Top Stories This Week

• What’s happening at Woodhull;
• Childproofing the internet;
• Halting censorship in New York prisons; 
• Criminalizing access to books;
• The RESTRICT Act;
• Funding sanctuary libraries; and
• Woodhull’s take on censorship in Iowa. 

Woodhull Welcomes Daly Johnson! 

We are thrilled to welcome Daly Johnson to the Woodhull team this Summer. Daly will be joining us as an intern for the Summer months. She will be assisting us with our legislative educational efforts. You can expect to see more content about legislation we support and oppose while Daly is with us.

(Illustration by Alex Castro/The Verge)

Congress is flooded with bills for childproofing the internet (The Verge) 

Makena Kelly comments on childproofing the internet: “While the conversation over protecting kids online traces back to the 1990s, discussions to update current law gained new momentum only a few years ago. In October 2021, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked a trove of documents from the company detailing how its products harm the mental health of children and teens. As a result, Congress held hearings hauling in Facebook executives and introduced new bills to restrict how platforms treat the data of their young users. Other lawmakers have targeted a surge in child sexual abuse material online, blaming tech shield law Section 230 for its spread.” Read more.

(Davide Coggins)

New York’s Prison System Abruptly Halts a Policy Censoring Artists and Writers (The Nation) 

Victoria Law writes the rapid rescinding of a directive by New York's Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) requiring approval by the prison superintendent of any creative work being sent to a nonprofit for the purpose of being shared publicly. She quotes an unnamed DOCCS spokesperson who explained, “It is evident that Directive #4406, Creative Arts Projects, is not being interpreted as the Department intended, as it was never our objective to limit free speech or creative endeavors. Accordingly, we have rescinded the directive effective immediately. The Department will engage interest stakeholders to revise the policy in order to encourage creative arts projects, as originally intended.” Read more.

(Brandon Dill for NBC News)

Arkansas librarians sue to block new law that could jail them over explicit books (NBC News) 

Tyler Kingkade highlights a lawsuit to block criminalization of access to books in Arkansas: “The Central Arkansas Library System argued in a filing in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas that Act 372 violates the First Amendment by making it a misdemeanor for libraries to give children access to materials that are ‘harmful to minors.’ The term — which means any depiction of nudity or sexual conduct meant to appeal to a prurient interest that lacks serious artistic, medical or political value and which contemporary community standards would find inappropriate for minors — is too broad, the suit contends.” Read more.

(Electronic Frontier Foundation)

The Broad, Vague RESTRICT Act Is a Dangerous Substitute for Comprehensive Data Privacy Legislation (Electronic Frontier Foundation) 

Jason Kelley and David Greene from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) explain their opposition to the RESTRICT Act: “If Congress is concerned about foreign powers collecting our data, it should focus on comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation that will have a real impact, and protect our data no matter what platform it’s on—TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else that profits from our private information. That’s why EFF supports such consumer data privacy legislation. Foreign adversaries won't be able to get our data from social media companies if the social media companies aren't allowed to collect, retain, and sell it in the first place.” Read more.

(Susan Q Yin/Unsplash)

A Bill in Connecticut Would Fund Sanctuary Libraries (Book Riot) 

Kelly Jensen writes about funding sanctuary libraries: “Senate Bill 2, called the Act Concerning the Mental, Physical, and Emotional Wellness of Children, is a wide-ranging one covering everything from children’s mental health coverage to public libraries. Most pertinent to the ongoing removal of books from public and school libraries, though, is the bill’s creation of sanctuary libraries across the state. The bill would allow every community within Connecticut to designate a public library as a sanctuary library, wherein books which have been banned, challenged, or censored will be readily available to anyone who would like to borrow them.” Read more.

Censorship in Iowa (Woodhull’s Sex & Politics Blog) 

We at the Woodhull Freedom Foundation explore censorship in Iowa: “On May 26, 2023, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed S.F. 496, codifying draconian censorship into law. Now, Iowans face state-sanctioned censorship in schools, and the risks cannot be overstated. The Human Rights Campaign calls S.F. 496 Iowa’s version of ‘Don’t Say LGBTQ+’ legislation, and for good reason: it ‘bans classroom discussions that touch on LGBTQ+ topics in grades K-6, and also requires schools to forcibly out transgender students.’” Read more.

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