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Free Speech

Advocacy Isn’t Terrorism: The Executive Order That Threatens Political Dissent

By |2025-10-01T14:05:35-04:00September 26th, 2025|News, Statement|

Yesterday, the administration announced a new Executive Order titled "Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence." This broad Order ostensibly instructs the National Joint Terrorism Task Force to investigate and prosecute crimes by groups it suspects of perpetrating political violence. But the fine print is immense cause for concern. The Order defines political violence as the "culmination of sophisticated, [...]

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The Rise of the Federal Censorship Commission (FCC)

By |2025-09-18T17:00:38-04:00September 18th, 2025|News, Statement|

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 [...]

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NCAC opposes policy changes for review committees and material challenge procedures in Duval County Public Schools

By |2025-09-10T15:14:17-04:00September 2nd, 2025|News|

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 [...]

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Over 600 books removed from Hillsborough County Public Schools libraries in Florida

By |2025-06-03T15:23:29-04:00June 3rd, 2025|News|

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 [...]

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Trump Administration’s Firing of Dr. Carla Hayden: Fifty-two Publishing, Library, Free Expression, and Civil Society Groups Call on Congress to Intervene

By |2025-06-17T10:57:12-04:00May 19th, 2025|News|

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 [...]

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NCAC Defends Fairhope Library’s Freedom to Read | Updated

By |2025-05-01T16:49:34-04:00April 7th, 2025|News|

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 [...]

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DAYLO – Words That Empower, Voices That Matter

By |2025-04-04T16:12:42-04:00April 4th, 2025|News|

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 [...]

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CENSORED ARTISTS AND THEIR STORIES: MICHELLE HARTNEY

By |2025-04-03T16:21:48-04:00April 3rd, 2025|Artist Feature|

In March of 2023 Michelle Hartney’s collaborative mixed media installation work titled Unplanned Parenthood was met with censorship in Idaho. In March 2025, calls for censoring the work nearly succeeded again in Illinois. Hartney met with ACAP Director Elizabeth Larison and shared more about the project, and why she believes some audiences are afraid of its powerful message. He [...]

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Updated | In Tennessee, Rutherford County public libraries vote to remove materials that promote transgender themes.

By |2025-06-05T11:03:48-04:00March 31st, 2025|News|

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 [...]

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Executive Order Threatens to Reduce Smithsonian Institutions and National Park Service to Platforms for Nationalist Propaganda

By |2025-07-09T16:41:22-04:00March 28th, 2025|News|

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 [...]

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NCAC Condemns Rhode Island School of Art and Design Decision to Shut Down Public Access to an Art Exhibit on Political Resistance, Citing Vague “safety concerns.”

By |2025-03-28T12:09:57-04:00March 28th, 2025|News|

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 [...]

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Three Graphic Novels Removed from Radnor High School Library in Pennsylvania | Updated

By |2025-04-25T14:13:54-04:00March 24th, 2025|News|

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 [...]

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NCAC And Other Organizations Join FIRE in Filing an Amicus Brief in Support of Mahmoud Khalil

By |2025-06-12T11:26:15-04:00March 20th, 2025|Legal Advocacy, News|

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 [...]

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NCAC Decries Miami Beach’s Retaliation Against O Cinema for Screening Acclaimed Documentary

By |2025-03-21T13:28:06-04:00March 18th, 2025|News, Statement|

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 [...]

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574 Books Removed from Monroe Country School Libraries in TN

By |2025-03-17T11:45:47-04:00March 17th, 2025|News|

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 [...]

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NCAC Expressed Deep Concern Over DOE’s Recent “Dear Colleague” Letter on Race and Teaching Practices

By |2025-03-06T16:56:59-05:00March 6th, 2025|News, Statement|

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 [...]

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National Free Speech and Art Organizations Warn of a “Golden Age” of Propaganda and a “Starvation Age” for Culture

By |2025-03-19T13:58:29-04:00February 26th, 2025|Letters, News|

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, [...]

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Orwellian Overreach: NCAC Fights Back Against Administration’s Dangerous Attempt to Censor Classrooms

By |2025-01-30T14:03:15-05:00January 30th, 2025|News, Statement|

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 [...]

