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Censorship of educational research databases has been a concerted political effort in the United States since 2016.[1][2] Activist groups that aim to change school curricula and ban books from libraries and schools are applying political and legistlative pressure to limit the content in educational research databases to which libraries subscribe to give students online access to educational resources beyond what print collections can offer.[3][4][5] 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.[6] In 2023, ALA recieved reports of 1,247 localized censorship attempts on library resources, including databases.[7] Recently, however, many of the educational research database censorship efforts take place in state legistlatures; Idaho, Utah, Tennessee, and Oklahoma have encoded laws that specifically target educational research databases.[3][1][8] Several states have failed legistlative efforts, while other states have pending legistlation in the 2024 season.[1][9] Experts argue that these laws act on problems that do not actually exist.[10] Where targeting educational research databases specifically has been unsuccessful, activists have moved to attempting to curtail the long-held legal definition of "obscenity," as defined by the United States Supreme Court in Miller v. California, known as the Miller Test.[5] For example, recent Tennissee legistlation removes protections for materials with educational value from being defined as "obscene."[11]

Definition

In this instance, an "educational research database" is a collection of educational resources libraries purchase to suppliment print books, created to serve a particular age group or audience.[10][12] The contents of educational research databases are either selected or written by the company that publishes it. For example, Britannica School is an online encyclopedia, written by subject matter experts and by the editorial staff of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. for use in schools.[13] Others, like EBSCO's Middle Online Package collection bring together newspaper and magazine articles, books, and more from a variety of popular and academic publishers.[14]

Overall, the purpose of educational research databases is to have resources that will help users answer research questions. As a result, a student who -- for example -- wants to do a project tracing the history of celebrities using their influence to promote social issues might use educational research databases to access local newspapers, popular magazines like People, and possibly encyclopedias.[15] In many cases, these sources would be behind paywalls on the open web.[16][17][5] 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.[12] Companies generally diversify these databases further by age of user, especially among their various products for K-12 school settings.[12]

Because school funding is limited nationwide, especially for library resources, many states buy access to specific, K-12 educational educational research databases for use by students within the state.[1] Such initatives are run by state libraries, departments of education, or similar governmental institutions.[1] 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.[3]

Conservative activist state that their concerns are with content within databases sold to K-12 institutions, and -- increasingly -- public and college libraries.[1][18][7] Their primary claim is that educational research databases include content that is harmful to minors.[4][1] This claim has neither been sustained in court, nor has it been replicable when tested.[12][1][19][20][21] Similarly, activists erroneously claim that educational research databases bypass school internet filters.[12] Conservative activists' 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.[2][3][12] Critics like Oklahoma State Representative Andy Fugate noted that these actions are taken in support of political goals.[5]

History

A concerted political effort has arisen in the United States to pass laws that limit access to certain topics within educational research databases, specifically information on LGBTQ-related topics, human sexuality, and other topics common in book banning efforts.[2][12][3] In documented cases of people encoutering content labled "pornographic" or "obscene," the seachers have not been students.[12][3][2][22]

Challenges

Two challenges to educational research databases have recieved particularly broad attention nationwide.

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.[12][23] Drew and Robin Paterson, parents of a student in the district, accessed their student's school-provided educational research database and found links within the content to sites that they labled "pornographic."[2] Reporting on the case notes that the parents, and not the student, accessed these public internet sources.[3] The educational 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.[24][25]

EBSCO reported that it remained unaware of any occasions on which children had used its databases to access pornography, but nonetheless reviewed its selection process and clarified its policies and technology in 2017.[4]

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.[26][27]

The Patersons founded several groups, including "Pornography is Not Education" (PINE) and Colorado's chapter of "MassResistance" to advocate for the idea that EBSCO intentionally providing links that are "a few clicks" from online pornography.[22][3][2] 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 educational research databases and other library materials for school and public library users across Colorado.[2] Matt F. Heffron, an attourney for the Nebraska-based, conservative Catholic law firm, Thomas More Society, represented them.[18] 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.[2] CLiC was represented by Seter & Vander Wall, P.C.[20] On February 15, 2019, all parties agreed to dismiss all claims against CLiC.[20] 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.[20][28][29] However, after two years of pressure, Cherry Creek School District also dropped EBSCO databases in favor of databases from a different company.[19] 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.[19]

