Censorship of educational research databases
Since around 2016, political groups that are aiming to ban books from libraries and schools are also using political and legistlative pressure against the research databases to which libraries subscribe to give students access to educational electronic resources.
A research database is a collection of resources, often -- but not always -- text-based, that are either selected or written by the company that publishes the database. For example, Britannica School is an online encyclopedia, written by the editorial staff of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. for use in schools, whereas a database like Gale In Context: Middle School brings together newspaper and magazine articles, books, and more from a variety of popular and academic publishers. Overall, the purpose of research databases is to have resources that will help users answer research questions. As a result, a user who -- for example -- wants to understand the history of socialism in the United States might expect to find sources representing the John Birch Society, the Socialist Party of America, and everything in between. Furthermore, database companies offer many different products, in part to provide for the variety of patrons different kinds of libraries -- such as K-12 school, college, and public libraries -- would need; they generally diversify these databases further by age of user, especially among their various products for K-12 school settings.(Source: False Witness)
No, libraries aren't in the porn biz:
Exact reasons for dropping the lawsuit?
Lawsuit cost consortium at least $35K and many hours -- did not go to library services
(In a response by David Rothman): some of items challenged in Chery Creek School District as "obscene" came from TIME -- no EBSCO official admitted to hosting obscene content: "lie"
Sentinel: Conservative law firm files suit (https://sentinelcolorado.com/metro/conservative-law-firm-files-suit-against-educational-database-that-allegedly-provided-access-to-porn-in-cherry-creek-schools/)
Omaha-based law firm free counsel to mostly pro-life clients filed lawsuit in Arapahoe District Court against EBSCO on October 10, 2018 -- Matt Heffrom, lawyer from Thomas Moore Society
Aledged that EBSCO included pornography for children
Aurora couple Drew and Robin Paterson -- late 2016 "easily" returned pornographic links -- regularly protesting EBSCO at school board meetings --> Chery Creek dropped EBSCO
after only a few clicks
Sentinel: Cherry Creek schools ditches EBSCO student database after prolonged complaints about accessible porn
Boston Globe: EBSCO accused of including smut
Matthew Heffron --Thomas Moore
False Witness
2017 OIF got first-ever challenge to database: EBSCO
As of writing, spread to almost a dozen other states
--some schools just shut down EBSCO without much analysis, Others offowed their policies and retained it bc does nto break policies
--challenges used language from NCOSE (formerly Morality in Media) -- was faith-based at founding in 1962, now many web filter companies
--Dirty Dozen: 2017 and 2018 include EBSCO (also Amazon, Amnesty International, and various popular social media companies): "EBSCO....
-- NCOSE conflates pornography and obscenity (only second is a legal term)
--“Explora, Science Reference Center, Literary Reference Center, and other products, provide easy access to hardcore pornography sites and extremely graphic sexual content. Innocent searches provide pornographic results. Via a system that bypasses school Internet filters, EBSCO brings the dark world of XXX to America’s elementary, middle, and high school children” (NCOSE 2018d).
--Mounted attack through Social Media (esp Facebook) -- goal:grab media attention
--Responded to Intellectual Freedom Blog Post with long explanation and a lot of it is untrue --"generally false"
*Used word "obscene" to describe, but no obscentiy charges brought against EBSCO becasue legal term and claim not supportable (ME: actually trying to change that definition now)