270: Yes, we should ban books

While it’s good to have an instinctive reaction against censorship, some books should be banned for some people in some circumstances 

The phrase “book banning” conjures up images of Puritans, McCarthyism, and even Nazis. A series of Supreme Court decisions starting in the 1950s overturned efforts to censor content and affirmed the rights of adults to read what they want – with some minor exceptions. They also affirmed the rights of states to protect children from certain material. 

That seems to have been a strong consensus ever since. Until now. 

The consensus has been broken in at least two ways. 

First, efforts to restrict content available to children have been falsely labeled as “book bans.” The argument over banning books has always made a distinction between content for children and content for adults. To gloss over that distinction is to misrepresent the issue. It is perfectly appropriate to restrict what children have access to. 

Second, there’s growing support for the idea that the government can decide what is mis-, dis-, or mal-information, and pressure social media companies to censor it. I find the concept horrifying and straight out of a totalitarian playbook. Do people really want to give the government the right to determine what can and can’t be said? 

It makes me shudder. 

I gave this podcast the provocative title, “Yes, we should ban books.” What do I mean by that? 

First, it is appropriate for parents and communities to regulate what content is available to children. As I noted above, that shouldn’t be called a “book ban,” so … yes, I’m having that both ways so I can say something provocative. 

Second, some content should be illegal even for adults. Child pornography comes to mind. Something like “How to make a nuclear bomb in your basement” … I’m not sure about that. Maybe. But there are some limits. 

The conclusion is that while our free speech culture – which I support wholeheartedly – might lead us to have an instinctive negative reaction to the concept of “book bans,” we have to look a little closer. There are some situations where books should be banned.