NCAC Joins Call for Full Press Access to Senate Impeachment Trial
Free speech and government transparency organizations call for the United States Senate to allow full press access to the current impeachment proceedings.
Proposed Library Legislation in Missouri Threatens Freedom to Read
NCAC opposes proposed legislation threatening Missouri libraries' independence and citizens' freedom to read.
NCAC Receives Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts renews its major support of NCAC's Arts Advocacy Program
UPDATE: LGBTQ Books Under Threat in Loudoun County, Virginia, School Libraries
NCAC is calling on Loudoun County Public Schools to avoid viewpoint discrimination and uphold kids' right to access LGBTQ books.
Arizona Legislature Considers Sex Ed Restrictions: UPDATED
Arizona considers banning sex ed before seventh grade.
Free Speech Stories 2019
These are the free speech stories our readers cared about most this year.
NCAC’s Arts Advocacy Program Shines at the Creative Time Summit
In November 2019, for Creative Time Summit X: Speaking Truth, our Arts Advocacy Program (AAP) organized the roundtable session Fear and Controversy: Censorship in the Arts at the Cooper Union with artists Christina Freeman (UltraViolet Archive), Roopa Vasudevan (Center for Media at Risk, University of Pennsylvania) and Joy Garnett (NCAC's Arts Advocacy Program). The number of attendees (approx. 25 [...]
Arizona Legislators Challenge It’s Perfectly Normal
Lawmakers challenging introduction of comprehensive sex ed are calling for ban on popular sexual health guide in schools and libraries.
US Customs Detained and Seized Equipment of US Photographer Tim Stegmaier
Photographs and the First Amendment. Stegmaier's Harrowing Journey Through U.S. Customs in His Own Words.
Support NCAC With Data Science Books from No Starch Press
No Starch Press data science book bundle benefits NCAC because data collection and analysis is used throughout the world to suppress people's rights.
UPDATE: VICTORY! Pepperdine University Censors Student’s Art
Pepperdine University is refusing to display an art student's works alongside her peers because the works depict nudity.
National Groups Urge Washington College (Maryland) to Reschedule Student Production of ‘The Foreigner’
Washington College, Maryland, has censored a student-directed production of The Foreigner due to the appearance of the Ku Klux Klan as the play's villains.
LGBTQ Children’s Book Removed from Library Shelves in West Virginia
NCAC urges Upshur County library officials to uphold their own policies and the First Amendment by returning Prince & Knight to the children's section of their library.
Florida County Rejects Library’s New York Times Subscription Over Political Viewpoint
Commissioners in Citrus County, Florida, recently voted against allocating funds for a digital subscription to the New York Times for county libraries based on political disagreement with the paper.
NCAC Celebrates 45th Anniversary
NCAC awarded Free Speech Defender Awards to young adult author Jason Reynolds and groundbreaking artist Carolee Schneemann at its 45th anniversary celebration.
NCAC Joins Statement of Civil Rights Concerns About Social Media Monitoring by Law Enforcement
When agencies use social media to keep tabs on people they perceive as suspicious, it has a disparate impact on historically overpoliced communities, especially communities of color.
Author Aida Salazar on Censoring Gender Fluidity in Schools
Author Aida Salazar shares her own experience with school visits for her new book, The Moon Within, and the struggles she faces with teachers.
UPDATE: VICTORY! NCAC Opposes Proposed Protest Fees on National Mall
In August, the National Park Service issued a proposed rule to introduce fees for holding protests on the National Mall, posing a serious threat to Americans' right to free speech and assembly.
NCAC Opposes Removal of Dear Martin from Georgia School Curriculum
Columbia County Superintendent removed three novels from the proposed high school curriculum despite teachers' recommendations.
Mayor Vetoes Bill Clarifying Washington DC Arts Commission’s Independence
UPDATE: 10/24/19: On October 22, the DC Council voted unanimously to override Mayor Muriel Bowser's veto of an emergency bill that would have clarified the DCCAH’s independence. “The underlying legislation cemented DCCAH's separation from the executive's office after a tumultuous summer during which the mayor tried and failed to grab control of the District's public arts.” (see original post below) [...]
Cancel Culture: Can Free Speech in Cultural Institutions Survive the Onslaught of Moral Outrage?
