[Libs-Or] Multnomah County Library's Intellectual Freedom Newsletter – April 2025

[Jennifer Keyser]

Dear Oregon Library Community,

The April edition of Multnomah County Library's IFC Newsletter is now
available (PDF version attached). The annual report
<https://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2025> from the
American Library Association on books ban is out. The newsletter covers
that and other articles on the current wave of censorship, including a case
before the Supreme Court and legislation. The newsletter highlights
other news that relates to privacy, access, disinformation and copyright.
This month the AI Spotlight is focused on disinformation and privacy.
Thanks for all your work to support intellectual freedom!

Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions

Intellectual Freedom Newsletter – April 2025

------------------------------
 ALA released their annual report on top 10 challenged books
<https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/ala-releases-2024-top-10-most-challenged-books/>
(United Against Book Bans, 4 min). Access the full ALA report
<https://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2025>. For a
deeper dive, see PEN America’s report: From Cover to Cover: An Analysis of
Titles Banned in 23-24 <https://pen.org/report/cover-to-cover/>(23 min) or
a summary, see School Library Journal’s take
<https://www.slj.com/story/newsfeatures/the-truth-Behind-the-Censorship-Numbers-state-Americas-Libraries-Report>
(5 min). (censorship)

Related, United Against Books highlights an upcoming case on censorship
<https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/mahmoud-vs-taylor-take-action-in-support-of-diverse-books/>
to be decided by the Supreme Court (3 min) -see also, this article
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/us/politics/supreme-court-childrens-books-gay-trans.html>
in the New York Times (7 min) and the amicus brief from Penguin Random House
<https://publishingperspectives.com/2025/04/penguin-random-house-leads-amicus-brief-in-lgbtq-books-case/>
and USA Today’s take on the initial oral arguments
<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/22/supreme-court-lgbtq-storybooks/83201746007/>
(5 min). In contrast, read a community rallying behind an author
<https://www.contrabandcamp.com/p/a-school-district-rejected-a-black> who
was banned at a school (Contraband Camp, 6 min). Also, check out this
thought piece on why book challenges are not going away
<https://dmnews.com/ros-book-censorship-why-its-not-going-to-stop-with-the-books-no-matter-how-you-spin-it/>
(Daily Motivation News, 17 min). (censorship)

In response to the termination of the Institute of Museum and Library
Services <https://www.ala.org/faq-executive-order-targeting-imls> (ALA, 9
min) by an executive order, several states, including Oregon
<https://www.doj.state.or.us/media-home/news-media-releases/attorney-general-rayfield-sues-trump-administration-to-protect-libraries-and-museums/>
are suing the government (OR Department of Justice, 2 min). (legislation)

Legislation happening across the country: Oregon Senate Advances Bill to
Increase Difficulty of Banning Books in Schools
<https://www.wweek.com/news/schools/2025/03/31/oregon-senate-advances-bill-to-increase-difficulty-of-banning-books-in-schools/>
(Willamette Week, 3 min), see also the Skanner’s report
<https://www.theskanner.com/news/newsbriefs/36792-senate-democrats-keep-school-book-decisions-local-and-fair>
on the bill (2 min) and a reader’s support
<https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2025/03/readers-respond-preserve-access-to-books-with-sb-1098.html>
in the Oregonian (2 min). Popverse calls out a potential bill that allows
for banning of graphic novels
<https://www.thepopverse.com/comics-florida-sb1692-cbldf-censorship-schools>
(3 min). A new state bill in Texas may change how schools select library
books and potentially lead to more bans (Houston Public Media, 6 min). (
legislation, censorship)

The New York Time covers book censorship at the federal level: A.C.L.U.
Sues Defense Department Schools Over Book Bans
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/us/aclu-sues-defense-department-schools-over-book-bans.html>
(3 min) and Who’s In and Who’s Out at the Naval Academy’s Library?
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/us/politics/naval-academy-banned-books.html>
(9 min). Read about the responses from staff, academics and filmmakers
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/us/politics/naval-academy-trump.html>
to the removal of books at the Naval Academy (10 min). (censorship)

Technical.ly provides a look at broadband as a utility
<https://technical.ly/diversity-equity-inclusion/broadband-access-economic-necessity-net-neutrality/>
and key to fighting digital inequity(, 10 min). Related, an explainer of
what would happen if Section 230, the law underpinning the internet, went
away
<https://theconversation.com/what-would-happen-if-section-230-went-away-a-legal-expert-explains-the-consequences-of-repealing-the-law-that-built-the-internet-253326>
(Conversation, 5 min).(equity, access)



