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Scholastic Inc. will end a widely criticized policy that made it easier for school book fairs not to sell works with racial, disability and LGBTQ+ themes NEW YORK -- Scholastic Inc. will end a widely criticized policy that made it easier for school book fairs not to sell works with racial, disability and LGBTQ+ themes. The children's publisher angered many authors and educators this fall when it created a separate package of dozens of books, labeled “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice,” and gave schools the option on whether to include them in fairs. Poet Amanda Gorman, whose “Change Sings” was among the titles in “Share Every Story,” had said in an Instagram video that Scholastic's decision “felt like a betrayal.” Scholastic had said the policy , which will remain in place for the rest of the year, was a response to the proliferation of restrictions passed by states around the country. The publisher has not settled on a strategy for 2024. “This fall, we made changes in ...

A Hong Kong man has been sentenced to four months in prison after he pleaded guilty to importing children’s books deemed to be “seditious publications.” HONG KONG -- A Hong Kong man was sentenced to four months in prison Friday after he pleaded guilty to importing children ’s books that were deemed to be “seditious publications.” Kurt Leung, a 38-year-old clerk, was sentenced after he admitted to importing 18 children’s books featuring wolves and sheep. He was arrested in March after he signed for a delivery from the U.K. containing the books. The books feature sheep that lived in a village and had to defend themselves against wolves. In the series of books , the sheep take action such as going on strike or escaping by boat, which are said to allude to incidents such as the 2019 anti-government protests and the detention of the 12 Hong Kongers who attempted to escape by sea. Authorities say that the books are an attempt at inciting hatred in young children and stirring up conte...

As the race to develop more powerful artificial intelligence services like ChatGPT accelerates, some regulators are relying on old laws to control a technology that could upend the way societies and businesses operate. The European Union is at the forefront of drafting new AI rules that could set the global benchmark to address privacy and safety concerns that have arisen with the rapid advances in the generative AI technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT. But it will take several years for the legislation to be enforced. "In absence of regulations, the only thing governments can do is to apply existing rules," said Massimilano Cimnaghi, a European data governance expert at consultancy BIP. "If it's about protecting personal data, they apply data protection laws, if it's a threat to safety of people, there are regulations that have not been specifically defined for AI, but they are still applicable." In April, Europe's n...

PEN America and Penguin Random House filed a lawsuit Wednesday targeting a Florida school district for removing certain books from the shelves of school libraries. PEN America, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting free expression, and Penguin Random House, one of the country's largest book publishers, filed a lawsuit Wednesday targeting a Florida school district for removing certain books from the shelves of public school libraries. Authors and parents of children affected by the book bans in the Escambia County School District have also joined the federal lawsuit, which is asking for books to be returned to school libraries. The lawsuit argues that the school board’s removal and restriction of books that discuss racism and have LGBTQ themes violates the First Amendment. Several authors whose books have been impacted by book bans across the country, including David Levithan, George M. Johnson and Ashley Hope Pérez, are backing the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges, in every decision to r...