Educators in the United Kingdom and some authors — including Phillip Pullman and Nobel winner Toni Morrison — are upset over allegations that British Education Secretary Michael Gove is removing American classics and other non-British books from GCSE English syllabi.…
Category: International
Twitter Complies With Pakistan Censorship Requests
Not so long ago, Twitter stood out among social media companies for its defense of free speech. Unlike Facebook, which has a habit of blocking content first and asking questions never, Twitter and its chief lawyer Alexander Macgillivray tended to…
Hertfordshire Libraries Restrict Comics Borrowing for Children and Teens
After a parent in the small English town of Harpenden complained that one of her children was able to access adult graphic novels in the local library, new borrowing restrictions for minors have been imposed across the entire Hertfordshire library…
Tokyo Government Declares Imōto Paradise! 2 Manga Unhealthy
Under the guise of the revised (and ever more draconian) Youth Healthy Development Ordinance, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government this week declared that the manga Imōto Paradise! 2 was an “unhealthy publication.” Under the ordinance, such materials cannot be sold to…
Fukushima Residents, Government Criticize Manga’s Depiction of Health Effects From Radiation (Maybe)
Over the past few weeks, the popular Japanese cooking manga Oishinbo has come under fire from residents and government officials of Fukushima Prefecture, who say that it inaccurately depicts the effect of radiation exposure on visitors to the nuclear plant…
Comics Unmasked Opens at British Library
The monumental British Library comics exhibit that we told you about back in January is open at last! Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK runs through August 19, featuring over 200 works by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Mark…
Chinese Same-Sex Slash Fic Targeted in Porn Crackdown
China’s cyberpolice do not only target political dissidents; they also have the Sisyphean task of scrubbing the Internet of pornography. In the latest crackdown on “all online texts, pictures, videos and advertisements with pornographic content,” however, the government has ensnared…
Researchers Analyze Syrian Political Cartoons on Facebook
As we’ve seen many times over, political cartoons play an important role in fomenting rebellion against repressive governments. Because it’s often difficult or impossible to distribute them through traditional print media in their own countries, many cartoonists are now taking…
Barefoot Gen Reportedly Returned to Izumisano School Libraries
We’re slowly getting more details on last week’s news that Keiji Nakazawa’s manga Barefoot Gen had been banned from yet another Japanese school district. According to major sources including Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun, Izumisano City officials planned to return…
Apple Rejects French Book Based on Cover, Not Content
Apple’s notoriously inconsistent digital publishing policy has been applied to yet another title, this time targeting Bénédicte Martin’s novel La Femme due to its “inappropriate” cover. Apple has established a troubling history of restricting books from their iOS marketplace, with…