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When governments come knocking, Twitter is glad to censor. Under Elon Musk, the bird company is honoring most government demands to take down tweets or hand over users data, according to data from Lumen and a new report from our friends at Rest of World.

It wasnt like this before. Publicly available records suggest that the company is fully complying with 80% of government requests, in contrast to the pre-Musk era, when that number hovered around 50%. This was thanks in part to policy staffers who worked hard to figure out when government demands were really legitimate and when they were overblown. But Musk fired most of the people doing this work shortly after taking the helm. And now people around the world are feeling the consequences.

More on this below.

With the fake news bill looming, Brazil blocked Telegram over neo-Nazi channels.

Brazils Congress is poised to vote on a controversial, Bolsonaro-era anti-fake news bill that would require big tech platforms to proactively remove illegal content, curb mass messaging by politicians and make other changes that would give the government more leverage when dealing with foreign tech powers. Silicon Valley wants none of it Google even used its quasi-monopolistic online presence to push its agenda in Brazil and some free expression advocates are concerned too.

As if to offer a case in point, major internet providers in Brazil blocked Telegram on April 26, over the Dubai-based companys refusal to hand over information about neo-Nazi activity on the platform. Police had requested data about two groups they suspect used Telegram to encourage a series of violent attacks at schools in Brazil in recent months. Telegram says the data cant be recovered. The block on Telegram was lifted on May 2, but the company is still racking up fines to the order of $200,000 per day. For Telegrams part, the company says it has never complied with a single data request from a government or anyone else. If the fake news bill passes, this may have to change, or Telegram may need to say, bye bye, Brazil.

African content moderators are uniting. A coalition of workers who clean up troublesome content for some of the worlds largest internet platforms Meta, ByteDance (owner of TikTok) and OpenAI voted to form the African Content Moderators Union this week. This is the latest development coming out of legal battles in Kenyan courts over the rights of content moderation workers who are typically hired by third-party companies Sama and Majorel are two of the biggest players in Nairobi that offer low pay and next to no benefits. Happy May Day, folks.

So now we know: Twitter is taking governments at their word and removing most of the tweets they say are illegal and maybe some that just rub government officials the wrong way. Meanwhile, emerging evidence shows that the company is less interested than ever in proactively removing content that violates its own policies, not to mention content that violates local laws. Im thinking here about all the violent, hateful and otherwise nasty stuff that third-party content moderators have to deal with. At least the ones in Kenya might have union representation soon.

I asked Turkish internet law scholar Yaman Akdeniz about it this week Turkey has made more censorship demands of Twitter than almost any other country on earth. Akdeniz noted that in the past, it was clear that the company ignored most requests from Turkey. I am not sure if this will be the case with the Musk administration, he said. The data from Lumen certainly suggests that it wont.

He described how Turkish authorities restricted access to Twitter following the earthquake earlier this year. The response from Twitter was swift. There was an immediate meeting, he said, and the ban was lifted within hours.

I can only speculate what was promised in that meeting, he said. More tweets will be withheld and more accounts will be suspended, that is for sure. And none of this bodes well for national elections, which are coming up on May 14. Twitter can easily become the long arm of the law enforcement agencies in Turkey if AKP wins, Akdeniz warned.

India was also at the top of the list of governments asking the company to take down tweets. In March, we wrote about Twitters willingness to censor tweets about the police search for a Sikh secessionist preacher in Punjab. The episode made it look as if the company was glad to do whatever the Indian state or federal authorities asked, including suspending the account of a member of the state assembly.

If government officials can simply lean on Twitter to silence not only their critics in the public sphere but also their political opponents, the consequences for public discourse and democracy will be pretty severe.

Censor when governments ask, but let the rest flow as it will. What could go wrong?

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From Turkey to India, Twitter offers censorship on demand - Coda Story

Freedom of expression in Americaespecially the use of language to imprint thoughts and ideas upon a pagehas always been under assault. The removal from classrooms and school libraries of material deemed injurious to young minds is nothing new, but its recent resurgence as promulgated by many of the school and library boards of today reminds us that the freedom to share ideas via the tools of language has never been inviolate. The censorship of booksthis most venerable manifestation of thought preservation in Americacan undergo periodic, politically-engineered recrudescence just when you least expect it.

Or, perhaps, when you do expect it, given the full-stop cultural clashes now insulting the country.

Upon the publication by Dzanc Books of the twentieth-anniversary special edition of my novel Ella Minnow Pea this month, a friend of mine noted sadly, Its like America has become the island of Nollop.

The nation of Nollop, dolloped off the coast of South Carolina (which was founded by former American slaves and abolitionists in the nineteenth century), had always maintained a special, adulatory relationship with the English language. They revered it, elevated it, and then, with bewildering capriciousness, decided to destroy it, through misguided attendance by island leaders to a dead mans perceived postmortem wishes.

