Conservatives Built an AI to Ban Books From Your Kids’ School. It’s Called BLOCKADE.

Conservative groups are using artificial intelligence to mass-ban books from public schools. A program called BLOCKADE feeds books into ChatGPT and xAI, runs them against 300 flagged words, and defines “educational inappropriateness” as “content offensive to conservative values.” The AI is told not to explain its reasoning. The output gets exported as a professional-looking book review and submitted as a formal challenge to school districts at scale. The books disproportionately targeted feature LGBTQ characters, Black and Brown protagonists, and stories about consent, prejudice, and free will. Companies like BookmarkED are now selling AI censorship tools directly to the districts overwhelmed by these challenges. A Texas district fast-tracked a $9,000 contract and removed over 1,400 books. Republicans have introduced a federal bill that would strip funding from any school with LGBTQ literature. PEN America’s Freedom to Read director called it what it is: states pass laws that censor books, then companies show up to charge districts for the censorship. Shoutout to 404 Media for breaking this story. Get full access to The Rogue Voice aka Linsay Rousseau at linsayrousseau.substack.com/subscribe