By March 7, 2017 · Utah acknowledges complaints about EBSCO
Utah · Public recordThe dispute was already reaching Utah in 2017.
Detail and sourcesReference page
EBSCO database disputes
Utah and Colorado, 2016–2022: Groups challenged school research databases. Libraries, EBSCO and officials responded with testing, access decisions and proposed laws.
Meet the people in these records
What the arguments were
Campaigners: A database sold as safe for students should exclude the sexual material they found. They pressed for tighter controls, cancelled subscriptions, vendor liability, and legislation. Read Peck’s argument and the coalition’s strategy.
Librarians and the vendor: They disputed the pornography label, distinguished filtered student access from other searches, and argued that students would lose useful research resources. Read the librarians’ response and EBSCO’s response.
Public decisions: Utah restored access with restrictions and later required provider safeguards and reporting. Colorado’s database bill stopped in committee. Utah’s restoration · Colorado’s hearing and vote.
Read events
Utah · 2017–2022
Utah acknowledges complaints about EBSCO Public recordThe dispute was already reaching Utah in 2017.
In a notice preserved on March 7, the Utah State Library and UETN acknowledged concerns about content in an online library database. The notice reproduced EBSCO’s response to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation placing it on its 2017 Dirty Dozen list on February 22.
EBSCO said some concerns involved links leading out to other websites or schools providing the wrong age version of a database. It described changes to content selection, links and local controls.
A complaint reaches UETN through Senator Weiler Public recordUETN staff ask EBSCO to remove a specific article from the K–12 service.
UETN’s account says Senator Todd Weiler received an email about an article the sender considered inappropriate for Utah students. He forwarded it, and it reached UETN staff that evening. Staff identified the journal and article with EBSCO and requested removal from the K–12 service. EBSCO initially said the change would take 72 hours.
The board record does not name the email’s author or the article.
Utah disables its K–12 EBSCO links Public recordThe restrictions cover elementary, middle and high school links.
UETN’s later account says staff disabled the K–12 links after consulting several board members, while leaving academic and public library services unchanged.
The exact timing is unresolved: UETN’s account says Saturday, September 22; a librarian’s contemporary account points to September 21. UEN’s archived September 22 notice still said most services would remain available over the weekend.
The board votes to keep access blocked Public recordUETN orders more research and testing before restoring the links.
Nicholeen Peck, identifying herself with Empowered Families Coalition, and Merrilee Boyack, identifying herself with Family Watch International and the coalition, spoke in favor of keeping access blocked. State school board member Carol Lear spoke for restoring it.
The board voted to leave the K–12 system unavailable while staff investigated further and continued testing. The recorded vote was six in favor, one opposed, one abstention and one member not voting. State Librarian Colleen Eggett cast the opposing vote.
The state school board supports conditional restoration Public recordUSBE votes 8–6 to request access after student protections are addressed.
The Utah State Board of Education directed its UETN representative to request measures to protect students, followed by restoring access once that expectation was met. Michelle Boulter was among the six members opposed.
The motion made restoration conditional on student-protection steps.
Peck describes the Colorado lead and urges pressure in Utah Campaign accountPeck says the Colorado dispute prompted her Utah searches and asks parents to press for database changes.
In her own published account, Nicholeen Peck says hearing about Colorado led her to ask other parents about school computers and search Utah’s online databases. She describes the material she found as pornography and says she took her findings to a Utah senator.
Peck argues that a product marketed as safe places responsibility on the supplier. She urges parents to inspect school subscriptions, supervise searches, spread the campaign, and thank UEN for restricting access. The later UETN testing report and school librarians’ response address the dispute over searches and filtering.
UETN reports the results of 12 days of testing Public recordStaff cannot reproduce reported searches in the filtered K–12 service; one article is removed.
Staff tested terms from public complaints, media reports and the Colorado parents’ action against EBSCO. The update says they could not reproduce those results in Utah’s filtered K–12 service.
Staff did find one article containing a cartoon line drawing of breasts and genitals and requested filtering; the report says EBSCO complied immediately. The report also describes checking that filters applied to every participating K–12 school.
School librarians challenge the campaign’s claims Public recordUELMA argues that removing research access harms students’ education.
The Utah Educational Library Media Association asked UETN to restore EBSCO. It argued that the loss of research resources undermined students’ information skills and advanced coursework.
