Censorship of educational research databases

Research database censorship has been a concerted political effort in the United States since 2016, as groups that aim to change school curricula and ban books from libraries and schools are applying political and legistlative pressure against the research databases to which libraries subscribe to give students access to educational electronic resources. In 2017, the American Library Association found that 18% of challenges to library content were not book challenges, but about databases, games, and other non-book content.

In this instance, a "research database" is a collection of educational resources libraries purchase to suppliment print books. The contents of research databases are either selected or written by the company that publishes it. For example, Britannica School is an online encyclopedia, written by the editorial staff of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. for use in schools. 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 high school-aged user who -- for example -- wants to do a project tracing the history of celebrities using their influence to promote social issues might use research databases to access local newspapers, popular magazines like People and Us, and possibly encyclopedias. In many cases, these sources would be behind paywalls on the open web. 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. Companies generally diversify these databases further by age of user, especially among their various products for K-12 school settings.

Because school funding is limited nationwide, especially for library resources, many states buy access to specific, K-12 educational research databases for use by students within the state. Such initatives are run by state libraries, departments of education, or similar governmental institutions. It is a relatively inexpensive way to assure job readiness and equity of access to educational resources for all of the K-12 students in a state.

Activist state that their concerns are with content within databases sold to K-12 institutions, although their evidence often comes from following links onto the open web, or "database hopping," which is moving from K-12 databases to public library databases that are aimed at a wider audience and may include sources for adults.

History

Since a parent tried searching her child's school databases in late 2016, a concerted political effort has arisen in the United States to pass laws that limit access to certain topics within research databases, specifically information on LGBTQ-related topics, human sexuality, and other topics common in book banning efforts.

Cherry Creek School District

The first known challenge to a database was introduced in January, 2017, at a Cherry Creek School District Board of Education meeting in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Drew and Robin Paterson, parents of a student in the district, accessed their student's school-provided research database and found links within the content to sites that they labled "pornographic." Reporting on the case notes that the parents, and not the student, accessed these public internet sources. The research database in question was published by EBSCO, whose spokepeople point out that the database itself covers mainstream publications, and that the links in question were embedded in articles from Time Magazine, Men's Health and Women's Health magazines.

In 2017 and 2018, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (formerly Morality in Media) listed EBSCO on its "Dirty Dozen," its annual list of organizations that it beleives forwards exploitation of children. Other organizations that have been on the list include the American Library Associaiton, United Airlines, the Department of Defence, and more.

The Patersons founded several groups, including "MassResistance" and "Pornography is Not Education" (PINE) to advocate for the idea that EBSCO intentionally providing links that are several "clicks away" from pornography they are pushing on children. Under the auspices of PINE, the Patersons filed a lawsuit in Arapahoe District Court against the EBSCO and the Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC), the state organization that purchases research databases and other library materials for school and public library users across Colorado. Matt F. Heffron, an attourney for the Nebraska-based, conservative Catholic law firm, Thomas More Society, represented them. The Thomas More Society primarily supports anti-abortion movements activists, but also attacked the Common Core standards, sex education programs, and other school programs as attempting to promote pornography to children. CLiC was represented by Seter & Vander Wall, P.C. On February 15, 2019, all parties agreed to dismiss all claims against CLiC. On February 25, 2019, PINE also elected to dismiss its claims against EBSCO with prejudice, meaning the lawsuit cannot be refiled, usually because the "merits" of the case are not sound. However, after two years of pressure, Cherry Creek School District also dropped EBSCO databases in favor of databases from a different company. CLiC estimated that the lawsuit cost at least $35,000, equivalent to seven years of book budgets for a small public library, plus many hours of labor.

After the lawsuit was dismissed, Heffron noted that repeat lawsuits would still be possible because EBSCO databases are used in schools across the country.

Utah challenge

In 2018, president of the conservative Empowered Families Coalition, Nicholeen Peck, reported that she discovered pornography through the EBSCO databases provided by the Utah Education Network, the government department that oversees the state's public schools.

