Ready to fight for your right to think, create and explore? Start here. NCAC’s resources help activists, educators, students, artists and all citizens promote free expression and challenge censorship. Learn about your First Amendment rights, what censorship can look like, techniques for preventing it, how to handle incidents of silencing and specific ways to defend free expression in your communities and nationally.

NCAC Resources

NameIssueAudience
Youth Censorship DatabaseSchools, Censorship, BooksGeneral
Dramatic Changes: A Toolkit for Producing Stage Works on College Campuses in Turbulent TimesSchools, Theatre & Performance, Higher EducationGeneral, artists, students, higher education
First Amendment Frequently Asked QuestionsCensorship, Schools, Political DissentGeneral
Book Challenge Crisis HotlineSchools, Censorship, BooksTeachers, parents & school officials, librarians, activists, general
Responding to Book Challenges: A Handbook for EducatorsBooks, SchoolsTeachers, school officials, librarians
The George Floyd Protests: A Free Expression TimelineInternet, Political DissentGeneral
Free Expression During the Coronavirus Pandemic TimelineInternet, Political Dissent, ScienceGeneral
Virtual First Amendment Lesson PlanSchools, Political Dissent, Books, CensorshipTeachers
Smart Tactics: Curating Difficult ContentVisual ArtArtists, Curators & Art Administrators
Defend LGBTQ StoriesBooks, Schools, SexualityStudents, teachers, parents & school officials, librarians
NCAC's Book Censorship ToolkitBooks, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials, librarians
The Show Must Go On: A Toolkit for Organizing Against Theater Censorship in Public SchoolsSchools, Theatre & PerformanceStudents, Teachers, Parents & School Officials, Drama
A Manual For Art FreedomVisual ArtArtists, Curators & Art Administrators
Museum Best Practices for Managing ControversyVisual ArtCurators & Art Administrators, Artists, Higher Ed
Art and Culture Censorship TimelineVisual Art, Video GamesArtists, Curators & Art Administrators, Activists, Drama
LGBTQ Right to Read Resource GuideBooks, SexualityStudents, teachers, parents & school officials, librarians
LGBTQ Book Bans and ChallengesSexuality, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
Student JournalismSchools, BroadcastingStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
Internet FiltersInternet, SchoolsGeneral
The First Amendment in Schools: Resource Guide: Parents' RightsSchoolsTeachers, parents & school officials
BE HEARD! Protecting Your Protest RightsPolitical Dissent, SchoolsStudents, activists
Student Protests During National Anthem and Pledge: A Resource and TimelinePolitical Dissent, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials, activists
Political Speech in SchoolsPolitical Dissent, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials, activists
Islam in the Classroom: Teaching About Religion is Not Religious IndoctrinationReligion, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
Islam: Indoctrination or Education? A TimelineReligion, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
The First Amendment in Schools: Resource GuideSchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
The First Amendment in Schools: Resource Guide: Student Expression: Web Pages, Dress Codes, and MoreSchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
The First Amendment in Schools: Resource Guide: Harassment and Hate SpeechSchools, HarassmentStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
Promoting First Amendment Values at SchoolSchoolsTeachers, parents & school officials
Criticizing your SchoolSchools, Political DissentStudents
Sex and CensorshipSexualityGeneral
Sex EducationSexualityStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
Sexting: Know Your RightsSexualityStudents
Student Artistic ExpressionVisual Art, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials, artists
NCAC Analysis: The First Amendment and School Policies on Harassment and BullyingHarassment, ViolenceGeneral
NCAC Analysis: Hate Speech in SchoolsHate Speech, SchoolsGeneral
The First Amendment in Schools: CensorshipSchoolsTeachers, parents & school officials