Its statement directly challenged Nicholeen Peck’s published accusation that school libraries were exposing children to pornography. UELMA distinguished adults deliberately searching for sexual material on unfiltered networks from students researching assignments, and acknowledged EBSCO’s changes to filtering.
The board restores EBSCO with restrictions Public recordUETN reinstates the links and adds procedures for future complaints.
The governing board voted to restore Utah’s K–12 EBSCO links with additional restrictions. It also reactivated the Online Library Committee to consider issues across databases.
The adopted motion called for staff to verify future reports and remove offending material from the K–12 service. If removal could not be accomplished, staff were to disable K–12 EBSCO access until the problem was resolved.
The posted October 19 minutes carry a draft label. The December 5 minutes record the board’s approval of them.
Monitoring reports begin documenting the results Public recordThe January report records zero complaints and zero outstanding tickets.
UETN’s January report says staff reviewed the report with EBSCO on January 11 and had received no further requests to review allegedly inappropriate content. It describes a filter applied to every Utah K–12 school profile, excluding more than 1,500 terms.
The report says terms continued to be added from media coverage and other reports. It does not publish the list of excluded terms.
The database campaign reaches a legislative committee Public recordPeck presents on school databases; lawmakers vote to open a bill file.
The Judiciary Interim Committee heard Nicholeen Peck, identified as president of the Worldwide Organization for Women and Utah Empowered Families Coalition. Her presentation focused on EBSCO and argued that Utah could remove offending databases, citing Cherry Creek School District in Colorado.
The committee voted 15–0, with one member absent, to open a bill file studying access to pornography in schools. Opening a bill file authorized drafting; it did not itself change the law.
Quarterly monitoring reports no content-related tickets Public recordSix support tickets were opened and closed; none concerned inappropriate content.
The EBSCO quarterly report for October 1 through December 31, 2020 says all six support tickets were closed and none related to inappropriate content. It also reports the continued use of a term-exclusion filter on every Utah K–12 school profile.
HB38 becomes law Public recordSchool Technology Amendments is signed, with an effective date of May 5.
HB38 was sponsored by Representative Travis Seegmiller, with Senator Todd Weiler as floor sponsor. The official bill record says the Judiciary Interim Committee recommended it, and the governor signed it on March 16.
The enacted law required digital resources purchased or licensed by UETN and offered to public school students to have policies and technology that prevent and filter obscene or pornographic material, using the law’s three-part definition. It required notice to a noncompliant provider, allowed withholding future payments, set a 90-day deadline to verify compliance, and required annual reports of provider failures.
Peck presents HB38 as the campaign’s next step Campaign accountA WOW article connects the 2018 shutdown, renewed complaints, and pressure for legislation.
Writing for Worldwide Organization for Women, Peck says the restored databases still failed to satisfy campaigners. She presents legislation as the next step after approaches to state officials and auditors, and encourages other states to enact similar bills.
The article again credits Colorado’s Patersons and their lawsuit. It is the campaign’s explanation of its strategy and claimed success; the enacted bill and UETN’s reports document what Utah required and later reported.
UETN reports no incidents under the new law Public recordThe first statutory report covers May 5 through November 16, 2021.
UETN reported that no incidents described in the digital-resource statute had occurred during this period. It said monitoring would continue and promised another report by November 30, 2022.
This finding concerns the statute’s provider-compliance requirement. It is distinct from the earlier EBSCO complaint and search-monitoring reports.
EBSCO monitoring continues Public recordThe board’s report says there are no issues of concern.
The February 11 EBSCO Monitoring agenda item says staff continued to monitor content searches and that reports showed no issues of concern. It directed readers to the quarterly monitoring reports.
Colorado · 2016–2019
Colorado parents trace their database complaints to 2016 Campaign accountThe later PINE complaint dates the Colorado dispute to September 2016.
In its October 2018 lawsuit, Pornography Is Not Education said parents began finding material they considered pornographic in school research databases in September 2016. It described repeated complaints to Cherry Creek, EBSCO and the Colorado Library Consortium during 2016–2017.
Cherry Creek confirms its switch from EBSCO to Gale News reportA district spokesperson told Sentinel Colorado students would use Gale instead.
Spokesperson Abbe Smith said the district was dissatisfied with the result of work to limit objectionable content and tighten search controls. EBSCO disputed the pornography label and said the challenged material came from mainstream magazines. The article was later submitted as an exhibit at the Colorado Senate hearing.
PINE sues EBSCO and the Colorado Library Consortium Public recordThe lawsuit moved the database dispute into Arapahoe County District Court.
