original post:
Have Pro-Palestine Artworks Been Censored in Your State? - Hyperallergic

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nations largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, is calling on Facebooks Oversight Board to reject pressure to recommend that the social media company censor posts or hashtags using the phrase from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free based on the false claim that it inherently violates Metas Community Standards, or rules onHate Speech,Violence and IncitementorDangerous Organizations and Individuals.

Yesterday, CAIR submitted a formal statement encouraging the external board to support Metas current position, which permits such free speech on the platform. The oversight board, which makes recommendations to Meta, has been accepting public comments about whether and how Meta should moderate the use of the phrase given its recent rise in popularity.

CAIRs letter to the oversight board said in part:

Countering real antisemitism is important, but it is also critically important for Facebook and other social media companies to reject pressure from the Israeli government and its supporters to suppress advocacy for Palestinian human rights based on false allegations of antisemitism.

Most Palestinian, Jewish, and other activists who use the phrase have explained that they are calling for Palestinians and Israelis to live together in a single state with equal rights for all. No reasonable person would call this antisemitic, even if they disagree with that proposed solution. In stark contrast, the Israeli governments interpretation of Israeli security control from the river to the sea signifies a permanent occupation where Palestinians are denied rights.

Even though the Israeli governments demand for apartheid from the river to the sea is racist and unjust, Facebook should not ban Israel or its supporters from expressing their view, much less ban supporters of Palestinian human rights from expressing their support for a single state with equal rights for all. Free speech principles should lead social media users to debate ideas with each other, not silence each other.

READ:CAIRs Letter on River to the Sea to Facebook Oversight Board

SEE:Posts That Include From the River to the Sea | Oversight Board

At present, the Facebook Oversight Board reports that it has advised Facebook not to act on social media users reports that the phrase constitutes hate speech, is antisemitic, or is a call to abolish the state of Israel because it has a long history and without additional context Facebook cannot conclude that From the river to the seaconstitutes a call to violence or a call for exclusion of any particular group, nor that it is linked exclusively to support for Hamas. CAIR is urging Facebook and Meta to maintain this position.

CAIRs Full Statement to the Facebook Oversight Board:

On behalf of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nations largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, we urge the Facebook Oversight Board to reject the notion that the phrase From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free violates Metas rules on Hate Speech, Violence and Incitement, or Dangerous Organizations and Individuals.

Countering real antisemitism is important, but it is also critically important for Facebook and other social media companies to reject pressure from the Israeli government and its supporters to suppress advocacy for Palestinian human rights based on false allegations of antisemitism.

Most Palestinian, Jewish, and other activists who use the phrase have explained that they are calling for Palestinians and Israelis to live together in a single state with equal rights for all. No reasonable person would call this antisemitic, even if they disagree with that proposed solution. In stark contrast, the Israeli governments interpretation of Israeli security control from the river to the sea signifies a permanent occupation where Palestinians are denied rights.

Even though the Israeli governments demand for apartheid from the river to the sea is racist and unjust, Facebook should not ban Israel or its supporters from expressing their view, much less ban supporters of Palestinian human rights from expressing their support for a single state with equal rights for all. Free speech principles should lead social media users to debate ideas with each other, not silence each other.

To further demonstrate this point CAIR highlights the Israeli governments 2022 declaration of guiding principles by the then-incoming far-right Netanyahu coalition government. Their guiding principles stated, The Jewish people have an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop the settlement of all parts of the Land of Israelin the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan Heights, and Judea and Samaria, which includes the entire West Bank.

We also note the absence of any reports about Facebook censoring references to the Likud Party Platform, which asserts, Judea and Samaria will not be handed to any foreign administration; between the [Mediterranean] Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty. This includes Israels illegal occupation and control of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.

When the world opposed the discriminatory white supremacist colonial regime of apartheid in South Africa, it did not call for the destruction of that state; rather, it aimed for freedom and equality for all people, regardless of religion or ethnicity.