The First Amendment in Schools: How Big a Problem is CensorshipSchoolsTeachers, parents & school officials
The First Amendment in Schools: Censorship PoliciesSchools, SexualityTeachers, parents & school officials
The First Amendment in Schools: Roles and ResponsibilitiesSchools, BooksTeachers, parents & school officials
The First Amendment in Schools: The First Amendment and Public SchoolsSchoolsTeachers, parents & school officials
The First Amendment in Schools: Resource Guide: Sex and SexualitySchools, SexualityTeachers, parents & school officials
The First Amendment in Schools: Access to Information on the InternetSchools, InternetTeachers, parents & school officials
The First Amendment in Schools: Resource Guide: Religious Expression in the Public SchoolsSchools, ReligionTeachers, parents & school officials
The First Amendment in Schools: Student PublicationsSchools, BroadcastingTeachers, parents & school officials
The African-American Experience in LiteratureBooksGeneral
Kurt Vonnegut: Remembering a Hero of Free SpeechBooks, SexualityGeneral
Remote Control: Indecency Legislation Raises Fines and FearsBroadcasting, SchoolsGeneral
Statement of Principles for Established Combat-Coverage GuidelinesBroadcastingGeneral
A Brief History of Film CensorshipFilm & Video, ViolenceGeneral
Full Text of the So-Called "Academic Bill of Rights"Higher EducationHigher Ed
1990 Wolf Trap Conference on Academic Freedom & Artistic Expression StatementHigher Education, Visual ArtArtists, higher ed
Why the Departments of Education and Justice Must Retract Their Controversial 'Blueprint' and Protect Campus SpeechHigher EducationHigher Ed
Academic Freedom Concerns Raised by Yale's Singapore CampusHigher EducationHigher Ed
NCAC Report: What's All This About Trigger Warnings?Higher EducationHigher Ed
NCAC to Dept of Ed: Vague Definition of Harassment Under Title IX Threatens Student Free SpeechHigher Education, HarassmentHigher Ed
"Academic Bill Of Rights" - A Wolf in Sheep's ClothingHigher EducationHigher Ed
Facebook "True Threat" Case: NCAC Joins Brief to Supreme CourtInternetGeneral
Internet Filters in Schools and LibrariesInternet, SchoolsLibrarians, students teachers, parents & school officials, higher ed
Cyberbullying: How Widespread Is It?Internet, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials, higher ed
Internet FiltersInternet, SchoolsGeneral
The Cyber-Library: Legal and Policy Issues Facing Public Libraries in the High-Tech eraInternet, Nudity & PornographyLibrarians
A Selective Timeline of the Internet and CensorshipInternetGeneral
A Timeline of Legislation Aiming to Protect Youth OnlineInternetGeneral
Identifying What is Harmful or Inappropriate for MinorsInternet, SchoolsTeachers, parents & school administrators
Watch What you Tweet: Schools, Censorship, and Social MediaSchools, InternetStudents, teachers, parents & school administrators
Network Neutrality and the Fight to Save the Internet: BackgroundInternetActivists
Depictions of Animal Cruelty: NCAC's Amicus Curiae Brief in U.S. v. StevensArtists, curators & art administrators, activists, drama
What Can I do to protect free speech now: Tools for activistsCensorship, ViolenceActivists, students, higher ed, artists
What is Censorship?CensorshipGeneral
Partly Annotated Bibliography: Books and Articles on CensorshipCensorshipGeneral
Free Expression After September 11th: An Online IndexCensorshipGeneral
Joint Letter: Any Federal Financial Industry Rescue Package Must Be TransparentGovernment TransparencyActivists
Censoring Culture: Contemporary Threats to Free ExpressionCensorship, SchoolsGeneral
Timelines of CensorshipCensorshipGeneral
Free Speech Groups: U.S. Fails to Protect the Right to Access CultureCensorshipGeneral
Music Censorship in AmericaMusicGeneral
Black Voices SilencedMusicGeneral
NCAC Backgrounder: A Primer on Sex, Sexuality, and The LawNudity & PornographyArtists, drama, activists, curators & art administrators
Free speech nowPolitical DissentActivists
The Struggle for Civil Rights and the First AmendmentPolitical DissentActivists, students, artists
Abolition of Slavery & Free SpeechPolitical DissentGeneral
