Imagine going on a relaxing vacation out of the country with friends or family, but upon your return to the United States, your laptop is taken from you by border security for what seems to be no reason at all.…
Category: International
Using Graphic Novels in Education: Barefoot Gen
Welcome to Using Graphic Novels in Education, an ongoing feature from CBLDF that is designed to allay confusion around the content of banned books and to help parents and teachers raise readers. In this column, we examine books that have…
Radical Voices Continue to Call for Censorship in Barefoot Gen Debate
After debate that focused more on procedure than on free expression, a ban placed on anti-war manga Barefoot Gen was lifted recently in Japan, once again allowing the return of the book to school libraries in Matsue City. Unfortunately, controversy…
Tokyo Olympics Emboldens Censors
Japan will host the 2020 summer Olympics, and this world stage puts Japan in a spotlight that may ultimately harm the free expression of manga and anime in the country. Any nation that hosts an Olympic event works to put…
Cartoonist Fights Inclusion on U.S. No-Fly List
For several years, Toronto cartoonist Shahid Mahmood has been on the United States’ no-fly list for reasons unknown. Mahmood discovered his no-fly status when he attempted to board an Air Canada flight in 2004. Several years and an inquiry from…
Cartoon Movement Gives Voice to Cartoonists Worldwide
Cartoon Movement is an international platform for cartoonists, editors, and fans of editorial cartooning and political satire to come together as a community. Founded in 2010 by Dutch journalists Thomas Loudon and Arend Jan van den Beld, the website unites…
Back to School with Comics: CBLDF Presents Manga
Manga is worldwide phenomenon: One of the most widely read types of literature in its home country of Japan, it has crossed the world to become a very popular category here in the United States. With burgeoning collections in libraries…
Finland Censors Anti-Censorship Site
On August 28, the Supreme Administrative Court in Finland ruled that Finnish police adding a prominent anti-censorship website to its blacklist was a perfectly reasonable, not in any way illegal thing to do. Except was it? The site in question,…
Russian Artist Seeks Asylum After Authorities Shut Down His Exhibition
Russian authorities confiscated politically-charged paintings on Monday from a newly opened art gallery in St. Petersburg. As a result of the seizure, the artist fled the country and the exhibit was shut down. The paintings — one of which depicts…
Barefoot Gen Ban Lifted
In a victory for free speech, the Matsue City school board overturned an order that banned renown anti-war manga Barefoot Gen from school libraries. Keiji Nakazawa’s celebrated series was removed from shelves after a complainant — one who does not…