References

Lawsuit here: https://web.archive.org/web/20230129183203/https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/EBSCO-2018-10-10-Filed-Complaint.pdf

Sentinel: Cherry Creek schools ditches EBSCO student database after prolonged complaints about accessible porn

https://sentinelcolorado.com/metro/education/cherry-creek-schools-ditches-ebsco-student-database-after-prolonged-complaints-about-accessible-pornography/

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)

Reviewed top 100 search terms across the country, no pronographic terms

Most people searching o=pornographic terms probably adults

EBSCO usually purchased at state level for K-12

Content, like magazines in grocery stores may sometimes contain discussion of human sexuality

BUT not purpose or focus

inflamatory and alarmist attacks

ALA OIF not aware of any reports of minsor seeking or finding illegal or even pornographic content through EBSCO

Colorado Sun: Protecting kids from porn? Assulting free speech?

librarians accused of purposefully peddling online porn to kids

lawsuit did not alledge that EBSCO was carelessly allowing materials to slip through, but that deliberately promulgating porn; CLiC complicit

Dismissed in late Feb, 2019 -- Heffron claimed planning to find others of the 55,009+ schools with EBSCO and bring more suits

Spread to Indiana and Utah

Dirty Dozen includes United Airlines and Netflix

Public libraries have to protect everyone's rights to content -- so some of their databases might contain material aimed at adults, but not include pornography

Washington Post: States aim to limit book titles students can search for (new book bans)

republican lawmakers nationswide proposing legistlation target library databases abd library management technology

Enacted already in Utah and TN, bill in Nebraska -- unprecidented

"epidemic of sexual content"

ties to book banning -- race, racism, history, sex and gender identiy

access content behind paywalls

CIPA goes back to 2000 Pres Clinton -- requires schools to filter if they want federal $ for tech

CIPA + 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) -- protect studetns online privacy -- forced library databases providers to exclude pornography and other content (me: if there was any... really!!)

Colorado lawsuit -- parents claimed they found articles with links to sexual content when using their teenage daughter's EBSCO acct

--NCOSE also conducted their own search after that and claimed they found links

EBSCO never got reports of ss using linnks to access porn, but did full reassessment in response to NCSCO

--cleaned up some issues (link creation technology); gave individual schools control tools

then, Utah and Nicholeen Peck (https://www.standforthefamilyconference.org/schedules/speakers/nicholeen-peck/; https://famousmormons.net/famous-mormon-authors/nicholeen-peck-mormon-author-bbc-star/)

found pornography "after 45 minutes of searching"

--such as, picture of a woman in her underwear

Utah cancelled access to EBSCO for all 650,000 students--officials reviewed allegations, upped filters

Unanamous vote in Utah Education and Telehealth Network Board to restore -- exec director noted they have not been able to replicate

March 16, 2021 voted in and signed Utah bill

WaPo reports not seem to be inspired by particular reported incedents of kid's encountering anything

Albrecht (NE) was concerned after demonstration from a grandmother (blogger???) --bill failed in 2021, 2022.....

UT: Travis Seegmiller sponored bill 2021 regulating datbaases -- did not provide examples

Parents have different definitions of what is pornography

Lincoln Journal Star: Bill aims to block nebraska students from (https://omaha.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/bill-aims-to-block-nebraska-students-from-accessing-obscene-materials/article_b6112308-89db-11ec-818f-ab066774e1e5.html)

Marilyn Asher https://nebraskavoterguide.com/candidates/marilyn-arant-asher searched databases and found items that she beleives are porngraphy

--searching through "links and databases"

Work with Sen Joni Albrecht of Thurston -- LB1213 (2022)

--Albrecht says it is her priority

Also not heard of anyone accidentally encountering this type of content

NE law would require blocking and filtering of databases, though not other open-web content

--set up individual accounts for each student

--give parents access to their studetns' account

--otherwise, lose contract with state; could be sued by parent or students

Neither Albrecht noe Asher knew of a time when students have encoutnered this type of source

Asher: few clicks away from thge home page; through a link in an article

"Sometimes you have to go quite a ways to find it"

--Asher was also looking at databases for the general public, not K-12

Also, all public schools and half of private schools in the state use filters; often school-provided devices have filters

Matt Heffron helped craft LB1213 -- hope it will become model legistlation

EdSurge: Why are some parents trying to take school library databases offline?