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By jake@stormlake.com | on August 08, 2023

Book banning is bad business, as school and city officials are finding out in Alta. The school will need to ban potentially hundreds of books if they refer to sex under a new state law. That means that the Alta Community Library, which shares its stacks with the Alta-Aurelia School District, would have to do a massive purge of its 21,000 books (60% of which are the citys).

This has prompted the city to think about establishing its own separate library just so a seventh grader doesnt have access to a book like Catcher in the Rye. That is not hyperbole. The book is on a list of 347 proposed for censorship in the Urbandale School District. A different list of banned books, with similar classics tagged, is circulating in the Norwalk School District. Its hard to imagine what Alta-Aurelia might come up with.

We could have more than 300 sets of rules depending on the school district and how prudish an influential set of patrons are with the school board.

We recall several years ago leading Republican legislators declaring that you could not have local control over livestock confinement because you would have 99 sets of rules, and that would be a mess for the pork industry.

Yet the same party thinks it is okay to make school boards into a censorship authority.

The Iowa Department of Education, under the guidance of Gov. Kim Reynolds who cooked up this law, refuses to issue regulations for school districts to follow. Everyone is on their own. Thats not leadership, its chaos.

And it is wasteful. The city and school district had a nice thing going, sharing facilities and staff. It saved money. It created a program the city probably could not afford on its own. Were pretty sure no innocent eyes were exposed to anything of prurient interest that they could not otherwise find on their cellphone or on TV during primetime. Alta and Aurelia always have been able to establish community standards and did not need the assistance of the governor and legislature.

Sen. Lynn Evans, a Republican who supported the book-banning bill, is an Aurelia native and former superintendent of schools. He is confident that the city and school district will work something out. He thinks there is a way to cordon off adult books from sixth- graders and the like. The city is not necessarily as optimistic. We certainly appreciate the citys anxiety over trashing much of its collection.

Its a shame that the legislature didnt think this through. Its too bad we let partisans or holy rollers write our curriculum standards instead of trained educators. You would think the University of Northern Iowa or Buena Vista were grooming socialists and perverts to run our schools. The Department of Education is derelict to just ignore it.

Republicans created a mess for their core constituency: rural Iowa. This is what Alta and Aurelia get a big headache from stupidity and zeal.

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Editorial: A mess of censorship - The Storm Lake Times

Elon Musks $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last year was fueled by his stance against censorship. However, critics argue that Musk himself is now engaging in censorship through his companys lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). Musks business accuses CCDH of advocating for internet censorship and seeking to stifle free expression.

CCDH, on the other hand, claims that it highlights instances of misinformation, hate speech, and harmful content on social media platforms. Internet safety campaigners, including the father of Molly Russell, have criticized Musks lawsuit as an attack on civil society.

The lawsuit, brought against CCDH by X Corp, alleges breaches of terms of service, improper use of login credentials, interference with contracts, and intentional harm caused to X. It also claims that CCDHs actions have resulted in significant financial losses for X through paused or halted advertising campaigns.

Experts are skeptical of Xs claims, stating that advertisers have long been put off by Twitter due to Musks controversial behavior. They believe that CCDHs research is just one of many factors influencing advertisers decisions.

CCDHs CEO, Imran Ahmed, has stated that they will continue to fight the lawsuit, despite the significant costs involved. X is seeking unspecified damages and aims to prevent CCDH from conducting research on its platform.

The lawsuit also ventures into conspiracy theories, suggesting without evidence that CCDH is being supported by Xs competitors and government entities.

While CCDHs research has been criticized for not being peer-reviewed, supporters argue that they should not be sued for their work.

In the midst of this legal battle, Musk aims to transform X into an everything app similar to Chinas WeChat, but the platform currently relies heavily on advertising revenue. Musk acknowledges that advertising revenue has dropped by 50% at X, which amounts to a significant financial burden for the company.

See more here:
Elon Musk's Twitter Lawsuit: A Battle Over Censorship - Clayton County Register

The music video for Jason Aldeans song Try That in a Small Town stirred controversy in July with the First Amendment at the center of a debate about censorship and free speech.

As the controversy grew, the country music channel CMT announced it would no longer show the music video.

Supporters claimed Aldean was being canceled, and his First Amendment rights were violated. Detractors insinuated that the songs lyrics dont merit First Amendment protection, and some have even petitioned the government to step in to censor Aldean.

A First Amendment analysis of the Jason Aldean controversy

Lets look at the song and some of these claims through a First Amendment lens using a traffic signal framework:

Green light: These words or actions are protected by the First Amendment.

Yellow light: Caution! The First Amendment might not apply.

