Digital Burning
The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, one of the most popular ereaders on the market, boasts the capacity to hold thousands of books. Books are delivered wirelessly to the device and available almost instantly from eBook distributors and retailers. Arguably, the accessibility of books has increased alongside the proliferation of digital devices. With unlimited control over eBook distribution, companies such as Amazon have the authority to delete books users have already purchased. Unlike print counterparts, digital books are not “owned” by readers so much as they are “leased.” Could this make censorship or “book burning” easier?
Civil libertarians and consumer advocates are concerned as more readers move to the “cloud” where books are more vulnerable to manipulation and even deletion. Groups such as these call it “digital book-burning”: censoring, erasing, altering or restricting access to books in electronic formats (Zittrain, 2013). In other words, “Any device that is tethered to the cloud could have its contents changed at the request of a publisher, author or angry subject” (Zittrain, 2013).
An example of such “digital burning" occurred in 2009 when copies of George Orwell’s 1984 were deleted from all Kindles by Amazon. The company discovered the book was still under copyright protection; Amazon was able to delete it from every Kindle user who had previously bought and downloaded the digital book at the click of a button (Ruggiero, n.d.). Ruggiero (n.d.) notes, “Retraction of digital books is so easy, that claims of copyright violation or plagiarism can have a digital book virtually ripped out of the hands of e-book buyers. The control on the retraction of digital books, that distributors maintain, highlights a clear necessity for new laws that protect the rights of readers.”
Furthermore, the educational sector tends to be ripe with opposition to certain works. Judy Blume, a renowned author and advocate of intellectual freedom, continues to find her works on the banned list. Her book Are You There God? It's Me, Maragaret is a particular favorite of challengers, who view the book as indecent for its discussion of puberty and the protagonist's questioning of religious faith. Emily Knox, author of the book Book Banning in 21st-Century America, poses a valid question, "At the beginning of the 21st century, an incredible assortment of media including books are readily available to anyone with a computer, tablet, smartphone, and an Internet connection, so what is the point of trying to ban a book from the public library or remove it from the school curriculum?" (2015, p. vii). This begs further questions, such as:
Arguably, the ceremony of physical book burning will be greatly reduced if a trend toward online resources in the classroom continues to grow. As Sims (2015) points out, "Why should a book that features taboo material be the subject of a challenge if this taboo material is easily accessible on the Internet?" Thus, the above questions will continue to be relevant as digital materials are increasingly commonplace in schools and other educational environments.
Civil libertarians and consumer advocates are concerned as more readers move to the “cloud” where books are more vulnerable to manipulation and even deletion. Groups such as these call it “digital book-burning”: censoring, erasing, altering or restricting access to books in electronic formats (Zittrain, 2013). In other words, “Any device that is tethered to the cloud could have its contents changed at the request of a publisher, author or angry subject” (Zittrain, 2013).
An example of such “digital burning" occurred in 2009 when copies of George Orwell’s 1984 were deleted from all Kindles by Amazon. The company discovered the book was still under copyright protection; Amazon was able to delete it from every Kindle user who had previously bought and downloaded the digital book at the click of a button (Ruggiero, n.d.). Ruggiero (n.d.) notes, “Retraction of digital books is so easy, that claims of copyright violation or plagiarism can have a digital book virtually ripped out of the hands of e-book buyers. The control on the retraction of digital books, that distributors maintain, highlights a clear necessity for new laws that protect the rights of readers.”
Furthermore, the educational sector tends to be ripe with opposition to certain works. Judy Blume, a renowned author and advocate of intellectual freedom, continues to find her works on the banned list. Her book Are You There God? It's Me, Maragaret is a particular favorite of challengers, who view the book as indecent for its discussion of puberty and the protagonist's questioning of religious faith. Emily Knox, author of the book Book Banning in 21st-Century America, poses a valid question, "At the beginning of the 21st century, an incredible assortment of media including books are readily available to anyone with a computer, tablet, smartphone, and an Internet connection, so what is the point of trying to ban a book from the public library or remove it from the school curriculum?" (2015, p. vii). This begs further questions, such as:
- Will caregivers take less notice of their children's reading materials if these are being accessed digitally (particularly since some institutions use tablets as part of curriculum materials)?
- If caregivers are less tech-savvy, will they go the extra step to check out or buy the book in order to explore the book and its contents? Will book challenges decline or increase in the Digital Age as a result?
- How will social media play a role in the censorship domain?
- If a challenged book that is accessed digitally is ultimately removed from the curriculum, how will the text be removed? Will teachers, librarians, or school administrators be responsible for this task?
Arguably, the ceremony of physical book burning will be greatly reduced if a trend toward online resources in the classroom continues to grow. As Sims (2015) points out, "Why should a book that features taboo material be the subject of a challenge if this taboo material is easily accessible on the Internet?" Thus, the above questions will continue to be relevant as digital materials are increasingly commonplace in schools and other educational environments.