•

New wave of bills targeting libraries is ‘a threat to our democracy,’ American Library Association warns

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/new-wave-bills-targeting-libraries-threat-democracy-american-library-a-rcna138558

The association, founded in 1876, condemned legislation that would threaten librarians and other educators with criminal prosecution for possessing “obscene” material.

New wave of bills targeting libraries is ‘a threat to our democracy,’ American Library Association warns

The association, founded in 1876, condemned legislation that would threaten librarians and other educators with criminal prosecution for possessing “obscene” material.

43 comments

FenrirIII

•

What happened to freedom of speech? Personal accountability? Basic fucking parenting?

Kalkaline

•

Let's not pretend censorship is new. People who are old enough remember Tipper Gore and Frank Zappa arguing over music censorship.

synae

•

This is even dumber, since we have the internet now. Whatever these folks think kids are being exposed to by books, well uh, there's some more stuff on the internet they might be worried about.

Kalkaline

•

Censorship is ridiculous on all forms of communication. Kids will find it if they want to.

synae

•

Of course, I'm pointing out the additional level of absurdity performed by the censors in this case

FlyingSquid

•

It goes way back before that.

1873 in fact.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstock_laws

foggy

•

Ope

For the uninitiated.

funkless_eck

•

yeah Frank Zappa released an instrumental album with "Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics" on it in response.

iquanyin

•

the oligarchs who run the country don't want those things...

afraid_of_zombies

•

They don't give a shit. No one with any money cares if a 15 year old is jerking it. This is Christianity plain and simple.

TakiMinase

•

Authoritarians want to watch us poop and have intercourse. They also want to count how many times we masturbate. That is the authoritarian sickness.

TakiMinase

•

Authoritarians want to watch us poop and have intercourse. They also want to count how many times we masturbate. That is the authoritarian sickness.

helenslunch

•

What happened to freedom of speech?

Doesn't apply to school libraries. Would you be okay with having Hustler magazines at your local library?

Personal accountability? Basic fucking parenting?

What kind of parenting are you referring to? Do you expect parents to hold their kids' hands all day at school?

iquanyin

•

i expect them to trust their kids and not try to micromanage the entire country because the don't.

helenslunch

•

Wait, so are parents supposed to have "personal responsibility" or are they supposed to "trust their kids"?

iquanyin

•

are those mutually exclusive? i didn’t find them to be. as with every single thing, you have to be attentive and responsive to the actual kids and situation. those change as time goes on…

helenslunch

•

I don't know, really. You speak in vague generalities and I don't know what you're actually trying to say.

kofe

•

Tf school are you seeing do that? Honestly.

helenslunch

•

I didn't see any school do that. That's not the point. The point is, if it were in schools, would that be considered "freedom of speech"?

And if not, then we've established that "freedom of speech" does not protect pornographic content in children's public libraries.

kofe

•

How is it relevant if it isn't happening???

helenslunch

•

It's relevant because the question is not about what type of books are being "banned" but whether "freedom of speech" preserves the right to stock whatever books you want in a public school library.

bane_killgrind

•

If hustler releases a text only version of their magazines, that should be allowed.

There is no reason to restrict information.

There is a reason to restrict nude pinups, as there is not an educational purpose to them, they are entertainment.

There is no reason to restrict non-sexual depictions of nudity.

There is no reason to restrict sexual depictions of nudity, if the depiction supports a narrative of conflict resolution, safety, or another educational purpose.

helenslunch

•

If hustler releases a text only version of their magazines, that should be allowed.

In elementary schools? With children. Well that's certainly an interesting take.

There is no reason to restrict information.

Strange, all sorts of other information is restricted from children by law...

There is no reason to restrict non-sexual depictions of nudity.

Some of these books have graphical depictions of sexual acts. I'm not sure why anyone would think that's something important to have in a school library or programme.

afraid_of_zombies

•

Pornography is not the same as books that acknowledge that the LGBT exist.

helenslunch

•

Ya don't say

KnightontheSun

•

More apt is that knowledge and learning is a threat to "their" particular brand of democracy. So let us hassle and hobble libraries (with the ultimate goal of shutting them down) under the pretext of "obscene material".