Pornography Is Not Education, represented by Thomas More Society counsel and Theresa Lynn Sidebotham of Telios Law, alleged deceptive marketing of school databases. The complaint pleaded Colorado Consumer Protection Act and civil-conspiracy claims. The content allegations are the plaintiffs’ claims.
Colorado campaigners describe showing searches to Utah parents Campaign accountA statement from the plaintiffs’ lawyers explicitly describes a Colorado-to-Utah demonstration.
The Thomas More Society statement, republished by NCOSE, said Colorado parents demonstrated their EBSCO searches to Utah parents, who raised the issue with UEN. This documents the campaign’s account of contact across states. It does not give a date or name every participant.
Colorado introduces a database-filtering and civil-action bill Public recordSB19-048 proposed filtering duties and a route for parents to sue providers.
Sponsored by Senator Chris Holbert and Representative Kim Ransom, the proposal addressed electronically accessible educational material. It was assigned to Senate Judiciary; this was a proposal, not an enacted law.
The EBSCO dispute reaches Colorado Senate Judiciary Public recordThe committee heard the campaign and its critics, then stopped SB19-048 on a 3–2 vote.
Holbert discussed EBSCO when presenting the bill. Robin and Drew Paterson testified for PINE; Robin also read testimony from Jenna Ellis on behalf of Colorado Family Action. Opponents raised local-control, liability, First Amendment and access concerns. After adopting a committee amendment, the committee rejected referral 2–3 and postponed the bill indefinitely 3–2.
- Official January 23, 2019 hearing summary (preserved screenshot) · Saved image: Official January 23, 2019 hearing summary (preserved screenshot)
- Colorado General Assembly: SB19-048 history and votes
- Searchable text of the preserved hearing summary (OCR) · Saved text: Searchable text of the preserved hearing summary (OCR)
CLiC announces that PINE dropped the lawsuit CLiC statementCLiC said the plaintiffs had dropped the case against both defendants the previous week.
The consortium’s announcement defended librarians’ selection of research materials and criticized the money and time spent on its defense.
Connected campaign · 2017–2020
A national campaign targets school databases Campaign accountNCOSE names EBSCO to its Dirty Dozen List and asks parents to investigate local school subscriptions.
Dawn Hawkins, writing for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), alleges that school databases expose students to sexually explicit material. Her post asks readers to check school library websites and report subscriptions to EBSCO, ProQuest, or Cengage. It also says EBSCO has responded and is making changes.
UEN acknowledged this campaign in its 2017 notice. The later Utah coalition strategy also names NCOSE as a research resource.
Utah organizers share a strategy that credits Colorado Campaign accountThe Empowered Families Coalition describes its campaign and recommends using the Colorado lawsuit as a model.
The document names Worldwide Organization of Women and Family Watch International as leading the coalition, with Nicholeen Peck as chair. It credits Colorado’s Patersons with prompting the Utah effort and thanks Karen Varner for research.
Its instructions include documenting searches, coordinating weekly, contacting officials and religious organizations, mobilizing more emails than opponents, and raising possible legal liability. It recommends using the Colorado complaint’s arguments and links database restrictions to removing educational obscenity exemptions.
The document has no publication date. Its reference to an already-filed Colorado lawsuit places its account after October 10, 2018; that is a lower bound, not an exact publication date.
Peck presents Utah and Colorado as organizing examples Campaign accountA PCHC presentation connects database complaints, lawsuits, audits, and pressure to cancel subscriptions.
The deck identifies Nicholeen Peck as presenter and is marked PCHC, Indianapolis 2019. Its file title specifies September 2019.
Peck traces the campaign to the Patersons’ Colorado findings and presents Utah’s monitoring as progress. The closing slides recommend screenshots, high-level officials, media, Colorado-style lawsuits, and audits. They urge lawmakers and school administrators to pressure database companies and stop subscriptions, alongside parental supervision during searches.
The presentation also targets Gale and public-library access. Its claims about removed content and schools cancelling service are campaign claims, not an independent count of outcomes.
EBSCO demands a retraction from NCOSE Campaign accountEBSCO’s lawyer disputes a September campaign article and demands its removal.
Venable’s letter says EBSCO curates age-appropriate products and gives customers controls to remove publications. It denies receiving advertising revenue from contributors and requests enough detail to investigate disputed searches.