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Statement from the Kids’ Right to Read Project on the U.S. Department of Education’s Dismissal of Book Bans as a “Hoax”

By |2025-01-27T12:26:21-05:00January 27th, 2025|News|

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." [...]

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NCAC Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship”

By |2025-01-22T13:44:47-05:00January 21st, 2025|News, Statement|

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 [...]

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As Concerns of Art Censorship Rise in Nation’s Museums, NCAC Encourages Museum Directors, Curators, and other Cultural Leaders to Employ its Best Practices

By |2025-01-17T14:17:22-05:00January 17th, 2025|In The News, Press Releases|

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. [...]

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NCAC Recommends Policy Improvements to Volusia County Schools in Florida

By |2025-01-16T17:01:30-05:00January 15th, 2025|News|

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: [...]

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Right to Read Network Spotlight: SEAT at the Table

By |2025-04-07T13:31:17-04:00December 16th, 2024|News|

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 [...]

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Student Advocate for Speech Guest Feature: Rebels with a Cause

By |2025-01-31T12:51:59-05:00October 31st, 2024|News|

Written by Tasmia Ishma The spirit of my homeland - its aspirations and its turmoil - remains etched in my identity. As a Bengali immigrant who left at the age of six, I have always felt deeply connected to my roots, witnessing the power of youth in advocating for change and the harsh realities of censorship that often stifle those [...]

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Stop Online Censorship: NCAC and 58 Allies Urge Rejection of KOSA

By |2024-10-02T13:33:49-04:00October 2nd, 2024|Letters, NCAC at work, News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is proud to join forces with 58 civil rights organizations, LGBTQ+ advocates, and free speech organizations in opposing harmful legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). For 50 years, NCAC has fought for the right to access uncensored information, and KOSA threatens to undermine that core freedom. KOSA risks silencing crucial online [...]

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NCAC 50th Anniversary: Standing Shoulder to Shoulder with Woodhull

By |2024-09-11T16:27:43-04:00September 11th, 2024|50th Anniversary, Blog, News|

Since its founding in 2003, Woodhull Freedom Foundation has been an unwavering champion of free speech, recognizing it as the cornerstone of our fundamental human right to sexual freedom. As a human rights organization, we have consistently stood at the forefront of the battle against censorship, particularly in defense of sexual expression, which has long been a primary target [...]

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BBW ’24: Filmmaker Ava Duvernay To Lead Banned Books Week as Honorary Chair with former SAS and White House Honoree Julia Garnett to Serve as Youth Honorary Chair

By |2024-09-06T16:25:37-04:00September 6th, 2024|News|

Award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay has been named honorary chair for Banned Books Week 2024, which takes place September 22 – 28. DuVerney will be joined by youth honorary chair Julia Garnett, a student activist who fought book bans in her home state of Tennessee. "I believe that censorship is the enemy of freedom,” said DuVernay, honorary chair of Banned [...]

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School Board in Brevard County, Florida removes LGBTQ+ book against the recommendation of review committee

By |2024-09-05T13:02:48-04:00September 5th, 2024|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the school board of Brevard Public Schools in Florida after they voted to remove Shō Harusono's Sasaki and Miyano Vol. 1 from school libraries contrary to the Book Review Committee's recommendation to retain it.  NCAC is concerned that the board may have acted due to hostility towards the views expressed in the [...]

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NCAC Decries Lubbock’s Art Funding Cut Targeting LGBTQ+ Programming

By |2024-11-01T15:58:23-04:00August 8th, 2024|News|

UPDATE - August 15, 2024: Following advocacy efforts and community concern, the Lubbock city council considered whether to fully reinstate the funding without any restrictions. In the final vote, the City Council approved a greatly reduced grant of $5,000 for security at FFAT. The Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts (LHUCA) expressed disappointment, but assured its commitment to [...]

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Artistic Freedom Under Fire: NCAC Denounces Vail’s Cancellation of Danielle SeeWalker’s Residency

By |2025-08-29T15:00:53-04:00August 5th, 2024|News|

Image caption: Danielle SeeWalker, G is for Genocide, 2024 UPDATE 8/28/2025: VICTORY! On August 22, 2025, the Town of Vail, Colorado, agreed to settle the First Amendment lawsuit brought against it by artist Danielle See Walker. The case establishes a precedent that a government entity may not discriminate against an individual because it dislikes or [...]

