For a variety of resources related to intellectual freedom, such as information on how to deal with community concerns over library materials and the role of librarians in intellectual freedom and the Internet, visit the Intellectual Freedom page of Washington Library Media Association Online . Today, censorship is practiced in many ways, both obvious and subtle. This section discusses some common sources of censorship, intellectual freedom considerations for selection, ways to handle challenges to materials in your library, and the role of Internet Use Policies in libraries. There is no single source of censorship, with forms of censorship found at various levels in society. The government, local communities, and individual librarians can all be considered to practice censorship in various ways.
Government censorship influences our legal definitions and interpretations of the issue.
For many years the 1873 Comstock Act regulated materials considered obscene that were sent through the mail in the United States. The 1957 Roth decision by the Supreme Court changed the idea of what could be considered obscene. A three-part test for obscenity was established. The 1973 Miller decision by the Supreme Court modified the three-part test of the Roth decision. The second asked whether the work described sexual activity, against state law, in an offensive matter.