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Penguin Random House is suing a Florida school district for banning several of its books, in the latest pushback by companies and organizations against “anti-voc” actions by American political conservatives.
The publisher has joined forces with Pen America and a group of affected authors after the Escambia County school board claimed it “unlawfully removed or restricted access to books about race, racism and LGBTQ+ identity”. Gave”.
The district, which covers the city of Pensacola west of Florida and borders Alabama, carried a range of books including works by Penguin authors Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut and Khaled Hosseini.
Penguin’s action follows a series of lawsuits after politicians led by Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida and a potential contender in the 2024 US presidential race, supported measures that would disrupt teaching in schools and colleges, and limits broader efforts, including by employers, to support diversity.
Walt Disney has become the most prominent organization to sue Florida, with the media group claiming that the state’s crackdown on DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” law violates its constitutional rights. Free speech organizations including FIRE and PEN America have also sought an injunction against several recent laws in Florida and other US states.
Penguin, which is requesting the restoration of the books along with costs to the libraries, said the suit is the first of its kind. But in collaboration with Penn, it is looking for similar actions in other states that have taken similar measures.
“Books have the potential to change lives for the better, and students in particular need equal access to a wider perspective,” said Nihar Malviya, CEO of Penguin Random House. “Censorship, like the one enacted by Escambia County, is a direct threat to democracy and our constitutional rights.”
Suzanne Nosel, chief executive of PEN America, said: “In Escambia County, state censors are taking books off the shelves in a deliberate attempt to silence pluralism and diversity. In a nation built on free speech, this cannot stand.
Since January 2021, her organization has tracked 306 “educational gag order bills” introduced in 45 US states, while 22 have become law in 16 states. It has identified 4,000 individual sanctions from July 2021 to December 2022.