Red light: No First Amendment protection.

Are Aldeans song and music video free speech?

The songs lyrics compare responses to crime in big cities and small towns. The music video uses footage of carjackings, armed robbery and protests. The footage is interspersed with clips of Aldean singing in front of a Tennessee courthouse where an 18-year-old Black man named Henry Choate was lynched in 1927 and a race riot occurred in 1946.

The songs lyrics, which some say imply violence, plus the image of Aldean singing at a setting of racial violence have some arguing that the song is not protected by the First Amendment.

Green light: Music is protected as free speech. Only 54% of Americans in Freedom Forums 2023 The First Amendment: Where America Stands survey knew this, but 88% agreed music should be protected from government censorship.

Many have claimed that the song is hateful. But, as 6 in 10 survey respondents knew and agreed, hate speech is protected by the First Amendment, unless some other exception applies. None apply here. The lyrics and video lack the necessary immediacy to be incitement to imminent lawless violence, which is not protected by the First Amendment. They are not face-to-face and so cannot be fighting words. And they do not single out any individual as required for a true threat to exist.

Are the actions in the song free speech protected by the First Amendment?

In the song, Aldean refers to actions that would generate a response in a small town, including cuss out a cop, spit in his face, stomp on the flag and light it up.

Yellow light: The First Amendment means we can stand up to authority and arent required to choose our words carefully when we do so. But some of the clips in the music video show protesters shouting right in the faces of police officers, which could be fighting words, a category of speech not protected by the First Amendment. These words are intended not to convey a message but rather to provoke a violent response. And this could also lead to obstruction of justice charges if you impeded an officers job.

Red light: Any physical contact with a police officer is no longer expression. This is likely criminal assault.

STOMP ON THE FLAG AND LIGHT IT UP

Green light: Flag desecration, including stepping on the flag and burning it, is protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has said flag burning is symbolic speech and in many cases is protected as free speech.

Can TV and radio censor the song or venues cancel Aldean shows?

CMT stopped airing the Try That in a Small Town video. Some radio stations arent playing the song. People are calling for boycotts of Aldeans concerts and asking venues to cancel his shows.

Green light: CMT, radio stations and concert venues are all private businesses. The First Amendment doesnt apply here something that three-quarters of Americans dont know. Private businesses can set their own rules about what messages they support and promote. The First Amendment only protects us against government actions that infringe on our rights to religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.

Can people challenge Aldeans controversial statements?

The Jason Aldean controversy largely began after the music video was released, and people added context to Aldeans claims that there isnt a single video clip that isnt real news footage.

Major media outlets and citizen journalists added historical context regarding the courthouse and the video footage, some from protests outside the U.S., which provide context to Aldeans claims.

Green light: The work of professional and citizen journalists is freedom of the press protected by the First Amendment. Statements about a celebrity like Aldean get very strong protection under the First Amendment. Americans have the right to hold public officials and public figures accountable.

Is criticizing Aldean or canceling him free speech?

Aldeans defense of the song has thousands of reactions. Gun control activists and other musicians have called him out. Conservative commentators and a former president of the United States have defended him.

Aldean responded to criticism and accusations of being anti-Black Lives Matter, pro-lynching and insensitive to the impact of gun violence. He described the song as one that refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief.

Green light: Aldean says that he is a victim of cancel culture. Thats a hard term to define. Sometimes what is deemed cancel culture is just people using their own free speech. Often, exercising your freedom of speech has consequences. People contacting government officials are exercising their freedom of petition. And, of course, sometimes their criticism backfires, like when the song in question rises to no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts despite or more likely because of the controversy.

Can government officials use their power to punish Aldean?

Politicians have also weighed in. For instance, Justin Jones, who was expelled from and then reinstated to the Tennessee House of Representatives for leading a protest on the House floor, described the song as a lynching anthem and said we have an obligation to condemn Jason Aldeans heinous song calling for racist violence.

Yellow/red light: Government officials like Jones have First Amendment rights, too, especially when speaking outside their official duties. They have every right to express their opinions.

But they cross a line when they use their position and power to punish. It would violate the First Amendment to condemn Aldean in an official resolution that carried some penalty. And if any lawmakers tried to pressure stations or venues to stop playing or hosting Aldean, this would infringe his First Amendment rights by punishing him based on the content of his song.

The Jason Aldean controversy unpacked

The Jason Aldean controversy isnt the first debate about music, censorship and free speech. Such controversies cut across political divides and span musical genres. History is full of examples of controversial rock, punk, heavy metal and, particularly in recent years, rap and hip hop songs.

