Just eight months ago, President Trump rode into office on the promise of ending censorship, cancel culture, and the use of government power to pressure private individuals and companies into doing its bidding. Eight months have brought a full 180-degree revolution from free speech defender to censor-in-chief. As an organization committed to protecting the freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression, the [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the school board of Escambia County Public Schools to object to proposed revisions to the School Board Policy Manual on challenged materials. The changes would eliminate the review committee and allow the superintendent alone to review challenged materials and recommend actions to the school board. Read NCAC's full letter to the Escambia [...]
UPDATE 9/06/2025: Following NCAC's letter, the Duval Public School attorney recommended the district reject the proposed policy. The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Duval County Public School Board about their proposed revisions to school policy on challenged materials. NCAC opposes the proposed policy changes to include both the implementation of book removal requirements pursuant to Florida [...]
The recent letter from the White House, demanding a review of Smithsonian activities in the lead-up to the 250th anniversary of the United States, signals a dangerous new chapter in the politicization of cultural institutions. The administration not only questioned the Smithsonian’s programming but also issued a list of specific exhibits and content it found objectionable. In doing so, it [...]
UPDATE 8/11/2025: VICTORY! On August 8, 2025, the Smithsonian Institution reportedly installed a new display label acknowledging President Trump's two impeachments. The substance of the wall label is largely the same as the text in the temporary label that had been removed, though uses slightly softer language. As an organization committed to protecting the freedom of thought, inquiry, and [...]
NCAC has joined FIRE and other free expression organizations in filing an amicus brief in the case of Netchoice v. Fitch, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Mississippi H.B. 1126 under the First Amendment. This statute requires social media platforms to verify the age of all users and forbids platforms to permit minors to create accounts unless they have obtained consent [...]
As an organization committed to protecting the freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression, the National Coalition Against Censorship is alarmed by reports that the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery proposed amending the planned display of a painting because of fears that the work would attract the ire of President Donald Trump. The action is one more disturbing sign of [...]
NCAC has filed an amicus brief in the consolidated cases of NetChoice v. Paxton and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas v. Paxton, lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Texas HB 18 under the First Amendment. This statute restricts certain digital platforms from permitting users under the age of 18 to access content that is obscene as to minors or “promotes, glorifies, or facilitates” [...]
The Trump administration’s latest travel ban went into effect this month, affecting travel from 19 countries. It bars entry to citizens of Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, and places significant visa restrictions on nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Though it was [...]
NCAC has partnered with the sexual education and wellness platform O.school in filing an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Texas HB 1181. This statute is part of a growing legislative trend in which states require websites that publish material deemed “harmful to minors” to [...]
In May, Knox County Schools ordered school libraries to remove 65 book titles from their shelves to comply with Tennessee's Age-Appropriate Materials Act, bringing the total number of titles removed to 113 since December 2024. The large number of books removed raises concerns that the criteria being applied to judge books are overly broad and subjective. The National Coalition Against [...]
Since returning to office in January, President Trump has repeatedly abused his executive power in an attempt to silence those who dare to challenge his administration’s agenda. This spring, the administration issued executive orders imposing sanctions on certain major law firms in retaliation for their advocacy on behalf of clients and issues disfavored by the President. Among other major [...]
Under pressure from the Florida Attorney General, the Superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools ordered the removal of 6 titles and temporarily removed over 600 more for review for alleged sexual content. The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the school board to urge them to return the books to the shelves and keep them there until they [...]
Today the National Coalition Against Censorship condemned the decision made by the Whitney Museum of American Art to unilaterally cancel a performance organized by the Curatorial Cohort of its Independent Study Program (ISP). The museum claims that, in a politically provocative introduction of the work at an unaffiliated venue several months earlier, one of the visiting artists violated the museum’s [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the school board of Rockingham County Public Schools after school board members voted to remove Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff, and Perfect by Ellen Hopkins. The School Board overrode the recommendation of a review committee to retain these books and voted 4-1 to permanently remove them. NCAC is [...]
We, the undersigned, write to condemn the unjust firing of Dr. Carla Hayden, who has served as Librarian of Congress since 2016. Dr. Hayden’s firing is an assault on our freedoms to access and pursue knowledge. This mirrors the recent attacks on the freedom to read books, the authors who create them, and our vast public network of public [...]
Today, 19 organizations, including the National Coalition Against Censorship, sent a letter to the Florida House of Representatives urging them to vote no on H.B. 1539. The bill, if enacted, would require school districts to remove any instructional or library material challenged as “harmful to minors” within just five days, regardless of whether the material has been properly reviewed. The [...]
Update 4/30/2025 – Despite the ongoing suspension of state funding, the Fairhope Public Library has followed proper a proper review policy and decided to retain two challenged books in the teen section. The National Coalition Against Censorship is urging Alabama officials to restore funding to Fairhope Public Library after it was penalized over complaints about young adult books. NCAC [...]
Patrick Good and E Achurch are both high school students living in Beaufort, South Carolina. While they come from different backgrounds and schools, both Good and Achurch are student leaders in the Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization (DAYLO). Founded in 2021, DAYLO has expanded to include chapters across South Carolina, including 5 chapters in Beaufort County. As the only [...]
Update 5/5/2025 — Following public outcry and opposition from free speech advocates, the Rutherford County Library System Board voted unanimously to reverse their policy banning materials promoting transgender themes. In Tennessee, The Rutherford County Library System has approved a measure to remove all library "material that promotes, encourages, advocates for or normalizes" transgender themes. The National Coalition Against Censorship [...]
