Free Expression

Claudia Johnson shares thoughts on the right to read

By |2023-04-21T19:39:18-04:00April 21st, 2023|Blog, Censorship News Issues, News|

Claudia Johnson is a nationally recognized advocate for free speech and social justice, winner of the inaugural PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award, for her “extraordinary efforts to restore banned literary classics to Florida classrooms”—and author of Stifled Laughter: One Woman's Story About Fighting Censorship, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize when it was first published in 1994. Fulcrum Publishing has just released a new edition [...]

Florida school district allows removal of graphic adaptation of Anne Frank’s Diary by school principal

By |2023-04-21T18:41:33-04:00April 21st, 2023|Letters, News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship has contacted the school board of Indian River County School District in Vero Beach, Florida, protesting the removal of Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation from a high school library.  As we understand it, the principal removed the graphic novel because it depicts Anne Frank walking in a garden that contains classical Greek and Roman [...]

New London, Minnesota, student forbidden from wearing “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt

By |2023-04-21T08:56:53-04:00April 21st, 2023|Letters, News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Superintendent of New London-Spicer School District in New London, Minnesota, because we understand that a middle school student has been forbidden from wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt because it refers to a vulgar expression of opposition to President Biden.  Although the Supreme Court has stated that schools can prohibit [...]

NCAC Welcomes Applications for Student Advocates for Speech

By |2023-03-28T14:43:51-04:00March 9th, 2023|Blog, News, Press Releases|

New York – The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is now accepting applications for Student Advocates for Speech (SAS), a project for high school students, for the 2023 - 2024 school year. NCAC assists SAS student leaders in creating school clubs where they can learn about the importance of free speech and advocate for their rights and the rights of [...]

National Organizations Condemn Cancellation of Student Production of Play ‘Indecent’ in Duval County, Florida

By |2023-01-10T14:15:07-05:00January 10th, 2023|News, Press Releases|

NEW YORK — The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), PEN America, and the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, organizations dedicated to artistic, intellectual, and academic freedom, today expressed deep concern over the cancellation of the student production of the play, Indecent, by the administration at Douglas Anderson School of Performing Arts in Duval County, Florida. The groups urged school officials [...]

NCAC and DDA Join Other Organizations to Demand Internet Infrastructure Providers Stop Censoring User-Generated Content

By |2022-12-02T13:26:11-05:00December 2nd, 2022|News, Press Releases|

NEW YORK – Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), which represents 59 education, publishing, religious and arts organizations and Don’t Delete Art (DDA), a project of NCAC and several other organizations and artists, joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation and over 50 other organizations and institutions in supporting Protect the Stack, a statement calling on internet infrastructure providers not [...]

Artistic Freedom and the Internet Infrastructure

By |2022-12-02T13:27:52-05:00December 1st, 2022|Blog, News|

Companies providing core internet infrastructures—including internet service providers, website host companies, payment processors, and more—rarely have substantial contact with their users, user-generated content, or user activities. And, even though they typically lack expertise, authority, resources, and policies to regulate user content with consistency, many online infrastructure companies do just that. The result has severely restricted free speech on the internet, [...]

Censorship at the Orange County Museum of Art

By |2022-11-09T18:10:15-05:00November 9th, 2022|Blog, News, Press Releases|

In the Fall of 2022, the much-anticipated reopening of the Orange County Museum of Art was marred by the censorship of a painting by renowned artist Ben Sakoguchi in the museum’s California Biennial 2022: Pacific Gold.  A few months prior to the opening, the artist was informed of concerns coming from the museum’s education department that some of the [...]

NCAC Condemns San Francisco Public Library’s Cancellation of Art Exhibition

By |2022-10-05T10:28:59-04:00October 5th, 2022|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has written to the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) regarding their decision in March to cancel the exhibition Wall + Response over objections to an idea expressed in one of the pieces. It is our understanding that when Wall + Response was approved by library officials, the poems and murals comprising the project [...]

NCAC responds to NY Town’s Move to Censor Civil Rights Mural

By |2022-10-05T10:28:05-04:00September 16th, 2022|News|

Photo Credit: Jerald Braddock The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has written to the Town Supervisor of the Town of Greenburgh, New York, regarding its recent call to remove the depiction of Minister Louis Farrakhan, and potentially other controversial figures, from a new town-commissioned mural overseen by the artist known as Kindo Art. The mural was initially commissioned to [...]

NCAC Urges New York School District to Support Free Expression

By |2022-08-08T16:55:20-04:00August 8th, 2022|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship has delivered a letter to the Auburn Enlarged City School District Board in Auburn, New York, in response to proposed amendments to its Instructional Materials and Controversial Issues policy that will allow parents to limit access to school library materials. Policy amendments are in response to complaints made early this year about All Boys Aren't [...]

