(7 Nov 2021) The system-wide library council of the University of Philippines (UP) has expressed its strong opposition to the decision of banning and removal of books from libraries and online platforms that the government deemed subversive, saying it “threatens to undermine” academic freedom and “book purges” are practiced by authoritarian societies. “We, the System-wide…
(25 Oct 2021) The Commission on Higher Education in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CHED-CAR) has joined the campaign to purge universities and colleges in the region of what it considered “subversive” materials. CHED-CAR Director Demetrio Anduyan Jr. urged private and public higher education institutions (HEIs) in the region to remove “subversive” materials from their…
(29 Sep 2021) An educator lamented the removal of books and documents published by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in at least three state university libraries. The Kalinga State University (KSU), Isabela State University (ISU), and Aklan State University (ASU) pulled out books authored by or related to the NDFP to…
(23 Aug 2021) China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has just announced that, from October 1, any music that breaches a fresh set of government rules will be banned from being played within the country’s near-50,000 karaoke venues. According to a direct translation of the new government rules (via Reddit), music that is in contravention of…
(13 Jul 2021) For the first time, veteran Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Pang will not display any political books at his booth as the global financial hub holds its first book fair since the event began in 1990 under a new national security law. Cancelled last year due to the coronavirus, the book fair resumes…
(8 May 2021) Nine books were banned from Hong Kong’s public libraries on Friday under the national security law’s provisions on censorship, Apple Daily has learned. The ban, issued by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department on Friday, requires librarians to immediately take down the nine books, including two volumes by former pro-democracy lawmakers Albert…
(24 Feb 2021) On February 16, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen signed a sub-decree on the establishment of a national internet gateway which would create a single point of entry for internet traffic regulated by a government-appointed operator. While the specifics of its implementation remain unclear, the move exacerbates ongoing concerns about internet freedom in the country…
The company states policy in response to inquiry by several Republican senators over recent removal of book by conservative author. (11 Mar 2021) Amazon. com Inc. said it recently removed a three-year-old book about transgender issues from its platforms because it decided not to sell books that frame transgender and other sexual identities as mental…
(19 Jan 2021) More than a hundred scholars and academics have signed an open letter accusing the National University of Singapore (NUS) Press of bowing to political pressure after it last year withdrew abruptly from publication of a volume of essays touching on sensitive aspects of Thai politics. The book, “Coup, King, Crisis: A Critical…
(14 Jan 2021) Twitter last week permanently suspended the account of Sci-Hub, the website that has posted millions of freely accessible copies of scientific articles pirated from subscription journals. Twitter said Sci-Hub had violated its policy against promoting “counterfeit goods,” according to Sci-Hub’s founder, Alexandra Elbakyan. The notification came shortly after a 6 January court…