New report from PEN America on their initiative to fight disinformation at
the local level: Exploring How to Build Community-Level Resilience Against
Disinformation
<https://pen.org/report/how-to-build-community-level-resilience-against-disinformation/>
-includes a range of resources (48 min). (disinformation)

The Conversation reports on how the bankruptcy and selling of 23andMe is a
privacy problem
<https://theconversation.com/23andme-is-potentially-selling-more-than-just-genetic-data-the-personal-survey-info-it-collected-is-just-as-much-a-privacy-problem-253220>
and not just a genetic data issue (7 min). (privacy)

Privacy tips for the workplace and travel: What U.S. Federal Employees
Should Know About Workplace Surveillance
<https://www.justsecurity.org/108295/us-federal-employees-workplace-surveillance/>
(Just Security, 15 min) and How to Enter the US With Your Digital Privacy
Intact
<https://www.wired.com/2017/02/guide-getting-past-customs-digital-privacy-intact/>
(Wired, 14 min). (privacy)

Read about efforts to save government data
<https://www.npr.org/2025/03/23/nx-s1-5326573/internet-archive-wayback-machine-trump>
that is being purged by the current administration in NPR
<https://www.npr.org/2025/03/23/nx-s1-5326573/internet-archive-wayback-machine-trump>
(11 min). IEEE Spectrum reports on the efforts of digital archivists
<https://spectrum.ieee.org/digital-archive> to save public data (4 min).
Related, The White House frames the past by erasing parts of It
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/05/technology/trump-history-websites.html>
(New York Times, 9 min). (access)

Electronic Frontier Foundation covers a proposed legislation that has
broader implications in terms of internet censorship
<https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/04/congress-takes-another-step-toward-enabling-broad-internet-censorship>
(6
min). (access, censorship)

A new research paper published in Nature demonstrates how misinformation
can lead to the spread of disease
<https://www.nature.com/articles/s44260-025-00038-y?ref=internet.exchangepoint.tech>
(31 min). PHYS.org looks at the impacts of disinformation
<https://phys.org/news/2025-04-disinformation-democracy.html> on democracy
(8 min). The closure of the federal Office on Foreign Disinformation is
likely to allow for more disinformation to spread
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/us/politics/trump-rubio-state-department-foreign-disinformation.html>
(New York Times, 5 min). Axios provides visuals and data on the
disappearance of fact-checking
<https://www.axios.com/2025/04/22/fact-checking-misinformation-disinformation>
in the news and on social media platforms(3 min). (disinformation)

The U.S. Copyright office released the Copyright Registration Toolkit
<https://www.copyright.gov/intellectual-property-toolkits/copyright-registration-toolkit.pdf>,
which provides an overview of copyright, what is copyrightable and the
registration process. (copyright)

Ars Tecnica released the first in a series on the history of the Internet
<https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/04/a-history-of-the-internet-part-1-an-arpa-dream-takes-form/>
(19 min). (access)

AI Spotlight

As generative AI improves, it becomes harder to distinguish the real from
the deepfake
<https://theconversation.com/as-generative-ai-becomes-more-sophisticated-its-harder-to-distinguish-the-real-from-the-deepfake-225768>
(Conversation, 5 min). The Conversation offers an explainer of the appeal
of AI-generated images
<https://theconversation.com/ai-generated-images-can-exploit-how-your-mind-works-heres-why-they-fool-you-and-how-to-spot-them-246867>−and
how to spot them (6 min) and insights on how AI is enabling fraud
<https://theconversation.com/can-you-spot-a-financial-fake-how-ai-is-raising-our-risks-of-billing-fraud-253912>
(5 min). The Press Gazette looks into the misleading content generated from
“experts”
<https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/digital-journalism/virtual-reality-the-widely-quoted-media-experts-who-are-not-what-they-seem/>
(10 min). (disinformation)

The Brookings Institute provides an overview of how AI can enable
surveillance
<https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-ai-can-enable-public-surveillance/>
(6 min). (privacy)

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

Additional Resources

ALA Intellectual Freedom Blog: https://www.oif.ala.org A blog dedicated to
intellectual freedom issues, and includes the Intellectual Freedom News
<https://www.oif.ala.org/category/intellectual-freedom-news/> –a weekly
roundup of IF related articles
Oregon Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Toolkit
<https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/iftoolkit/home> (published February 8,
2022). A range of tools and resources relating to IF challenges and
policies created by the OLA Intellectual Freedom Committee.

Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions is a monthly roundup of Intellectual
Freedom News compiled by the Multnomah County Library Intellectual Freedom
Committee.


*Jennifer Keyser *(she/her)
*Policy Coordinator Librarian*
Monday - Friday
971-429-4699
Multnomah County Library
multcolib.org

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