Social media companies like Facebook need to respect the voices of Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Jews, and all those who advocate for the rights and freedoms of Palestinians, in addition to defending every persons right to peacefully protest and express their views.

CAIR notes in December, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued the reportMetas Broken Promises Systemic Censorship of Palestine Content on Instagram and Facebook, which found between October and November 2023, HRW over 1,050 takedowns and other suppression of content Instagram and Facebook that had been posted by Palestinians and their supporters, including about human rights abuses.

This week,The Guardian reportedthat Facebook and Instagram owner Meta approved a series of AI-manipulated political adverts during Indias election that spread disinformation and incited religious violence, including Facebook approving adverts containing known slurs towards Muslims in India, such as lets burn this verminand Hindu blood is spilling, these invaders must be burned, as well as Hindu supremacist language and disinformation about political leaders.

CAIRs mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

La misin de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensin del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.

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Do you like reading CAIR press releases and taking part in our action alerts? You can help contribute to CAIRs work of defending civil rights and empowering American Muslims across the country by making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly donor. Supporters like you make CAIRs advocacy work possible and defeating Islamophobia an achievable goal. Click here todonate to CAIR.

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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com

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CAIR Urges Facebook Oversight Board to Reject Pressure to Censor Pro-Palestinian Speech - - Council on American-Islamic Relations

Jon Stewart devoted the entire opening segment of Mondays The Daily Show to the subject of cancel culture and how very real campaigns of censorship and suppression of speech exist.

In a twist from the usual way whining on this topic tends to go in comedy, Stewart didnt rage against purported left-wing cancel campaigns against conservative freedoms. Instead, while he showed multiple instances of right-wing commentators complaining about it, he pointed out how there arent really any examples of conservatives actually being canceled like that.

And then Stewart pointed to actual instances where people have been canceled all of which involved conservatives who criticized Donald Trump. Trump is the real cancel culture, Stewart declared.

Watch the whole clip in the video above now.

Stewart got into this topic by bringing up Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, a conservative Catholic who gave a commencement speech at a conservative Catholic university over the weekend. Stewart noted that his speech has been widely reported on and mocked for being really sexist.

But other than that, Stewart demonstrated, nothing else has happened. His job isnt in danger, hes still invited to the White House alongside his teammates to celebrate their Super Bowl victory. All thats really happened is some people roasted him on TikTok. So I guess this is just kind of a passing distraction. Or if you happen to tune into more conservative media

At this, The Daily Show cued up a supercut of various right-wing media figures insisting, without any evidence, that Butker has been the victim of some kind of massive censorship effort and the center of a major national controversy.

My question to the right, I guess, is have you ever been on the internet before? Because thats all it is. Its just people giving each other st all the time. I mean, my God, youre all so thin-skinned, Stewart said. Jerry Seinfeld took more st over the past two weeks promoting a Pop Tart movie than Harrison Butker did for his entire speech.

And I ask you people, Stewart said with a pause, then added, nodding to the popular impression of Seinfeld, what is the deal with that?

Of course, nothing about the right-wing reaction is surprising. Because the idea that there is an all-pervasive, all-powerful threat to free speech called cancel culture has become a central tenet of modern conservatives, Stewart continued. They celebrate their being silenced at conferences. They celebrate their being silenced on podcasts and streaming outlets. They celebrate their being silenced with over 700 book titles about being canceled.

Conservatives have an entire industry devoted to complaining about not being allowed to say the things they say all the time. Their victimhood is the entire brand, Stewart added, cueing up another supercut of right wingers doing just that.

But this is their identity now: constant victimization. They say what they want, and if you get upset about it, you dont believe in freedom, the host continued. He then played a clip of Sean Hannity claiming not to be the kind of person who gets outraged over anything, something he said plagues the left.

Stewart rebutted this immediately, mocking in particular how Hannity was outraged over Bud Light for a sponsorship deal with a trans influencer. Theyre so full of st that Sean Hannity can say with a square head, Im not the kind of guy who gets outraged. Sean Hannity? Hes basically just a meat bag support system for a forehead vein.

