Author: Mark Bousquet

Mike Diana on the Highs and Lows of Creating Controversial Art

In conjunction with a month-long exhibit of his work in London, cartoonist Mike Diana gave an interview to Vice.com about his career. Diana initially gained the attention of a national audience when he became the first United States artist to…

EFF Wins Battle for Erotic Fiction Against Internet “Gatekeeper”

Securing a victory for constitutionally protected free speech, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has convinced online payment provider Stripe to overturn their earlier decision to suspend the account of the Nifty Archive Alliance, a “nonprofit entity that supports the Nifty Erotic…

Sherman Alexie: Censorship of Any Form Punishes Curiosity

According to critically-acclaimed author Sherman Alexie, “Book banners want to control what every child reads,” and that “censorship of any form punishes curiosity.” In an interview with Ed Winstead of Guernica Magazine, Alexie discusses being the author of banned books…

Nudity a Frequent Target for Book Challenges

A frequent cause for the contention when it comes to comic books and graphic novels has been the age-old, yet incorrect, idea that all comics are for children. In this light, it is not hard to discern why books featuring…

A Moroccan Political Cartoonist Discusses the “Red Lines” of Censorship

Despite describing his native Morocco as being “like a chained human being and there is a giant mosquito drinking its blood,” and believing that “political cartoons have no impact on Moroccan policies,” political cartoonist Tarek Benbaba is still motivated to…

Ukraine’s National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality Sets Its Sight on SpongeBob

Are SpongeBob SquarePants, Walt Disney, the Teletubbies, Shrek, and the town of South Park, Colorado, banding together to corrupt the youth of the Ukraine? That’s what Ukraine’s National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality is now investigating. According to the…

“Can’t Censor the People”: Cops and Community Battle Over Mural Wall in New York City

On July 24th, the New York City Police Department sent two plainclothes cops to paint over a mural that had listed the NYPD alongside multinational corporations and government agencies under the headline, “Murderers.” While artist Alan Ket had permission from…

Columbia Missourian Project Reveals the Breadth of Book Challenges in Public Schools

Why are books challenged in public schools and, even more importantly, why are some challenges successful in getting books banned while others fail? A new comprehensive study by the Columbia Missourian is attempting to find out. The periodical is currently…

The Censorship Problem at Amazon

As a private company, Amazon has the right to determine which products are sold at its websites throughout the world. Increasingly, however, Amazon is being criticized for a lack of clarity on how they make these decisions, with advocates accusing…