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@nadyariot

's closing statement—made during a trial at Khamovnichesky Courthouse in Moscow in 2012—was part of SPEECH ITSELF, a Jenny Holzer light projection honoring PEN America's centennial in 2022. © 2022 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. 📸: Filip Wolak

Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova Added to Russia’s Most Wanted List

Russian authorities have put Nadya Tolokonnikova (

@nadyariot

), a member of the

@pussyrrriot

punk group on a most wanted list for criminal suspects as the Kremlin works to stifle political dissent. The criminal charges Tolokonnikova faces are not specified.

billboard.com

Russian authorities have put Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova on a most wanted list for criminals as the Kremlin works to stifle political dissent.

PEN America: 'This escalating battle for control over free expression in education should worry us...

Dru Menaker

@drumenaker

No underestimating this threat.

@SuzanneNossel

@PENAmerica

tells a US House subcommittee: "This escalating battle for control over free expression in education should worry us all.'

pen.org

PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel testified that the rise in educational gag orders and "escalating battle for control over free expression in education should worry us all."

Higher ed autonomy is a necessary precondition for academic freedom and campus free expression. Autonomy restrictions create a chilling effect on speech by making faculty, staff, & students subject to the whims of politicians. We will continue to track these bills going forward.

The Higher Ed Autonomy Restrictions tab includes bills that ban/restrict tenure in ways that usurp college prerogatives; ban departments or DEI offices/initiatives; hand curricular control to political appointees; or mandate easily-abused “institutional neutrality” requirements.

PEN America Index of Educational Gag Orders

Introducing Higher Ed Autonomy Restrictions: a new tab on PEN America’s Index of Educational Gag Orders, our official tracker of all gag order bills introduced since 2021.

docs.google.com

Live Bills as of March 16, 2023 State,Bill Number with hyperlink to legislative page/draft,Date Introduced,Status as of March 16, 2023,Primary Sponsor,Description* *This is a summary of notable...

Toni Ann Johnson

@toniannjohnson

I was just live on CNN talking about the ban on Ruby Bridges at North Shore Elementary in dictator DeSantis’s Florida. She was over my shoulder the whole time.

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The Lead CNN

@TheLeadCNN

"It's an overreaction but it's not surprising." "Ruby Bridges" screenwriter

@toniannjohnson

reacts to a parent complaining the film teaches racial slurs and calls for it not to be shown in younger students’ classrooms

4:28

1.3K views

Join

’s

and

’s

for an interactive workshop on protecting yourself from doxing and hacking at the

@MediaFreedomEU

Summit on March 30 at 12 pm ET. Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regist

Sinead Moriarty

@sinead_moriarty

The current movement in the US to ban hundreds of children’s books is undemocratic & is depriving children of access to diverse literature. We must push back.

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One of the many books being banned by the Florida School District. That’s why I bought a copy of this sweet story. The book banning movement is a disgrace. @PENamerica #stopbookbanning

American Library Association

@ALALibrary

"Why take away all these excellent books? It's like you're trying to slow down children's reading. Why do that?" #UniteAgainstBookBans

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PEN/Hemingway Award Celebration

Mar 26

#Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said that claims he is banning books are a “nasty hoax.” For these advanced 4th grade readers, DeSantis’ policies have resulted in empty shelves and severely diminished #reading options.

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0:50

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celebration, Sat 4/2! Colette Hemingway honors 2023 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel finalists & winner

@OscarHokeah

, author of Calling for a Blanket Dance. Award-winning author Jennifer Haigh delivers the keynote address. Free event!

eventbrite.com

Kennedy Library Forums | PEN/Hemingway Award Celebration

Ted Lieu

@tedlieu

Parents have the right: to have their child learn about classic art works like David; to have their child learn about desegregation shown in Ruby Bridges; to have their child learn about historic figures like Rosa Parks. Republicans are taking away those parental rights.

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#NotAHoax: Censorship in #Florida hasn’t been limited to literature. This month, complaints from parents, emboldened by state “curriculum transparency” laws have canceled the PG-film "Ruby Bridges" and seen a principal ousted over Michelangelo's David. news.yahoo.com/ron-desantis-f

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The freedom to read is under assault. Join PEN America to #FreeTheBooks by taking action and making your voice heard.

Jodi Picoult

@jodipicoult

13h

Despite attempts, my books haven't been banned in Volusia, but it's the same books targeted all over. If you're as outraged as I am, please go to a school board mtg. Support orgs fighting this every day like

How to Stop Book Bans

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Mahogany L. Browne

@mobrowne

Next week.

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Mar 27

PEN America and @reparationsclub invite you to join us 7 PM PT April 5 at @secondhome_io in Hollywood for a not-to-be-missed reading, conversation, and Q&A featuring poet, author, and literary organizer @mobrowne and award-winning poet Alyesha Wise. pen.org/event/pen-out-

An influential Chinese blogger disappeared from the internet. This woman says she knows why | CNN

11h

The blog’s very existence served as an open challenge to the authority of the party, both in terms of ideology & technology. Some... called Program Think China’s “cyber Prometheus,” the ancient Greek god who stole fire from heaven and gave it to humanity.

edition.cnn.com

For 12 years, Program Think, an anonymous Chinese blogger, mounted an open challenge to China's tightening authoritarian grip and expanding surveillance state.

"We also need to introduce the norms and ideals of #freespeech to all students and teach them how to uphold it... (if not) the greatest casualty in this battle may be neither progressive nor conservative ideas, but the principle of free speech itself, said

. (14/14)

Nossel: "Efforts to foster diversity, equity and inclusion on campus should span the gamut of individual differences—racial, socio-economic, religious, ethnic, ideological, gender-based, political and more." (13/x) #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion #DEI

"Escaping this escalating tit-for-tat battle of assaults on speech on U.S. campuses will demand leadership. University presidents need to insist and ensure that all viewpoints — left and right alike — get a fair hearing on campus." (12/x) #FreeSpeech #HigherEducation

"... abolish certain courses of study. Those who believe in the #FirstAmendment understand its essence lies in restricting the power of government to meddle in the marketplace of ideas not in inserting the heavy hand of the state to dictate what can and cannot be taught." (11/x)

Nossel: "We are also seeing a spate of alarming new tactics being introduced to curtail open discourse on campus. These include the takeover of the public New College of Florida by a group of out-of-state trustees and the advancement of #HB999 in Florida, which would..." (10/x)

Nossel: "In pushing back against orthodoxies the proponents of these measures have embraced and surpassed the very tactics they claim to decry, putting the weight not only of social pressure, but of government power, behind efforts to repress certain viewpoints" (9/x) #FreeSpeech

Nossel: "These bills... are intended not to keep speech open, but to put universities on notice that they are being watched and will face the consequences if their decisions fall afoul of politics." (8/x) #FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #Authoritarianism

Nossel: As of 3/16: "An additional 24 higher education bills (were) pending in 15 states... The wording of these gag orders is deliberately vague, casting a willful chill on a wide swath of speech as faculty & administrators struggle to understand where the lines are drawn" (7/x)

Nossel: "There are seven laws across seven states that we classify as educational gag orders affecting higher education; we define educational gag orders as laws that explicitly limit what can be taught and studied on campus." (6/x) #GagOrders #Censorship #HigherEducation

Nossel also spoke out against a growing wave of educational gag orders: "We have confronted a new threat to open discourse on campus. We have documented proposed and enacted state legislation curtailing what can be taught and studied in college and university classrooms." (5/x)

"If some students, by virtue of their background, gender, race, nationality, religion, or political views feel hindered from speaking up in class or voicing their opinions, the marketplace of ideas suffers," said PEN America CEO

@SuzanneNossel

in her opening remarks. (4/x)

Nossel: "At PEN America we argue that the essential drive to render American campuses more diverse, equitable, and inclusive need not—and must not—come at the expense of robust, uncompromising protections for free speech and academic freedom." (3/x) #DEI #FreeSpeech #Education

Nossel: "The university campus is the incubator of democratic citizenship and the breeding ground for leaders in every sector of society. If we don’t get free speech and open discourse right on campus, we won’t get it right in the media, the courts, or out on the streets." (2/x)

Jodi Picoult

@jodipicoult

13h

Love this! Thank you to the courageous parents in Volusia County, FL for standing up for the freedom to read at last night's school board mtg.19 books were recently challenged in the district and read by committees. But now...

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After being shown for years as part of #BlackHistoryMonth, a PG movie about 1st grader Ruby Bridges was banned in a Florida school based on one parent's complaint it would cause "discomfort." It's one of 10 surprising things being banned in US schools: pen.org/dolly-parton-m

Opinion | A new book-ban fiasco in Florida reveals the monster DeSantis created

13h

#NotAHoax New #Florida bill would allow instant removals of challenged books without any process—and allow objections to be lodged "not just by a parent, but any resident in the county, meaning anyone could get a book removed more easily than before."

washingtonpost.com

How the governor's school censorship regime will lead to more purges, crackdowns and hysteria.

Jonathan Friedman

@jonfreadom

15h

Book banners don't like reading the books. Many are driven by a puritan crisis mentality. So they have devised a way to get as many books off shelves as quickly as possible. This policy is already being used in some districts; Now they want to make it law. #FreeTheBooks

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Greg Sargent

@ThePlumLineGS

16h

Unreal: A new bill in Florida would require immediate removal of K-12 materials facing objections on sexual grounds *before any evaluative process vets the complaints.* This is the next step. It will lead to many more book bans on the weakest of pretexts: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/

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Songs about 🌈🌈 are in our Top 10* 🌈 Rainbowland by Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus was banned from a spring concert set list in Wisconsin. 🌈The Rainbow Connection by the Muppets was banned, too. 😯*most surprising things banned in US schools: pen.org/dolly-parton-m

Jonathan Friedman

@jonfreadom

Now banned: School board in Hillsborough FL voted today to ban "This Book is Gay". This is after 2 committees reviewed it and voted to keep it in schools. Here's what Juno Dawson told us

about efforts to ban the book last fall. /1

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PinkNews

@PinkNews