Is censorship making a comeback in the United States? A US federal judge has suspended an Arkansas law that was to come into effect on August 1, which provided for criminal liability for librarians and booksellers who did not remove books deemed dangerous for minors. And the case is not isolated.
Anne Frank’s diary censored
Censorship is spreading more and more in the United States, where states like Texas and Florida are enacting laws to ban certain books under the guise of protecting children. According to Pen America, a group that defends freedom of expression, between July and December last year, there were 1,477 cases in the United States of books being removed from school libraries, a record.
More often than not, the removed books deal with race or sexual orientation, and even the Diary of Anne Frank was removed for sexual content. Faced with this, other states are reacting, such as Illinois, which passed a law prohibiting censorship.
A policy that is not always successful
“Librarians have become the targets of a movement that claims to want freedom but in fact promotes authoritarianism,” said Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois Secretary of State. “We are at a point where the simple right to read a book is restricted,” he continues.
These attacks on books come from conservatives, even if progressives are no exception, where bullying and self-censorship are on the rise. The most right fringe, it censors with laws. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, presidential candidate, even made it his main campaign argument. A tactic that shows its limits: it has plummeted in voting intentions.