Book Bans and Beyond: Navigating Intellectual Freedom in the Digital Age

This panel explores how intellectual freedom is being challenged across research, public discourse, and digital environments, and what academic communities and information professionals can do in response. The discussion connects freedom to read with freedom to research, data integrity, privacy, and democratic participation.

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This discussion is part of Freedom to Read Week (Feb. 22-28), an annual event encouraging Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom—a cornerstone of teaching, learning, and knowledge creation.

Panelists:

• Alison Macrina, Founder, Library Freedom Project
• Kristi Thompson, Research Data Management Librarian, Western Libraries
• Michelle Arbuckle, Executive Director, Ontario Library Association

Moderated by: Geoffrey Robert Little, Vice-Provost and Chief Librarian, Western Libraries

Panelists will discuss urgent and under-recognized threats to intellectual freedom, including research data access and integrity, book challenges and censorship trends, privacy and surveillance, and the impacts of digital rights on students, researchers, and teaching.

The session will explore censorship beyond the book—such as data suppression, licensing restrictions, and algorithmic control—as well as how surveillance and risk affect academic inquiry. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions and learn about concrete actions they can take to support intellectual freedom.

This event is co-hosted by Western Libraries and the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS).