Whether it’s banning books or preventing Macklemore from touring, silencing artists often backfires

Filed 9h ago · Via The Conversation · The Buffoon Desk

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Waltz Primordial

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: LSE Library · No restrictions · via Wikimedia Commons

A Carnegie Mellon and George Mason study of library circulation across 38 states found banned books saw circulation rise 12% in the six months after being targeted, with the effect concentrated among lesser-known authors and growing with each additional ban. Even states with no ban saw circulation rise about 11%, suggesting attention travels further than the censorship effort does.

The researchers link the pattern to media coverage: banned titles that generated social media buzz, like 'Gender Queer' and 'Lawn Boy', saw big bumps, while quieter bans produced no measurable effect at all. Book banning attempts rose from 729 in 2021 to 1,269 the following year, per the American Library Association.

The same dynamic reportedly played out with rapper Macklemore, dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour after a pro-Palestinian speech and song drew objections from Patriots owner Robert Kraft. His Instagram following grew by over 1.6 million and his streams spiked after the removal, while other opening acts withdrew in solidarity.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

If you want to kill interest in a book, the data says the worst thing you can do is hold a hearing about banning it. A school board trying to quietly disappear a title is about as effective as a man trying to hide a secret by announcing it over a loudspeaker. The censors keep doing the advertising work for free, and somehow keep acting surprised when the thing they tried to bury ends up on more nightstands than before.

Source: Read the original at The Conversation → Scored: Waltz Primordial · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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