This is why it is so important that we all protect the free expression rights not only of those who write and perform songs but also of those who criticize and defend those artists.

Kevin Goldberg is First Amendment specialist for the Freedom Forum. He can be reached at kgoldberg@freedomforum.org.

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Jason Aldean controversy: Free speech and censorship collide - Southwest Virginia Today

People in Senegal have been turning en masse to VPN services as they battle against a second wave of internet restrictions.

Proton VPN recorded an increase in sign-ups at 2,800% above the normal level, in fact, via its VPN Observatory since July 31, 2023. Internet access was restricted on that day, with TikTok being also blocked on August 2.

The move was intended as a means to limit the spread of "hateful messages" on social mediathe countrys communications minister said in a statement, Al Jazeera reported. This comes as opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was formally charged with fomenting an insurrection and criminal conspiracy, among other charges.

This was the second time the internet has gone dark in Senegal in the last three months amid political turmoilonce thought the best democracy in all of West Africa.

Authorities already cut mobile internet and access to the most popular social media in June amid protests over the sentencing of Sonko to two-year jail time on charges of "corrupting youth." A sentence that many citizens see as just the latest ploy to prevent him from running for the next election in February 2024. At that time, at least 24 people got killed, 390 were injured and more than 500 were detained during the clashes.

After six days of curfew-style shutdowns, mobile connections have been reported to be restored on Saturday, August 5. Yet, the use of virtual private network (VPN) and similar location spoofing software remains high in the region as such tools become "a vital piece of infrastructure" for Senegalese to keep accessing the open web.

"Proton VPN has seen a significant increase in use in Senegal over recent months," Antonio Cesarano, Head of Product at Proton VPN, told TechRadar.

"We saw two spikes last week, one following the Senegalese authorities' restriction of internet access in response to violent protests following the arrest of the opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, followed swiftly by a second spike after TikTok was blocked."

At the time of writing, the 2,800% spike in VPN downloads is still rising, explained Cesarano, as people look for alternative ways to work around internet censorship.

Despite not being useful in the event of a total internet shutdown, VPNs are the best way to bypass geo-restrictions and keep access to blocked apps and censored content. That's because the software works by spoofing your IP addresses to make it appear as though you're browsing from a completely different country within seconds. Even better, the software also encrypts all the data leaving your device for better security and privacy online, helping you protect yourself from oppressive governments as you unblock global news and media.

The latest surge in Senegal VPN usage followed a significant spike in VPN sign-ups across the country in June when authorities blocked people from accessing popular social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and YouTube. The cyber-revolution kept going on, though, as VPNs helped citizens to cut through the thick blanket of censorship wracking Senegal's social media.

Such spikes in VPN usage are, sadly, common nowadays as authorities increasingly clamp down on the open internet. Proton also saw similar trends appearing in Ethiopia, Turkey, and Pakistan this year alone.

"What's interesting is that in countries that have a track record of online censorship, people are starting to anticipate that, and are signing up to VPNs in advance of potential online blocks," said Cesarano. That's what occurred in Turkey during the last presidential elections, for example, as people feared an information blackout. A trend now echoed across Senegal.

"[In June] we saw a 100,000% increase in sign-ups, and we have seen increased use since then. That means that when the most recent internet blocks took effect, there was an already high existing user base due to previous censorship," explained Cesarano.

"For people in Senegal, VPNs are now looking to be a vital piece of infrastructure allowing them to access the free internet in the face of government censorship."

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VPN usage soars in Senegal amid a second wave of censorship - TechRadar

In 'Miles Morales Suspended,' Spider-Man grapples with racism and censorship : NPR's Book of the Day Miles Morales, the beloved protagonist of Jason Reynolds' Spider-Man novel, is back. And this time, he's dealing with in-school suspension for challenging his history teacher at an elite Brooklyn private school. But between writing poetry about his new crush and saving the world, the young, Black and Puerto Rican superhero also stumbles into some major themes about racism and censorship. Reynolds tells NPR's A Martinez how his newest novel is a response to the book bans taking place across the country and how he wishes it didn't have to be.

Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

Miles Morales, the beloved protagonist of Jason Reynolds' Spider-Man novel, is back. And this time, he's dealing with in-school suspension for challenging his history teacher at an elite Brooklyn private school. But between writing poetry about his new crush and saving the world, the young, Black and Puerto Rican superhero also stumbles into some major themes about racism and censorship. Reynolds tells NPR's A Martinez how his newest novel is a response to the book bans taking place across the country and how he wishes it didn't have to be.

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In 'Miles Morales Suspended,' Spider-Man grapples with racism and ... - NPR