After the lawsuit was dismissed, Heffron noted that repeat lawsuits would still be possible because EBSCO databases are used in schools across the country.[30] From Colorado, activism spread to both Indiana and Utah.[26][31] Over 130 school districts have cancelled their contracts with EBSCO.[6] Losing access to EBSCO databases removes almost 97,000 un-challenged titles -- more than 175 million articles -- from student educational access, when the educational research database content that is objectionable to the complainents do not meet standards for obscenity or pornography.[32]

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. [21][33] She claimed that she searched for 45 minutes to find it.[3][34] In response to political pressure, Utah closed down its K-12 EBSCO subscription for all of its students statewide, blocking over 650,000 students.[3] After a month of investigations, during which the Utah Education and Telehealth Network Board president stated that they were not able to replicate any of the problematic results advocates reported, even folowing the directions provided by those activists, and the board voted unanimously to turn database access back on.[3][21] EBSCO was also unable to replicate the search results in their own investigations.[21] The executive director of the Salt Lake City Public Library noted that the accusations were intentionally false and misleading.[21] He argued that conservative activists found certain content personally distasteful and wanted to block it for all users.[21]

The Utah Education Network began monitoring EBSCO use when the database was reinstated, to demonstrate it was being used appropriately.[35] UEN reports currently blocking over 15,000 search terms in the school databases.[35] The quarterly reports also include word clouds of searches that users carry out over the three month period.[35] These reports indicate that users do not run inappropriate searches.[35][36]

Enacted state legistlation

Starting in 2020, Idaho, followed by Utah, Tennissee, and Oklahoma, passed laws criminalizing educational research databases.[37][8] The language for all of these bills are quite similar to each other: the bills require companies providing K-12 databases to each of these states to verify that database content is free of obscene or pornographic content, requiring filtering of said content, and nullifying the contracts with any vendor that is beleived to have served up such content. [5][38][39][40][41]

Nationally, schools already filter web-based content, including educational research databases, in order to recieve federal funding for internet access.[3] State Representative Andy Fugate of Oklahoma notes that the Oklahoma bill comes from a piece of model legistlation with political, rather than educational, goals.[5]

Idaho was the first state to pass this legistlation, in 2020, although it essentially mirrored K-12 internet use policies that had been in place for a decade.[1] [42] The bill sponsor claimed that "these databases are offline and not subject to internet filters."[43][1] This claim is untrue.[12][1] The bill, HB522 (2020) passed and was codified as Section 33-137 of the Idaho State Code.[39] The Idaho Commission for Libraries, the official name of the state library, created a seperate web portal for K-12 statewide database access with restricted services to comply with Code 33-137.[44]

Utah was the second state to pass a bill, HB38, in the 2021 legistlative season.[37] Tennesee's SB2292/HB2454, which became Pub. Ch. 1002,[8][38] followed in 2022. Additionally, Tennesee removed the educational value exception from the state's legal definition of obscenity, opening a wider array of curricular and co-curricular content to blocking.[11]

After Oklahoma passed HB3702 in 2022, high school students in advanced classes reported trouble undertaking the required research. K-12 students were not allowed to independently access the more advanced sources neccessary for their work due to the law. The Oklahoma law removes exemptions from prossecution for "employees of school districts, charter schools, virtual charter schools, state agencies, public libraries, and universities" who create "willful violations."[5][40] The bill sponsor, former Representative Todd Russ, argued that it is primarily teachers and librarians who should be repsonible for what students access, although the bill primarily targets database companies themselves.[5] As a result, the University of Oklahoma designated two librarian who have to "mediate" all K-12 students' searches, meaning the librarians do the research under instruction from the students, undermining their learning of advanced skills.[5] Like with other bills, HB3702 replicates already-existing protections encoded in law.[5]