NCOSE rejects the demand and announces renewed pressure Campaign accountNCOSE stands by its campaign while changing some wording in its article.
NCOSE’s reply cites Utah and Colorado as examples, argues that vendor safeguards remain inadequate, and promises to return EBSCO to the 2021 Dirty Dozen List. It asks for broader content removal, disabled external links, and separate access by age.
The reply also describes Utah access as still blocked in October 2020. Utah’s board restoration record and subsequent monitoring reports show that description was out of date.
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Cards are grouped by place and ordered by date within each section. Drag to move, or focus the map and use arrow keys. Every event and source also appears in the readable list below.
Sources and coverage
This timeline brings together the located Utah and Colorado records for 2016–2022, plus national campaign documents that directly mention or informed those disputes. Saved copies accompany the original links.
Three date limits matter: Utah’s initial shutdown falls in a disputed September 21–22 window; the coalition strategy has no publication date; and CLiC’s February 27 announcement is not the court’s dismissal date. A court dismissal order was not located. Later monitoring findings apply to their stated reporting periods.
- Archived UEN notice: Concerns about EBSCO Content · Saved page text: Archived UEN notice: Concerns about EBSCO Content
- UETN account of the September complaint · Saved page text: UETN account of the September complaint
- September 22 UEN notice: Some EBSCO Content Removed · Saved page text: September 22 UEN notice: Some EBSCO Content Removed
- Peter Bromberg’s account · Saved page text: Peter Bromberg’s account
- UETN October 1 meeting record · Saved page text: UETN October 1 meeting record
- USBE October 4 minutes, pages 14–16 · Saved PDF: USBE October 4 minutes, pages 14–16
- Nicholeen Peck’s October 5 account · Saved text: Nicholeen Peck’s October 5 account
- UETN testing update, October 12 · Saved PDF: UETN testing update, October 12
- UELMA statement, October 17 · Saved PDF: UELMA statement, October 17
- UETN October 19 meeting record · Saved page text: UETN October 19 meeting record
- December 5 minutes approving the October 19 record · Saved page text: December 5 minutes approving the October 19 record
- January 2019 EBSCO report · Saved PDF: January 2019 EBSCO report
- Judiciary Interim Committee approved minutes · Saved PDF: Judiciary Interim Committee approved minutes
- Peck presentation: Protect Utah Children From Exploitation at School · Saved PDF: Peck presentation: Protect Utah Children From Exploitation at School
- EBSCO quarterly report, October–December 2020 · Saved PDF: EBSCO quarterly report, October–December 2020
- HB38 official status and bill record
- HB38 enrolled law, pages 2–3 · Saved PDF: HB38 enrolled law, pages 2–3
- UETN report describing the enacted requirement · Saved PDF: UETN report describing the enacted requirement
- WOW article by Nicholeen, April 1, 2021 · Saved text: WOW article by Nicholeen, April 1, 2021
- UETN February 11, 2022 EBSCO Monitoring item · Saved page text: UETN February 11, 2022 EBSCO Monitoring item
- Filed complaint, paragraphs 23, 36–39 (plaintiff account) · Saved PDF: Filed complaint, paragraphs 23, 36–39 (plaintiff account)
- Sentinel Colorado report, preserved as Senate hearing Attachment A (secondary reporting) · Saved PDF: Sentinel Colorado report, preserved as Senate hearing Attachment A (secondary reporting)
- Thomas More Society statement republished by NCOSE, October 14, 2018 · Saved page text: Thomas More Society statement republished by NCOSE, October 14, 2018
- Colorado General Assembly: SB19-048 history and votes
- SB19-048 introduced bill
- Official January 23, 2019 hearing summary (preserved screenshot) · Saved image: Official January 23, 2019 hearing summary (preserved screenshot)
- Searchable text of the preserved hearing summary (OCR) · Saved text: Searchable text of the preserved hearing summary (OCR)
- CLiC statement by Jim Duncan, February 27, 2019 · Saved page text: CLiC statement by Jim Duncan, February 27, 2019
- NCOSE statement, February 22, 2017 · Saved text: NCOSE statement, February 22, 2017
- Utah coalition strategy, page 1 · Saved PDF: Utah coalition strategy, page 1
- Peck presentation, slides 1–2, 6, 61, 72–73 · Saved PDF: Peck presentation, slides 1–2, 6, 61, 72–73
- EBSCO counsel letter, PDF pages 19–22 · Saved PDF: EBSCO counsel letter, PDF pages 19–22