Free Speech and the War in Ukraine

By |2022-03-08T18:46:22-05:00March 8th, 2022|News|

In times of war, free speech suffers. Right and wrong appear indisputable. There is moral certainty that “God is on our side.” When we are convinced that the enemy is producing only dangerous lies and propaganda, we want to bar their entry into the marketplace of ideas.   The war between Russia and Ukraine is the latest test of our commitment [...]

Body Language: 2021 Film Contest Winners

By |2022-02-18T15:05:29-05:00February 17th, 2022|Blog, News|

For this year’s YFEP Film Contest, we invited teens to create a film on the importance of expressing one’s gender and identity through personal appearance. The 3 winners tackled a wide range of polarizing, and often taboo, topics including gun violence, immigrant family separation, gender equality, toxic masculinity, shaming and bullying, and climate change. The Chairs of the New [...]

NCAC Objects to Removal of Artwork by Public Officials in California

By |2021-08-09T12:31:17-04:00July 26th, 2021|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship is concerned that the City of Encinitas’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts has removed several works from an exhibition because of apparent discomfort with some of the content of those works.  The censored artist, Elena Karavodin, was selected by the city to produce a number of works for an exhibition in one of [...]

Let Me Speak Design Contest Series

By |2020-12-19T16:54:22-05:00September 25th, 2020|News|

As part of NCAC’s virtual Celebration of Free Speech and Its Defenders Benefit, we are happy to announce the Let Me Speak Design Contest Series, a collection of three unique art contests:  Becky Albertalli Fan Art  Portugal The Man Boycott the Book Ban Logo  NCAC Youth Free Expression Film Contest Logo  Each contest is an opportunity for artists and designers [...]

Statement on Federal Police Abuses in Portland, Oregon

By |2020-08-24T13:04:28-04:00June 30th, 2020|News|

Editors Note: This statement was first published by NCAC and Defending Rights and Dissent on July 17, 2020. It was re-published on July 30, 2020 to reflect new developments and 45 additional co-signatories.  Unidentified federal law enforcement agents in Portland, Oregon, have detained protesters, whisking them away in unmarked cars. This shocking practice is evocative of repressive methods used by [...]

NCAC Opposes Removal of Mural Depicting Slavery

By |2020-07-27T11:47:28-04:00June 24th, 2020|News|

NCAC is asking the University of Kentucky (UK) to cancel recently announced plans to remove a 1930’s-era mural depicting aspects of Kentucky history, including slavery. Some students have demanded its removal because they consider it demeaning to people of color on campus. In 2018, the university commissioned an installation by Karyn Olivier, a noted Black artist, that was painted above [...]

Libel Judgment Threatens Free Speech on College Campuses

By |2020-07-27T11:42:27-04:00June 17th, 2020|News|

NCAC has joined several free speech organizations in supporting Oberlin College’s appeal of a $44 million libel judgment that threatens the free speech rights of its faculty and students. They filed an amicus brief in an Ohio appeals court on June 5. The case grew out of the arrest of three African American students in 2016 for attempted theft at [...]

Vermont Principal Removed for Statement on Black Lives Matter

By |2020-07-15T17:42:40-04:00June 16th, 2020|News|

WINDSOR, VT -- The Mt. Ascutney School District Board has removed Windsor School Principal Tiffany Riley from her position after she stated on her personal Facebook account that she disapproved of some of the tactics used by some Black Lives Matter activists. In response, NCAC has written to the school board urging them to rescind their decision to remove Ms. [...]

NCAC Calls on Zoom to Defend Educators from Chinese Censorship

By |2020-07-07T16:37:31-04:00June 9th, 2020|News|

On June 15, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and PEN America joined in protesting Zoom’s decision to close the account of Humanitarian China, a U.S.-based nonprofit that promotes the development of human rights in China.  Zoom acted at the request of Chinese officials who wanted to suppress a virtual meeting commemorating the [...]

Joint Statement: The Free Press in a Time of Crisis

By |2020-08-24T13:07:48-04:00June 8th, 2020|News|

Editors Note: NCAC, joined by 55 organizations, released the following statement on June 8, 2020. The American people have witnessed the bravery of health care providers and other essential workers who have put their lives on the line to fight the coronavirus pandemic.  Now that we face another national crisis following the death of George Floyd, it is important to [...]

NCAC Joins Free Press and 30 Other Organizations in Calling for FCC to Cancel Net Neutrality Vote

By |2020-01-03T15:48:54-05:00December 8th, 2017|Blog|

On Thursday, NCAC joined with more than 30 press freedom, civil liberties and open government groups, led by Free Press, in submitting a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai. The letter urges Pai to cancel a vote scheduled for December 14, 2017 that will likely reverse net neutrality protections instated in 2015. Read the full letter below; [...]