Stewart conceded that it is absolutely true that in our modern social media driven-society, our interactions are incentivized and monetized for outrage and it is exhausting for everyone. But contrary to your conservative book industry, the outrage isnt just coming from the left. Its coming from the left, the right, for the right, for the left and the Swifties and YA readers, and anybody who dares to lift their head up to say anything.

We are not censored or silenced, Stewart argued. We are surrounded by and inundated with more speech that has ever existed in the history of communication. And it is all weaponized by professional outrage hunters of all stripes scouring the globe for graduation speech snippets, offhand comments during promotional tours, out of context comedy bits, lame marketing ideas or any words and phrases they believe they can latch onto to generate monetized clicks. Outrage is the engine of our modern media economy. And sometimes someone loses a job or something else happens like that that should never happen.

But contrary to conservatives victimization complex, there is no organized cancel culture conspiracy, where even the slightest misstep can 100% get someone on the right canceled, Stewart said, pausing before he continued, but actually there is one.

Stewart showed news footage about how Liz Cheney was drummed out of the Republican Party for opposing Trumps attempt to overthrow the government, prompting Stewart to say, It turns out that when it comes to cancel culture, the ones who smelt it, dealt it.

There is someone canceling people on the right. The only one canceling people on the right is Donald Trump. And anyone who dares speak out against him, refuse to buy into Trumps stolen election claims, and youll lose your job like Liz Cheney or countless others. In fact, everything the right says cancel culture does to them is actually being done by MAGA, he said.

After listing numerous other examples, Stewart concluded, Truth is, Trump is the real cancel culture, emphasis on cult, because on the right you can say whatever you want about gay people and trans people from TikTok to Patreon. You can decry DEI from podcasts to, I dont know, the Governors Office of Florida. And chances are not only will you be fine, youll get a raise. But if you ever dare speak out one iota against Donald Trump, be afraid.

Read more from the original source:
Jon Stewart Mocks Conservative Freak Out Over Left Wing 'Censorship': 'Trump Is the Real Cancel Culture' | Video - TheWrap

Dear Editor,

Literature is arguably at the core of our education system in the United States, however this basic principle has been under attack in recent years. With 619 requests to censor library books in 2022 sent to the American Library Association (ALA), these numbers only grew more, with a recorded 1,050 requests the following year.

The country had dealt with book challenges in the past, having parents complain about certain books to local schools. However this issue is now being addressed politically through large conservative organizations nationwide. These groups involve themselves through legislative matters banning books that dont fit their political or religious beliefs. Novels based around topics of sexuality, race, and gender are most targeted.

As Director of the ALAs Office for Intellectual Freedom, Deborah Caldwell-Stone has worked around the topic of censorship in American education for decades. When interviewed in 2023 by CNN about the issue, she said, We are seeing less and less of what used to happen, which was an individual parent would see their student reading a book and look at it and have questions about it and take it to a teacher or librarian to have a discussion. What we are seeing now is organized political advocacy groups go to school boards with an agenda with a long list of books they want banned because those books dont fit their political, moral or religious agenda.

Caldwell-Stone describes the shockingly fast-paced trend of powerful conservative groups pushing their political ideals into the current education system. Their plans of censoring information or facts they dont agree with isnt something they try to hide anymore.

As a current student in America having spent 12 years in many different English classrooms and school libraries, the freedom to access most books was a significant part of my learning. Unfortunately, this isnt the case for many students today due to traditional beliefs being pushed into their learning procedures.

Counter advocacy groups like PEN America, try their best to defend writers and readers alike, across the country from challenges like this. PEN America aims to protect every students access and freedom to literature and information they deserve the right to. With hundreds of local cities and towns struggling with this issue I hope to spread awareness about it. Students and their instructors deserve the freedom of accessing stories despite whose political agenda they match.

Respectfully,

Gracebelle Maake

Concord, CA

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Book Censorship: Academic Freedom Comes at a Price, When Will American Schools be Willing to Pay? - The Inquirer