The dead man was, significantly, one Nevin Nollop, purported author of the familiar pangram The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. On the island of Nollop, the fox stopped jumping, and the lazy dog, lapsed right into canine coma.

Ella Minnow Pea was intended as a cautionary tale about the fragility of language and the risks attached to assuming that the use of language as a public tool and commodity is an inalienable human birthright. The pen, as it has been famously put, is mightier than the sword. Which means that its far more effective for oppressive forces to go after the pen.

The publication of my novel about Miss Minnow Pea and her fight against those who would eviscerate language through the progressive outlawing of letters of the alphabet put Ella and her fellow equally-beleaguered Nollopians on a two-decade-long journey. She found her way to the shelves of bookstores and libraries throughout the world, was discussed in book clubs and chat rooms and literary forums, was used as clues in both the New York Times and the New Yorker crossword puzzles, and even wound up in stage-musical adaptation as LMNOP (the muzical!).

For a book that never made the New York Times bestseller list, Ella slipped into the zeitgeistian cultural consciousness of America through the backdoor. Which put me as the books author in the interesting position of having to introduce Ella to those who had still never heard of it, while at the same time hearing it lauded by others as their favorite novel.

There were some who told me, Of course I know Ella Minnow Pea. I had to write a paper on it for one of my high school English classes. Those folks are now the parents of kids whose own English teachers have tucked the novel right into their own classroom curriculum. (There are now student study guides written for Ella, which have taught the books author a thing or two he didnt know about his own novel.)

Ella Minnow Pea isnt alone in addressing the struggle to oppose those who seek to outlaw or, at the very least, put ludicrous fetters on language. On the isle of Nollop, its citizens are forbidden, under heavy penalty, to use, first, the letter Z, then Q, then J, then, significantly, the letter D. And the illicitabetical laws keep piling up to a ridiculous extreme.

Is this any different from Vladimir Putins directive to throw people in jail for the crime of using the word war to describe his countrys invasion of Ukraine? In some parts of America, a man is allowed to read a story to children in a public space, but only if he doesnt dress as a woman; then the words that come out of his mouth become bizarrely suspect.

Coincident to Ella getting early attention after its original hardback publication in 2001, a community outside of Kansas City, Missouri, decided to publish its list of books that should be removed from local school libraries. (Note: should, not will. This is otherwise known as the good old days.)

Lest one believe that this particular community didnt recognize the contrasting existence of safe and non-controversial literature when they saw it, Ella was put on a second list of books of which they approvedthis novel of mine about censorship and book banning. In this town, located in suburban middle-America in the year 2001, irony took a powder.

In my novel, the Nollopian Library is eventually shut down and boarded up, since, with the passage of anti-alphabet laws, its shelves are now filled with books that contain the illegal letters. Could the shutting down of libraries actually happen in todays America? Ask members of the community in Texas who have recently expressed their desire to do just that.

I am sure there are those who wonder what its like to write a book that suddenly becomes topically relevant. But, of course, Id have to correct them: my novel hasnt stumbled inadvertently into political pertinence. Destroying the ability of members of our species to express themselves through language, through art, through the discourse that flows from untrammeled freedom of thought isnt without historic precedent. Its antecedents stretch back through the ages.

But today, the weapons are different, or at least differently configured, and, interestingly, freedom of thought and expressionespecially through the employment of the many linguistic riches to be found in the gleaming treasure chest that is the English languagedoesnt fall neatly and conveniently on one side of the political and ideological spectrum, as those who decry excessive attendance to political correctness will tell you.

Ella Minnow Pea, Im happy to report, has found a timeless place in the literary canon, and Im equally happy to have my name attached to it. But my quirky novel about letters of the alphabet which literally (and literally!) disappear from its pages does find itself invoked in timely moments, just like those were living through today. If Im lucky, its relevancewhether advertent or inadvertentwill keep it on the shelves far into the future.

Which, of course, is a good thing. But it is also an indication that fighting for the ability to use the tools of language without government intrusion is a cause that will never be put out to pasture.

As the son of two visual artists, Im excited that Dzanc Books has chosen in this special commemorative edition to include illustrations by the very talented Brittany Worsham. And Ella and her cousin Tassie are pleased to see their story illuminated upon crisp new pages. I would imagine that at this very moment, one cousin is writing to the other, using all the letters of the alphabet, not taking a single one of them for granted.

______________________________

Ella Minnow Pea: 20th Anniversary Illustrated Edition by Mark Dunn is available via Dzanc.

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On Shuttered Libraries, Censorship, the Threat of Book Bans - Literary Hub

Soviet Barbara, the Story of Ragnar Kjartansson in Moscow

Gaukur lfarsson's documentary Soviet Barbara, the Story of Ragnar Kjartansson in Moscow (part of Toronto's Hot Docs festival), raises questions about art, politics in censorship as it chronicles the creation of artist Ragnar Kjartansson retrospective in a Moscow museum.

