Last week saw a whirlwind of events surrounding freedom of speech in the U.S., including a new report on school book bans, the revival of a Hollywood organization formed to support creators during the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s, and the targeting of a graphic novel-based Netflix series on Elon Musk’s X account.
Free speech group PEN America released the results of a study on book bannings in schools on the eve of Banned Book Week, which began October 5. Between July 2024 and June 2025, PEN documented 6,870 instances of book bans across 23 states. This is the fourth year of the book ban crisis, and while the total number of book bans was down from 2023-2024, the peak year, it’s still higher than any other year with data, and reflects a normalization of book bans, according to the report.
Top states for bans were Florida, Texas, and Tennessee. Graphic novels did not appear on the PEN list of top titles targeted (which was led by Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange), but frequent target Gender Queer was #2 on the ALA’s list of most challenged titles for 2024.
Jane Fonda announced the relaunch of Committee for the First Amendment, originally founded in the 1940s by her father, Henry Fonda. The organization describes itself as “…a large collective of artists, storytellers, and cultural leaders standing together to defend free expression against government repression, industry complicity, and intimidation.” The organization relaunched with an impressive list of writers, directors, producers, and on-screen talent pledging support.
Elon Musk has urged his followers on X to cancel Netflix after creator Dead End: Paranormal creator Hamish Steele made comments critical of Charlie Kirk after his assassination. Musk framed his Netflix cancellation campaign, which he promoted with multiple posts, by pointing out that the series, which is rated suitable for kids 7 and up, features a trans lead character.
Dead End: Paranormal is based on Steele’s DeadEndia graphic novel series, (see “Graphic Novel Pick Hits“), and it’s attracted attacks since it was first launched in 2022. At the time, the show was cited in an open letter from four U.S. Senators to the TV Parental Guidelines Advisory Board asking it to update its rating system to add warnings for shows that contain content related to sexual orientation or gender identity (see “Confessions of a Comic Book Guy“). The show was cancelled after two seasons, but is still available on Netflix.Source: ICv2
