About Freedom to Read
The mandate of the AAP Freedom to Read Committee is to protect the free marketplace of ideas for American publishers. The Committee serves as the publishing industry’s watchdog and early warning system on issues such as libel, privacy, school and library censorship, journalist’s privilege and the right to protect confidential sources, Internet censorship, government regulation of protected speech, third-party liability for protected speech, and efforts to punish speech that “causes harm.” The Committee coordinates AAP participation in First Amendment court cases, sponsors educational programs, and works with group such as The Media Coalition, (a trade association of business-oriented groups concerned with censorship issues), American Library Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and The Pen American Center to advance common interests in the area of intellectual freedom. The Committee membership is fairly evenly divided between senior editors and in-house legal counsel from AAP member houses. Nancy Miller (Random House Publishing Group) is the current Freedom to Read Committee chair.
A summary of the Committee’s major concerns and accomplishments over the past year can be found in the Freedom to Read Briefs.