Back in 2021, Kjartansson was given the opportunity to open a massive retrospective at the GES-2 House of Culture in Moscow, a renovated power plant owned by a Russian oligarch.

The retrospective included recreations of episodes of the U.S. soap opera Santa Barbara, which had been a massive hit in Russia.

We've known of each other for a long time and we have a group of friends that are the same group of friends, filmmaker lfarsson told Yahoo Canada about creating a documentary around Kjartansson's work. A very good friend of mine told me about what Ragnar was going to do in Moscow.

I didn't really understand the scope of what he was going to be doing and later, maybe a week later, I spoke to him on the phone. ... Then he started talking to me about [Santa Barbara], and what he was going to be doing in Russia. Even then, after a long conversation on the phone, I didn't really understand, he just told me that he was going to recreate 99 episodes of Santa Barbara.

While it ended up being the basis of his film, lfarsson had an interesting initial response to this retrospective.

My first reaction was, this is completely ridiculous, lfarsson said. But this is also completely brilliant.

I didn't understand the politics about it firsthand. He kind of gave me many of the layers and I asked him if we could come and do a documentary on this. He was very willing to let us do it.

Soviet Barbara, the Story of Ragnar Kjartansson in Moscow

Soviet Barbara, the Story of Ragnar Kjartansson in Moscow shows individuals, and Kjartansson himself, questioning the ethics around showing this work in a Russian museum. Even equating the move to people going to consume art in museums funded by the Sackler family.

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My parents were also socialists so I completely identify with being passionate about Russia, lfarsson said. As a young man reading a lot of Russian literature, I always wanted to go and going there, I was completely amazed by how amazing Moscow is, and the people there are also beautiful people.

He really wanted to go there. This was a part of him as an artist. The music and the literature from Russia is, I think there's no country that compares. So that's part of it I really understand.

But lfarsson identifies that the "heartbreaking" thing is how beautiful the city was, but had so much political turmoil.

When I started with this, I had a hunch that because of where he was going, things could happen, lfarsson said. After the invasion, obviously just completely took a U-turn, in a sense.

Kjartansson quickly had to face the reality that Putin's power will impact his art, including a visit from Putin himself. When Putin invaded Ukraine, that's when the reality sets in that Kjartansson art can't exist in what he calls a "full-blown fascist state."

For lfarsson, he hopes that Soviet Barbara, the Story of Ragnar Kjartansson in Moscow, provides an opportunity for people to think more about the threat of censorship.

I was reading in the Canadian newspapers yesterday about this Canadian poet, [Rupi Kaur who wrote 'Milk and Honey,'] lfarsson recalled. She's been banned [in the] United States. There are so many levels of censorship.

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'Soviet Barbara, the Story of Ragnar Kjartansson in Moscow': Art, censorship and Russia's war on Ukraine - Yahoo News Canada

On the Freedom to Learn movements National Day of Action, May 3, Candlewick Press will discount the ebook editions of Maggie Tokuda-Hall and illustrator Yas Imamuras picture book Love in the Library and married pair Frederick Joseph and Porsche Josephs YA collection, Better Than We Found It: Conversations to Help Save the World.

Love in the Library tells the story of Tokuda-Halls Japanese American grandparents, who met in Idahos Minidoka incarceration camp during World War II. Better Than We Found It offers perspectives on social justice action from more than 20 activists, celebrities, and political thinkers. Readers can download the ebooks for 99 cents apiece on May 3 only.

Both books provide anti-racist and equity-oriented information to young readers, reinforcing the goals of the Freedom to Learn National Day of Action. Freedom to Learn was launched by the African American Policy Forum, whose co-founder and executive director is Columbia Law School professor Kimberl Crenshaw, who coined the terms intersectionality and critical race theory. AAPF and Freedom to Learn aim to gather a coalition to resist book bans and other threats to inclusive education.

In an open letter, Freedom to Learn opposed the attacks being waged on educational curricula in the United States and elsewhere against intersectionality, critical race theory, Black feminism, queer theory, and other frameworks that address structural inequality. In particular, they called out the College Boards watering down of its Advanced Placement African American Studies curriculum.

As AAPF and Freedom to Learn organized for May 3, Tokuda-Hall faced her own curriculum-related challenge related to Love in the Library. In mid-April, she wrote on her blog that Scholastic had invited her to publish Love in the Library as part of a Rising Voices Libraries school materials collection, Amplifying AANHPI, on the condition that she remove a paragraph about racism from her authors note. Tokuda-Hall refused, her blog post went viral, and hundreds of authors signed an online anti-censorship petition to support her. Scholastic soon apologized, and CEO Peter Warwick expressed a sincere hope that we can start this conversation over and still be able to share this important story with the authors note unchanged. (Tokuda-Hall still has not decided whether to accept Scholastics offer.)