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School Board in Florida removes Ban This Book despite the recommendation of a review committee

By |2024-08-06T15:23:56-04:00July 24th, 2024|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Board of the School District of Indian River County after they removed Alan Gratz’s Ban This Book from school libraries despite a review committee's recommendation to retain the book. NCAC expressed concern that the Board may have removed this book due to disagreement with the views expressed within the material. Therefore, [...]

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National Coalition Against Censorship Launches Map Tracking Art Censorship Since October 7th

By |2024-07-18T16:16:22-04:00July 18th, 2024|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) announces the launch of a new resource, Art Censorship Index: Post-October 7th, documenting the recent spike in censorship of art and artists invoking Israel or Palestine.  Artworks and artists referencing the subject of Israel and Palestine have long been subjects of controversy and/or censorship, but following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and [...]

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Greenville County School board removes books against recommendation of review committee

By |2024-06-20T16:30:20-04:00June 20th, 2024|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the board of Greenville County Schools in South Carolina regarding the removal of Ellen Hopkins' Perfect and Tilt and Sarah J. Maas' Empire of Storms from high school libraries. The review committee evaluated these books and concluded that they should remain in the library. The school board, however, overruled the recommendations [...]

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NCAC and Eleven Other Groups Rebuke Congressional Committees’ Request for Suspicious Activity Reports of Non-Profit Organizations

By |2024-05-17T10:18:33-04:00May 17th, 2024|News, Statement|

Today, along with eleven other free expression groups, NCAC issued a letter to two congressional committees regarding their request to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) of twenty groups that the committees alleged had supported or funded recent college protests.  NCAC's deep concern stems from both the breadth of the committees' requests for records (20 organizations, without [...]

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NCAC recommends policy changes to Roane County School District in Tennessee

By |2024-03-28T11:59:00-04:00March 26th, 2024|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Roane County School District Board of Education in Kingston, Tennessee to recommend changes to their board policy.  After almost 200 challenged books were temporarily removed, NCAC encouraged the district to revise their policy to allow challenge books to remain on shelves during the reconsideration process. Read NCAC's full letter to [...]

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NCAC Condemns Biden Administration’s Attempts to Coerce Amazon Into Censorship

By |2024-02-09T14:17:49-05:00February 9th, 2024|Press Releases|

Recent news reports have surfaced, revealing attempts by the Biden administration to pressure Amazon to censor controversial anti-vaccine books and search results. According to the reports, representatives of the Biden administration have urged Amazon executives to take action against books that the administration has deemed to contain misinformation surrounding COVID-19 and vaccines. The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) condemns [...]

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Echoes of McCarthy: Criticizing Israel and Charges of Antisemitism

By |2024-07-17T16:00:40-04:00January 25th, 2024|News|

Just two months before the long-planned February opening of Samia Halaby’s art retrospective, Indiana University (IU) abruptly canceled the show, citing vague concerns “about guaranteeing the integrity of the exhibit.” But the concerns had nothing to do with Halaby’s colorful abstractions. The last time abstract works were controversial in the United States was during the McCarthy era, when Congressman [...]

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NCAC urges Indiana University to Reschedule Exhibition of Abstract Artist Samia Halaby

By |2024-10-18T17:32:06-04:00January 11th, 2024|Letters, News|

Today, NCAC issued a letter of concern to the leadership of Indiana University, imploring the university to reverse its December 2023 decision to cancel the upcoming retrospective exhibition of renowned Palestinian-American abstract painter, Samia Halaby. “Samia Halaby: Centers of Energy” was to open in February at the university’s Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art and feature more than [...]

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NCAC Condemns Greek Foreign Minister’s Censorship of NYC Artist

By |2023-12-21T14:12:47-05:00December 21st, 2023|News|

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) raised concerns today regarding the censorship of an exhibition at the Greek Consulate in New York. An artwork by New York-based artist Georgia Lale was removed on the order of Greece’s Foreign Minister, George Gerapetritis. Political criticism of one of Lale’s works grew following the exhibition’s opening last week, when the leader of the [...]

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