The Latest Breaking News from PEN America

From colouring books to abolition newspapers and Reader’s Digest magazines, thousands of titles are banned in prisons and jails across the country, often with opaque reasons and with little oversight, Alex Woodward reports

A nationwide surge in restrictions against library materials under the auspices of a “parental rights” campaign runs parallel to legislation targeting LGBT+ people and honest discussions of race and racism, sowing chaos for educators and chilling speech in schools across the US. Richard Hall and Alex Woodward report

Fearing criminal penalties, public schools throughout Missouri removed hundreds of books from their libraries after state lawmakers last year made it illegal to provide students with “sexually explicit” material — a new law that carried punishment of up to a year in prison.

Plus: Buzzfeed News is shutting down, alcohol delivery not linked to higher rates of booze consumption, and more...

“Book bans impede the freedom to read, limiting students’ access to a diversity of views and stories,” says PEN America

Writers organisation denounces ‘relentless’ Republican crusade as 1,477 books banned in first half of 2022-23 school year

One of America's richest art forms suffers for seeming realer than other literature. But the war against "graphic imagery" is really a war against certain truths.

Editorial: Censorship is surging thanks to an organised rightwing minority targeting books on LGBTQ and Black characters and issues

The public radio network announced that it was leaving the social media site after it was labeled ‘government-funded media,’ which the network says hurts its credibility.

The description, added to all tweets the news firm sends out, is seen as undermining confidence in its reporting. PEN America calls on Twitter to reverse the move.

Twitter labeled National Public Radio as “state-affiliated media,” a move that some worried Wednesday could undermine public confidence in the news organization