When the first draft of the self-imposed Comics Code was drawn up in 1954, virtually every clause directly addressed some point of criticism that had come up in that year’s Senate hearings, which probed for some causal link between comics…
Author: Maren Williams
CBLDF Joins Defense of World History Textbook in Tennessee
In response to a Sullivan County, Tennessee parent who wants an entire world history textbook removed from her local school district’s seventh grade curriculum due to what she calls “Islamic indoctrination” in the unit on world religions, CBLDF and its…
CBLDF Joins Protest of Revived Virginia Proposal to Flag ‘Sexually Explicit’ School Books
Just a few months after Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed a bill that would have required public schools to notify parents of “sexually explicit content” in curricular materials, the proposal has returned in the form of a new draft regulation…
Iowa Parent Wants Perks Removed from Advanced High School Class
The mother of a high school senior in Dubuque, Iowa has filed a challenge to remove Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower from classrooms in the Dubuque Community School District. Even though the Contemporary Literature teacher at Dubuque…
Jailed Egyptian Novelist Ahmed Naji Files New Appeal for Release
Egyptian author Ahmed Naji, jailed since February after being convicted of “violating public modesty” with an excerpt from his novel Use of Life, is launching a new appeal for release after the government agreed to review the cases of political…
At 95, Al Jaffee Talks Censorship, Satire, and Political Hot Air
Over 60 years ago, legendary cartoonist Al Jaffee started applying his satirical pen to the pages of Mad Magazine. At 95 years of age he still contributes the “Fold-ins” that he invented in 1964, and now holds the world record…
Tennessee Parent Wants World History Textbook Removed Due to Coverage of Islam
The mother of a seventh grader in Sullivan County, Tennessee this week filed a formal challenge to an entire world history textbook because she believes that some parts of the unit on religions amount to “Islamic indoctrination.” Backed by a…
In Exile, Venezuelan Cartoonist Finds Space to Criticize Government Oppression
Rayma Suprani has long been one of the best-known and most fearless political cartoonists in Venezuela, but for almost a year she and her work have only been “in” the country virtually, through social media. After El Universal, the newspaper…
Musa Kart and Colleagues to Remain Jailed Until Trial
After five days in detention, Turkish cartoonist Musa Kart and eight of his colleagues at Cumhuriyet newspaper were formally arrested and charged with supporting Kurdish militants and the Gulenist movement on Saturday. They are expected to remain in jail until…
Letter Asks Facebook to Quit Blocking Evidence of Human Rights Abuses
In light of repeated instances in which Facebook has blocked or removed posts documenting human rights violations, sometimes at the request of police or other authorities, more than 70 civil rights groups banded together this week to send a letter to…