Answered By: Rebecca Gerber
Last Updated: Jul 19, 2017     Views: 59

 "Banned Books Week—Celebrating the Freedom to Read" is based on the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Thus, it is to a large degree uniquely American.

That said, other countries do fight censorship.  On the broad international level there is the Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE), a committee of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA).  Canada has Freedom to Read Week, and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) lead intellectual freedom initiatives in the United Kingdom.

In 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Article 19 reads, "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."