After the controversy arose, AAPF reached out to Tokuda-Hall. I was really honored, Tokuda-Hall said. AAPF doesnt mince words about what theyre fighting for and against, something I find both absolutely necessary and deeply refreshing. Theres no call from them to cede ground to those whod demand we rewrite or erase history, no neutrality about the rise of fascism. The organizations firm stance, she said, encompasses why I stood up publicly to Scholastic. Their visiona multiracial democracyis my dearest hope.

Tokuda-Hall informed Candlewick about the impending Day of Action, suggesting it could be a great opportunity to popularize their invaluable work. Candlewick president and publisher Karen Lotz was listening. We have been in close conversation with Maggie for the past several weeks about how best to amplify her message and her powerful indictment of the historic and present reach of racism, especially during Mays AAPI Heritage Month, Lotz said. It made perfect sense to plan the promotion for May 3, and to add Better Than We Found It, another title that encourages us to interrogate the failures of the past and present and to pursue a more equitable future.

Candlewick already works with organizations including the National Coalition Against Censorship, Unite Against Book Bans, and PEN America. In addition to these channels, were always looking for new and creative ways to ensure that readers can access challenged books, Lotz said.

The flurry around Tokuda-Halls afterword also sent Love in the Library back to press. Weve been thrilled to see increased demand for this book, and have expedited a reprint, Lotz said. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our production department, we were able to rush domestic printing and anticipate well have more stock available in just a few weeks. In the meantime, the book is still available from some retailers, and we hope many people will use this opportunity to read the ebook and to preorder the reprint. Although learning isnt entirely free in this case, its a bit more affordable, and the promotion uplifts the Freedom to Learn project.

Continued here:
Turning a Censorship Controversy into a Learning Opportunity - Publishers Weekly

Every year, the American Library Association unveils its list of the top 10 most-challenged books for the previous year. And this year, Number One is the same as last years Number One: the book Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe. Other books that achieved this distinction were Toni Morrisons classic The Bluest Eye, All Boys Arent Blue by George M. Johnson, and other titles dealing with race, gender identity, sexuality and coming of age in other words, real life.

This years list also follows the Associations announcement that demands to censor library books reached 1,269 last year nearly doubling demands from the previous year. Thats a record high in all the years since ALA began compiling data more than 20 years ago. And because censorship demands now often include numerous books, a record-high number of individual titles made the list of targeted books last year: 2,571. The ALA says of those, the vast majority were written by or about people of color or the LGBTQ community.

This is a tragedy for students, and not just students who come from the communities the censors want to silence. Those students lose the sometimes life-saving experience of seeing themselves in a story and knowing they are neither abnormal nor alone. Meanwhile all students grow up knowing less about the world. Censorship stunts their intellectual growth.

Art Spiegelman is the creator of Maus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel that depicts his familys experience of the Holocaust and is frequently targeted by censors. His experience as a target of censors has made him a leading activist against book banning, and he believes the answer to the book-banning craze is to get involved in local politics including school board elections, where the battles over censorship are waged. Spiegelman made it clear in a recent CBS News interview that he recognizes the right of a parent to say their own child can or cant read a book, but to make that decision for other parents kids is suppression and authoritarianism.

Spiegelmans position seems entirely reasonable to me. We can honor the rights of individual parents to make decisions about their kids exposure to books, art and other cultural materials without mandating decisions for everybody else. That seems like rational ground we should all be able to occupy.

But rationality left the room a while ago when it comes to the Far Rights attacks on the freedom to learn. The main group leading the charge on banning books, Moms for Liberty, has become something akin to a terrorist organization. Reports now abound of group members carrying out harassment campaigns in their communities, calling for librarians to be shot and making unfounded public accusations of child abuse and pedophilia against their perceived enemies. The group has also become a significant force in Republican politics. And its growing.

All of which makes it intimidating to think about getting involved in school board politics if you want to fight censorship. And thats exactly the point.

What we need now are not just brave and principled people on school boards, but also bigger, more powerful organizations that are willing to support them. The organization I lead, People For the American Way, has a cadre of school board members in our Young Elected Officials network. We are engaged in outreach to these folks, especially in states that are hotbeds for book banning like Florida and Virginia. Were asking them what they need, including on the security front. We want to empower them to stay in their roles because we need them more than ever to stand up to the onslaught of groups like Moms for Liberty.

If the American Library Associations findings are any indication, this is just the start of a new struggle for the freedom to learn, one that hasnt yet reached its peak. We owe it to the next generation not to stand on the sidelines; please think about how you can help.

Svante Myrick is president of People For the American Way.

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MYRICK: Time to Fight Back Against Censorship - The Washington Informer