From 2020 to 2022, similar bills died in Georgia, Minnesota, Texas, and Nebraska.[1][45] A resolution to launch a task force to investigate educational research databases also died in Hawaii.[1]

Current pending legistlation

Nebraska

Nebraska's Represetitive Joni Albracht introduced LB1213 in2022, and again in 2023 as LB635.[22][46] In addition to provisions similar to earlier bills in other states, this bill requires each student to have an individual username and password.[22] Currently, educational research database access usually by IP-address, meaning that anyone on the school's internet can use the databases.[22] This change would mean, for example, that a high school of 3000 students, instead of having a single, school-wide login, would need to provide and manage 3000 seperate usernames and passwords for its students. Additionally, the bill requires that each student's username and password be given to the student's parents so that they can also access their student's account.[22] Heffron, the Thomas More Socieity attourney who represented the Patersons in Colorado, helped author the Nebraska bill.[22][18] Heffron stated that he hoped the bill would become model legistlation for other states.[22]

According to the Omaha World-Herald, neither bill sponser Albrecht, nor Marilyn Asher -- the politician who introduced Albrecht to the arguments against educational datacases -- are aware of any times that Nebraska students have encountered obscene materials on educational research databases.[22] Furthermore, like with Peck of Utah, Ascher told the World-Herald, "Sometimes, you have to go quite a ways to find it," [22] Similarly, in her testimony to the Nebraska Legislature's Judiciary Committee, Albricht noted that it might take "three clicks," at the least, to get to the sites like Pornhub, which were not actually part of the educational research database's content.[45]