NCAC Testimony to US Commission on Civil Rights: Vague and Overbroad Definitions of Bully Threatens Students' Constitutional RightsSchoolsStudents, activists, teachers, parents & school officials
Medical GhostwritingScience, BooksGeneral
Disease MongeringScienceGeneral
Research Findings Suppressed by GovernmentScience, ReligionGeneral
Science Suppressed or Distorted Inside the Executive BranchScience, BroadcastingGeneral
Manipulation of University and Industry ResearchScienceGeneral
Politics Interfering with Science in High School EducationScienceGeneral
Suppression of Military Technology Inside the Executive BranchScienceGeneral
Science Resources and PublicationsScienceGeneral
Overt Censorship of Science during the Bush AdministrationScience, ReligionGeneral
Congressional Hearings Expose Censorship of ScienceScience, SchoolsGeneral
Feds Silence Scientists: An NCAC ReportScience, HarassmentGeneral
Redacting the Science of Climate ChangeScience, SchoolsGeneral
Stem Cell Research and the First AmendmentScienceGeneral
Reports on the Effects of Conflict of Internet on ResearchScience, BooksGeneral
Research Findings Suppressed by Government - Health ScienceScienceGeneral
Scientists Accused of Manipulating Information to Promote Their PositionScienceGeneral
FDA and EPA - Failure to Provide Public Access to InformationScienceGeneral
Academic and Industry Research Distorted by Financial InterestsScienceGeneral
Ideological Pressures Exercises by Public Officials on Academic ResearchScienceGeneral
Global Gag Rule: The Use of AIDS Funding to Control International Reproductive Health PolicyScienceGeneral
Science and the Policies of the Obama AdministrationScienceGeneral
Research Findings Suppressed by Government - Environmental ScienceScienceGeneral
Manipulation of Perceptions about Scientific FactScienceGeneral
Censoring Science: Battle over CreationismScience, SchoolsGeneral
Government Secrecy LettersGovernment TransparencyGeneral
THE USA PATRIOT Act Six Months LaterGovernment Transparency, HarassmentGeneral
Four Key Reforms for NSA SurveillanceGovernment Transparency, BooksGeneral
Suppression of Gay/Straight Alliances on HS CampusesSexuality, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
Abstinence-Only EducationSexuality, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
Abstinence Only Partner OrganizationsSexuality, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
Sex and Health EducationSexuality, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
Abstinence Only: Joint Statement and OppositionSexuality, SchoolsTeachers, parents & school officials, students
Timeline of Abstinence-Only Education in U.S. ClassroomsSexuality, SchoolsStudents, teachers, parents & school officials
NCAC Amici Curiae Brief in American Amusement Machine v. KendrickVideo GamesGeneral
NCAC Amici Curiae Brief in Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants AssociationVideo GamesGeneral
NCAC Testimony before the NYS Task Force on Youth ViolenceVideo GamesGeneral
Comments on Massachusetts Senate Bill No. 168, Investigation of Video GamesVideo GamesGeneral
Only a Game: Why Censoring New Media Won't Stop Gun ViolenceVideo Games, ReligionGeneral
A Timeline of Video Game ControversiesVideo GamesGeneral
Of Liberals and Conservatives: Using “Common Sense” to Censor Video GamesVideo GamesGeneral
Why Two Hundred Twenty-Eight Scholars Cautioned the APAVideo GamesGeneral
NCAC Amici Curiae Brief Interactive Digital Software Assn v. St. Louis CountyViolenceGeneral
Graphic Novels: Suggestions for LibrariansBooks, Visual ArtLibrarians, students teachers, parents & school officials
Making Art After September 11th: the ART NOW archiveVisual ArtArtists, curators & art administrators
Decency, Arts, and the First Amendment: The Case of Rudy GiulianiVisual Art, Nudity & PornographyArtists, curators & art administrators
Symbols Into Soldiers: Art, Censorship and ReligionVisual Art, ReligionArtists, curators & art administrators

Free Expression Policy Project (FEPP) Archive

The Free Expression Policy Project (FEPP) began in 2000 as a project of NCAC to provide empirical research and policy development on tough censorship issues and seek free speech-friendly solutions to the concerns that drive censorship campaigns. View archived work here.