How Book Bans Control Information and Why They Backfire

In a new documentary The Librarians, public librarians are positioned as first responders in the fight for democracy and the First Amendment, despite facing crowds of angry protesters protesting what they see as “obscenity” in books. Alongside educators, librarians find themselves on the front lines of a culture war, facing complaints at school board meetings and harassment that threatens their jobs.

In my work as a cult researcher, I developed a model that describes how cults manipulate their followers and what high-control situations look like. The current wave of attempted book bans falls squarely under the category of "information control", a major feature of cult manipulation;, the same authoritarian dynamics within cults are now playing out in public institutions.

What “Information Control” Means

In authoritarian settings, controlling information is crucial for maintaining power. Leaders deliberately withhold information while pushing propaganda or “approved” narratives.

In terms of book bans, what we see now are partisan groups compiling “do not buy” lists of books and attempting to convince schools and libraries to ban such books entirely. Crowds have been gathering at school board meetings and harassing participants. Parents are shown excerpts from books out of context. Books with depictions of sexuality or racism are condemned as “pornographic”, a description intended to provoke fear amidst attempts to control the flow of ideas under the guise of morality.

Which titles fall under accusations of obscenity? Among them was They Called Themselves the K.K.K. by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, covering racist violence and social hierarchy. Many others are respected sex education books, memoirs, or books that cover LGBTQ+ content. The book challenges seem to have nothing to do with “pornography” at all.

Even when activists throw around the word “pornographic” or “obscene” to describe novels that do include sexually explicit content, they use the terms for shock value language, not legal terminology.

In fact, “obscene” material has a very egal definition. In 1973, in the case of Miller v. California, the Supreme Court established a test for determining obscenity:

1. Does the average person within the community find that the work appeals to an interest in sex?
2. Does the work offensively depict itself, as defined by state law?
3. Does the work lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value?

All three requirements must be met for a work to be legally obscene—and thus unprotected by the First Amendment. Adult magazines might have content that meets this bar. But a health textbook with diagrams or a memoir about sexual abuse does not meet the Miller definition, as they demonstrate scientific and literary value.

The Psychology within the Pages

Often, book-banning episodes function as moral panics, a term used to describe a society’s exaggerated response to something perceived as a threat to its values or social order.

Classic moral panics identify a scapegoat, amplify the issue through media, and spark mass public anxiety disproportionate to the problem. Despite shifting norms, children's books that openly discuss race, sexuality, and gender currently appear to be making some people anxious. Nevertheless, history reminds us that moral panics eventually fade, leaving a trail of harm and falsely vilifying those involved.

Ironically, the impulse to ban books can backfire through a phenomenon known as psychological reactance. Tell a teenager they absolutely cannot read a particular “obscene” book, and you’ve practically ensured they’ll try to get their hands on it. Library data that shows banning a book tends to boost its circulation by about 11–12%.

If the stated goal is to protect children, we should be asking ourselves what actually works. Keeping the reality of the world from those who could be more easily harmed by it isn’t the answer.

The most powerful tools to truly protect young people are education and openness. Speaking openly with your children about difficult topics is one of the best ways to ensure they feel comfortable coming to parents about them. And instead of pretending that specific ideas don’t exist, we must teach students how to engage with them critically. Developmentally appropriate classroom discussion can help children understand context and communicate effectively with their teachers about the content.

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If a child reads a book that includes racial slurs or sexual abuse, a guided educational discussion helps them process the material in a healthy way and better prepared to recognize the occurrence of such acts. Insulating kids is a losing battl;. they will learn the realities one way or another.

We are faced with a choice. Either we provide our children with an open landscape of knowledge and equip them to navigate it, or we dictate what they can know, discouraging any questions and leaving them to encounter troubling topics unprepared.

One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the ability to empathize with diverse people, handle challenging ideas, and navigate information thoughtfully. Are we offering them that gift within a filtered echo chamber of information?

Keep the Shelves Open

The tagline for The Librarians tells us, “America’s war on books is more than a war on words.”

Indeed, it is. It’s a struggle over what information we want the next generation to inherit. Book bans represent a core aspect of informational control, as limiting what people know also limits their ability to make informed decisions.

One thing I know is that limiting access to information is one of the most significant indicators of unhealthy influence. Our kids will inevitably encounter the full spectrum of human experiences, whether in a library book, online, or in life.

Minds fed diverse knowledge become resilient and can recognize harmful ideas when they see them, because they’ve analyzed the varied ways they are presented. Book bans, if they are successful, will ultimately backfire, fostering a brittle and uninformed foundation for society.