A whole host of organizations (Association of American Publishers, American Booksellers for Free Expression, Authors Guild, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Freedom to Read Foundation, and Independent Book Publishers Association) representing authors and publishers in the United States has filed a brief challenging a Texas Bill on content for minors.
ALLi News Editor, Dan Holloway
As you have seen me say many times, I try to avoid political topics, and I have largely steered clear of the divisive subject of book bans. Not least because, as well as being political, they tend to be limited within state boundaries and thus not of wide enough appeal to justify column inches for a group like ALLi.
However, the scope of this case caught my eye. First, because it is a national filing. Second, because it comes from large, widely representative groups in our industry. And third, because it has even wider implications, as much of the argumentation appears to be almost identical to that of the recent UK Online Safety (Online Harms) Act, which I also covered.
The brief challenges Texas Bill 1181. Publishing Perspectives describes this as a sexual content bill. My understanding is that it is more generally a bill to limit the exposure of minors to content deemed unsuitable for them. It requires age verification for any website where one-third of the content or more is deemed “harmful to minors.”
This language is strikingly similar to the UK Act, which is now law, and likewise requires age verification for sites with content that is legal but harmful to minors. As I have mentioned repeatedly during the Act’s passage into law, this could encompass much of the content we, as writers, put out there, including things like chapter samples (I am not sure how “Look Inside” content is considered), blurbs, and covers.
The UK Act has raised concerns, but what we don’t have here that the U.S. does have is constitutional protection for freedom of expression. That is the argument being pursued in the current brief. It points out some of the potential consequences, such as bookstores or libraries being forced either to limit their stock or bar all minors from entering.
