Today is Banned Websites Awareness Day. Banned Sites Day is a new addition to an annual tradition that is Banned Books Week, celebrating the First Amendment and the freedom to read. Censorship is not limited to bracelets or books it seems. Increasingly, schools are filtering out websites including valid, educational resources. Web filtering is the new censorship. That's why the ACLU has launched a Don't Filter Me campaign to prevent viewpoint-discriminatory censorship of positive web content.
Traditional censorship, alas, is not over. In 2010, American libraries were faced with 4,660 formal written complaints requesting that materials be removed. Among the top 10 banned books of 2010 are one that I loved, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," by Sherman Alexie, and one that I classify as a guilty pleasure, "Twilight," by Stephenie Meyer. In 2009, some of what was required reading for me as a teen were banned: "To Kill a Mocking Bird," by Harper Lee and "Catcher in the Rye," by J.D. Salinger. Whether we love or hate these novels is irrelevant though. The First Amendment means that we have the freedom to read either or both.