Svetlana Mintcheva, NCAC's Director of Programs, presented a talk at the Harvard Law School Library on the effects contemporary moral outrage has on the arts and culture.
Facebook Urged to Maintain End-to-End Encryption in Face of Government Pressure
NCAC urges Facebook to resist government pressure to end its use of end-to-end security encryption.
Department of Education Threatens Academic Freedom at Duke–UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies
Government intervention into the content of higher education courses is very likely to suppress certain views, chill dissent, and restrict academic discourse.
Allen Ginsberg Censored in Hermosa Beach, California
An artist in Hermosa Beach, California, has been pressured by Hermosa Beach Mural Project organizers to remove poet Allen Ginsberg from a new public mural.
“I wish we didn’t need Banned Books Week”: The Real Cost of Banning Books
Stories that feature characters with diverse ethnicities and sexualities remain at the top of challenged books lists in our schools and libraries. Each removal tells a kid that theirs isn't a story worth telling.
Censorship Leaves Us in the Dark: A Banned Books Week Reading List
Celebrate Banned Books Week 2019 by reading some of our favorite banned and challenged books.
California Artist Turns Censorship Into Powerful Artistic Statement
Christy Chan turned censorship into a powerful artistic statement in Richmond, California
Back to School: 7 Resources for Parents, Teachers, and School Administrators
This list of our best resources on censorship and the First Amendment in schools will help you get ready for the school year.
Back to School: 9 Resources for Students
This school year we want you to be prepared to defend your right to speak, think and create.
San Francisco Mural Controversy: Perspectives and Updates
UPDATE October 4, 2019: The George Washington High School Alumni Association filed a lawsuit in the public interest against the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education, challenging the School Board’s commitment to remove from public view Victor Arnautoff’s 1936 New Deal mural with panels without conducting an environmental review, which is required by California law. UPDATE August 13, [...]
New Initiative to Train Changemakers in Free Speech Advocacy
Free Speech Is For Me aims to reverse the trend of free speech being pitted against advocacy for social change and equip a broad new range of individuals to challenge censorship, defend speech rights and champion freedom of expression for all activists.
Advocacy Alert: Support Trans Author in Texas | UPDATE
Join KRRP in demanding Leander City Council immediately reschedule the planned Lumberjanes event and adopt inclusive library policies that guarantee this sort of discrimination does not happen again.
Coalition Objects to Universities Monitoring Chinese Students and Scholars
The FBI and other government officials have advised some U.S. universities to develop protocols for monitoring students and scholars from Chinese state-affiliated research institutions, based solely on their country of origin.
Professor Under Fire for Quoting James Baldwin | UPDATE: Victory!
Laurie Sheck, a professor at the New School, is under investigation after using the N-word in a class while quoting James Baldwin.
Remembering Toni Morrison
Joan Bertin (former executive director, NCAC), Toni Morrison, Fran Lebowitz “The thought that leads me to contemplate with dread the erasure of other voices, of unwritten novels, poems whispered or swallowed for fear of being overheard by the wrong people, outlawed languages flourishing underground, essayists’ questions challenging authority never being posed, unstaged plays, canceled films—that thought is a nightmare. As [...]
NCAC Calls for Open Forum to Discuss San Francisco Murals
NCAC proposes holding an open forum where GWHS students can talk about how they see and interpret the Arnautoff murals. We invite the San Francisco Board of Education to collaborate with us in presenting the forum.
Texas Library Cancels Event with Trans Author
City officials in Leander, Texas abruptly cancelled an appearance by renowned graphic novelist Lilah Sturges at the Leander Public Library just hours before her scheduled visit.
NCAC and PEN America Oppose New Jersey Education Bill
The New Jersey legislature is considering an education bill that would redefine anti-Semitism so broadly as to infringe on protected speech.
NCAC Joins Call to Remove Provision from Intelligence Authorization Act
A coalition of over two dozen organizations is calling for Congressional leaders to remove a provision in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 that would dramatically expand the definition of a "covert agent."
Idaho High School Bans The Walking Dead from Campus
A school in Idaho has banned the popular graphic novel series The Walking Dead and removed all copies of the graphic novel series from their library, despite a review committee recommending the book remain on shelves.