Dramatists Guild to Washington DC’s Embattled Theater J: “Stand Strong”

By |2020-01-03T14:08:25-05:00January 27th, 2014|Blog|

NCAC participating organizations the Dramatists Guild and the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund have sent a letter (PDF embed below) to Theater J in Washington DC in support of the venue's staging of Motti Lerner's The Admission. A group called Citizens Opposed to Propaganda Masquerading as Art has waged a smear campaign to vilify the play as anti-Israel. The reason we dramatists feel so strongly about this [...]

So You Heard About the SAGA/Apple/ComiXology Flap, and You Want to Know More About Digital Gatekeepers?

By |2019-03-07T23:33:37-05:00April 11th, 2013|Blog|

We can help with that! NCAC is concerned with censorship in all its forms, even those instances where private enterprises are within their legal rights to marginalize or ban content based on a point of view. Users engage with the Internet as a democratizing public square but, in reality, most of the online channels we rely on are controlled by [...]

Don’t Let Them Eat Cake

By |2020-01-03T13:47:25-05:00April 26th, 2012|Blog|

Sweden’s minister of culture has been in the global news spotlight recently, and not for her nation's propensity for neo-noir literature. Minister Lena Adelson Liljeroth was invited to attend and speak at World Art Day at Stockholm’s Museum of Modern Art. The engagement took a turn for the bizarre when Liljeroth was invited by artist Makode Linde to cut into [...]

Hazelwood: A Student’s Perspective

By |2020-01-03T13:42:59-05:00July 15th, 2011|Blog|

Two years ago I sat upon the graduation stage to receive a diploma that would end my 13-year relationship with the public school I attended since kindergarten.  As a member of a class of 125 students, this day symbolized endless shared memories and a common identity between us.  Out of the five speeches given, the three student speakers [...]

Guest Blog: John Davis Malloy on the Smithsonian After Hide/Seek

By |2020-01-03T13:40:44-05:00May 11th, 2011|Blog|

It’s true that the Smithsonian’s Flashpoints and Faultlines forum was too late for Hide/Seek, but keeping the issues alive months after the exhibit closed may be the right timing for the future of this public institution. It was no surprise that in his welcoming remarks Wayne Clough described himself as having no choice but to censor the artwork.  Less expected [...]

Can They Do That? Saggy Pants Edition

By |2019-03-15T15:27:26-04:00April 1st, 2011|Blog|

Perhaps you heard that the Arkansas State Legislature has banned students from wearing "clothing that exposes underwear, buttocks, or the breast of a female" at all school-related functions. So: Can they do that? Fire up the Free Speech Wayback Machine to 1969. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the Supreme Court ruled that school authorities could not [...]

WEAR IT PROUD

By |2020-01-03T13:40:08-05:00March 28th, 2011|Blog|

Button brought back from the March 2011 Culture Wars symposium with the Corcoran and Transformer DC.

Policing The Sacred – College Art Association Panel – Wednesday, February 9th, 12:30-2 PM

By |2020-01-05T23:16:09-05:00January 31st, 2011|Blog|

Policing The Sacred, organized by the National Coalition Against Censorship, looks at the volatile relationship between art, politics and religion.In recent decades the tensions between these have become intense, evident in the American culture wars of the 90s, the Danish cartoon uproar, and ongoing battles over artistic depictions of religious figures, including the recent removal of a David Wojnarowicz video from a show at the National Portrait Gallery. The panel, open to the public, takes place on Wednesday, February 9th, from 12:30-2 PM.

US Government, Sponsor of Book Censorship

By |2016-01-14T12:56:34-05:00January 24th, 2011|Blog|

NCAC occasionally publishes guest blogs on topics related to free speech. The views in these articles do not necessarily reflect the official position of NCAC, however they raise important issues for discussion. By Vel Nirtist How do you keep the unwashed masses known as the "public" from highly prestigious and quite remunerative pursuit known as "public debate" which rightly belongs [...]

Waterbury CT School District Attempts to Cancel August Wilson Play

By |2019-03-07T21:45:25-05:00January 18th, 2011|Blog|

Censorship continues full front attacks on all the arts. Two weeks into 2011, we've already seen censorship of David Wojnarowicz at the National Portrait Gallery; a new edition of Mark Twain's Huckelberry Finn hit the bookstores, without the N-word; the arrest of Belarus theater director Nikolai Khalezin of Belarus Free Theatre and now the Waterbury Connecticut school district is attempting [...]

New Museum Opens – Museum of Censored Art

By |2016-01-14T12:58:12-05:00January 12th, 2011|Blog|

On Thursday, January 13th, a new museum opens in Washington, DC: The Museum of Censored Art, founded by art and free speech activists Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone. Mike and Mike are the iPad protesters, who were expelled from the National Portrait Gallery when they attempted to show David Wojnarowicz's video Fire In My Belly in the galleries of [...]

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