Responses

To date, educational research database comapnies have displayed a variety of responses. Some, like EBSCO, have responded by creating local controls with which districts, or whole states, can block access to resources for students.[34] For example, Utah blocks over 1500 potential search terms for all students statewide.[34][35] Other companies have proactively censored certain terms, making them unsearchable, for all students nationwide.[34] For example, many Gale K-12 databases will not allow students to search for any form of the word "sex," meaning they cannot look up health information, information on sexual discrimination, sexual orientation, and more.[34] The chilling effect of political actions have also caused schools and districts nationwide to proactively drop or block educational resources out of fear of being targeted by activists or based on misinformation and misunderstandings of how educational research databases work.[34][6][1][5][12] For example, some educators in Florida reported not being able to access educational videos about Brown v the Board of Education or Jim Crow laws.[34] Other schools and districts followed their reconsideration policies and found that their databases do not, in fact contain obscene content based on legal definitions.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "POLICY BRIEF: Weathering the Attacks on State Library Database Contracts - Policy Report". EveryLibrary Institute. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h SNOWDON, QUINCY (2018-10-11). "Conservative law firm files suit against educational database that allegedly provided access to porn in Cherry Creek schools". Sentinel Colorado. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Natanson, Hannah (2022-05-11). "The next book ban: States aim to limit titles students can search for". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  4. ^ a b c Zubrzycki, Jaclyn (2017-07-14). "Do Online Databases Filter Out Enough Inappropriate Material?". Education Week. ISSN 0277-4232. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Taylor, Jillian (2022-12-15). "Oklahoma law impacts K-12 research in OU Libraries, mirrors bills targeting academic databases nationwide". OU Daily. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  6. ^ a b c HERTHER, NANCY (2019-03-25). "ATG Original: Censorship & The Struggle Over Content in The Internet Age: Part 1". Charleston Hub. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  7. ^ a b Office of Intellectual Freedom (2023-03-20). "Book Ban Data". American Library Association. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  8. ^ a b c "New Tennessee laws to take effect July 1, 2022". Local3News.com. 2022-07-01. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  9. ^ EveryLibrary (2023-06-20). "Unpacking 2023 Legislation of Concern for Libraries". EveryLibrary. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  10. ^ a b "Why Are Some Parents Trying to Take School Library Databases Offline? - EdSurge News". EdSurge. 2022-12-01. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  11. ^ a b Vaughn, Jason (2022-05-16). "TN Law To Protect Students From Digital Obscenity & Pornography To Go Into Effect For Fall Semester". Tennessee Conservative. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l LaRue, James (Fall 2017). "False Witness: Morality in Media and EBSCO". Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy. 2 (3–4): 13–19.
  13. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions » Britannica". Britannica. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  14. ^ "Middle Online Package | EBSCO". www.ebsco.com. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  15. ^ "Middle Search Plus Periodical Title List". www.ebsco.com. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  16. ^ Scharn, Tracy. "LibGuides: General Guide to Library Research: When You Hit a Paywall". oit.libguides.com. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  17. ^ "The Digital Closet". MIT Press. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  18. ^ a b c Bray, Hiawatha (2018-10-19). "EBSCO accused of including smut in school databases". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  19. ^ a b c "Lawsuit alleging Colorado libraries pushed porn is dismissed". The Denver Post. 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  20. ^ a b c d Seter & Vander Wall, P.C. (2019-03-06). "MEMORANDUM to Poudre River Public Library District" (PDF). Poudre River Public Library District.
  21. ^ a b c d e f Rodgers, Bethany (2020-09-17). "The danger in Utah schools — porn or censorship?". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stoddard, Martha (2022-02-21). "Bill aims to block Nebraska students from accessing obscene materials". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  23. ^ "Regular Board of Education Meeting Minutes". Cherry Creek School District Boarddocs. 2017-01-09.
  24. ^ LaRue, Jamie (2018-10-12). "Education is not pornography". Intellectual Freedom Blog. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  25. ^ "How schools & libraries bring pornography to vulnerable children". www.massresistance.org. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  26. ^ a b Augé, Karen (2019-04-02). "Protecting kids from porn? Assaulting free speech? Library critics take aim at public databases". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  27. ^ Quinn, Annalisa (2013-04-02). "Book News: American Library Association, Barnes & Noble Called 'Facilitators Of Porn'". NPR.
  28. ^ "Colorado Judicial Branch - Glossary of terms". www.courts.state.co.us. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  29. ^ "With prejudice". Legal Information Institute of Cornell University Law School. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  30. ^ Ciesielka, Tom. "Your Kids Can Access Porn Through This Popular School Database". Charisma News. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  31. ^ "Important Update about challenges to EBSCO databases – IUPUI Department of Library and Information Science". blogs.iu.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  32. ^ ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee (2018-12-15). "Censoring Databases". ALSC Blog. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  33. ^ Roberts, Chris (2018-09-21). "Beyond The Books: Utah mom finds pornographic pics on Utah Education Network database". KUTV. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  34. ^ a b c d e f g Bauld, Andrew. "As Censors Target Online Resources, Student Searches Come Up Empty". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  35. ^ a b c d e "EBSCO Quarterly Report 2019 for Utah Education Network (UEN)" (PDF). Utah Education Network. 2019-12-31.
  36. ^ "EBCSO Monitoring". Utah Educational Network. Archived from the original on 2023-12-08. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  37. ^ a b "Hundreds of new Utah laws take effect Wednesday — what changes for you?". Deseret News. 2023-12-20. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  38. ^ a b "Tennessee General Assembly Legislation". wapp.capitol.tn.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  39. ^ a b "HOUSE BILL 522 – Idaho State Legislature". Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  40. ^ a b "Bill Information". www.oklegislature.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  41. ^ "HB0038". le.utah.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  42. ^ "Section 33-137 – Idaho State Legislature". Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  43. ^ "MINUTES: HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE" (PDF). Idaho Legistlature. 2020-02-24. p. 119. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  44. ^ Baker, Dylan (2020-06-24). "Lilischools.org Brings Students a Scaled-Down Research Option — in Compliance with New Idaho Code 33-137". Idaho Commission for Libraries. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  45. ^ a b "Judiciary Committee" (PDF). Nebraska Legistlature. 2022-02-09.
  46. ^ Wendling, Zach (2024-03-18). "Bills addressing obscenity in schools, pornography advance to full Nebraska Legislature • Nebraska Examiner". Nebraska Examiner. Retrieved 2024-03-21.

False Witness

*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


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?

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