UPDATE 7/9/2025: The Trump administration is calling for the review of an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. The exhibition, which has been on view since 2022 and is titled Entertainment Nation, critiques and examines the entertainment industry and its influence on culture and social life by contextualizing works on view with relevant cultural and historical [...]
NCAC is alarmed to learn of the Rhode Island School of Art and Design’s decision to close its public campus cafe, which had been hosting To Every Orange Tree, a group exhibition of student, faculty, and community members’ work on themes of “political resistance, anti-imperialism, and Palestinian liberation.” RISD administrators claimed that “unofficial complaints” about the exhibition led to unspecified “safety [...]
In Florence, Oregon, the Siuslaw School District has removed the graphic novel Flamer from the high school library despite a review committee's recommendation to keep it. The School Board overrode the committee and voted 4-3 to remove it permanently. The National Coalition Against Censorship wrote to the board to urge them to reconsider their decision and return the Flamer back [...]
Update 4/25/25 – After significant public outcry, the Radnor Township School Board reversed course and voted to return all three graphic novels to school library shelves. The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Radnor Township School District following their removal of three graphic novels from the Radnor High School library. Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, and Craig [...]
Today, NCAC, along with our partners at PEN America, the Rutherford Foundation, and the First Amendment Lawyers Association, joined an amicus brief written and filed by The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) in urging the court to uphold Mohamad Khalil’s First Amendment rights and release him from detention. In an era where political speech and academic freedom [...]
UPDATE 03/20/2025: Following a City Commission meeting which revealed that the Mayor’s proposal to evict O Cinema and rescind its municipal funding did not have adequate votes to pass, the Mayor rescinded the measure. The decision came after an outpouring of support for the independent theater, and its right to program its offerings without government interference. Today the National [...]
Monroe County Schools in Tennessee may have improperly ordered the removal of 574 books from school libraries, in response to Tennessee's Age-Appropriate Materials Act, which considers certain books as inappropriate for students, before any formal complaints were filed. The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the school board to urge them to return all 574 books to school [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is deeply concerned by the recent “Dear Colleague Letter” issued by the U.S. Department of Education, which targets and seeks to restrict the teaching of certain race-related concepts in classrooms. This letter claims to address discrimination by eliminating race-based preferences while also targeting 'indoctrination' and the teaching of DEI concepts. While we share [...]
Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship, The Authors Guild, The Dramatists Guild of America, The Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, Artists at Risk Connection, AICA International and PEN America expressed deep concern over the Trump Administration’s recent moves to impose ideological control over federally funded cultural programs. Though some of these efforts have already been hindered by a court injunction, [...]
FORT WORTH, Feb. 19, 2025 — A trio of civil liberty organizations are speaking up today to demand the Fort Worth Police Department end its unconstitutional censorship and seizure of several pieces of art that were on display at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, National Coalition Against Censorship, and the [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship is dismayed by the news of the premature removal of an art billboard that is part of a temporary project with the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, shortly after Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed called for its deinstallation. The billboard shows a 1965 Spider Martin photograph of state troopers staring down Black civil rights protesters [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) strongly condemns the recent Executive Order signed by President Trump that aims to censor the teaching of race, gender, and identity in American schools, entitled “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling.” Make no mistake, this Executive Order is not about ending supposed indoctrination in our schools— it is itself designed to indoctrinate and [...]
The Kids’ Right to Read Project (KRRP), a signature initiative of the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), has been at the forefront of defending the freedom to read for over 20 years. We condemn the recent actions by the U.S. Department of Education in dismissing complaints about book bans and referring to these challenges to access as a "hoax." [...]
January 23, 2025 — Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) expressed alarm at Chicago city councilmembers’ attempts to censor political artwork on view in an exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center. Government officials’ efforts to silence speech because of distaste for its political position raise acute First Amendment concerns. The artwork in question is a massive, two-sided papier-mache puppet [...]
Yesterday, President Trump signed an Executive Order entitled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” The Executive Order aims to inhibit the government's ability to censor–or pressure private companies to censor–constitutionally protected speech. The National Coalition Against Censorship has long argued that the government should never use its power to pressure companies to censor voices that the government [...]
New York, January 16, 2025 – In the wake of a newly-released report warning of censorship pressures faced by museum directors across the US conducted by the Association for Art Museum Directors, PEN America, and Artists at Risk Connection, the National Coalition Against Censorship encourages cultural leaders to incorporate its Museum Best Practices for Managing Controversy into museum policies. [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to Volusia County Schools in Florida to recommend changes to their board policy. NCAC encouraged the School Board to revise their challenge policy to ensure that all challenged books remain on shelves during the reconsideration process. Read NCAC's Full Letter to Volusia County Schools. Click here for a full-screen view: [...]
Photo Credit: Composite image of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and Sally Mann’s A Perfect Tomato(1990), edited by NCAC staff UPDATE 4/24/2025: VICTORY! The Fort Worth Police Department has safely returned the artworks belonging to Sally Mann that were seized from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth as part of an unfounded criminal investigation. [...]
On any given day, Cameron Samuels and Da’Taeveyon Daniels are hard at work. Alongside their academic and extracurricular pursuits, Samuels and Daniels serve as Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT). As one of the NCAC’s 23 Right to Read Network (RRN) affiliates, SEAT stands out as a truly grassroots, young-people-centered organization advocating [...]
2024 FL3TCH3R Exhibit Catalog cover design UPDATE 4/10/2025: After eleven years of hosting the annual FL3TCH3R Exhibit, East Tennessee State University and the Reece Museum, which is part of the university’s Center for Appalachian Studies & Services, terminate their relationship with the project’s organizers.Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression expressed [...]
