Passed in 1989 and updated in 2021, the law protects the press freedom of Iowa’s public school student journalists and their advisers. The law says that student media cannot be censored by school officials, except in certain very narrow circumstances, and that advisers cannot be penalized for refusing to infringe on their students’ press rights.
This brochure, which was last updated in August 2023, provides information about the law and its impacts on student journalists, advisers and school officials. It is not exhaustive and should not be considered a substitute for legal advice. If you have specific questions about the law, please contact the Student Press Law Center’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
Jump to:
• About the Student Press Law Center
• Executive Summary
• Public School Students
• Advisers
• School officials
• Resources
About the Student Press Law Center
The Student Press Law Center (SPLC) is an independent, non-partisan 501c(3) which works at the intersection of law, journalism and education to promote, support and defend the First Amendment and press freedom rights of student journalists and their advisers at the high school and college level. The SPLC uses the law to help students of all ages meaningfully participate in civic life and learn essential skills, ethics and values through the vehicle of journalism. The SPLC provides information, training and legal assistance at no charge to student journalists and the educators who work with them. For more information, visit www.splc.org or contact our legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
Executive Summary
Details about the law and its protections for public school student journalists and advisers are enclosed within. To summarize, the law says:
- Student editors determine the content of official school publications.
- Students cannot produce school-sponsored media that:
- Is obscene;
- Is libelous or slanderous;
- Encourages students to commit unlawful acts, violate lawful school regulations, or cause the material and substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school..
- Prior restraint of lawful student speech is prohibited.
- No school employee or official can be retaliated against for acting within the scope of their professional ethics to protect a student engaging in lawful speech.
- Schools must have a written publications code, which cannot be stricter than this law.
Other laws may also protect your speech from censorship. Contact the Student Press Law Center’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp if you are or believe you may be receiving pressure to cut, edit, or amend your student media.
Calls to the legal hotline are confidential unless and until you approve otherwise.
Public School Students
Summary
The law protects the press freedom of Iowa’s public school student journalists. The law says that student media cannot be censored by school officials, except in certain very narrow circumstances, and that school employees cannot be penalized for refusing to infringe on students’ press rights.
School-sponsored media
The law protects any “material produced by students in the journalism, newspaper, yearbook, or writing classes” that is distributed to the student body either free or for a fee.” School-sponsored media does not include projects you do just for class or your personal social media (which may be protected by other laws or court decisions).
Although the law does not specifically mention broadcast or digital journalism, you may still be protected. Likewise, you may still have rights if your publication is part of a club instead of a class. Contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp right away if you believe your broadcast or digital media or club publication is being censored.
Media content
Student editors “assign and edit the news, editorial, and feature content” of school-sponsored media. While your adviser may make suggestions and offer feedback, you make the final decision about what is, and what is not, included. This also means that you are responsible for the final product, including any praise, criticisms, or (in very rare circumstances) potential lawsuits.
Censorship
Censorship can take many forms, but in general it is any action that is meant to stop, dissuade, or discourage you from producing or distributing student media. Sometimes it is overt (“you may not publish this”) but sometimes there are more subtle forms of censorship. This can include, but is not limited to, strong suggestions that a story be withheld or changed, “reviewing” a student piece until the publication deadline has passed, threats to change your grades unless some aspect of a piece is changed, outright or suggested cuts to your student media program’s funding following a controversial piece, reassignment of your adviser, or the disappearance/destruction of student media once you have distributed it. If you believe you have experienced or are at risk of censorship, contact the Student Press Law Center’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp.
When possible, get in writing the reason your work is being censored. At the very least, write down all the details as soon as you can, along with the date and time of any conversations.
Prior restraint and prior review
Prior restraint is when a school official tells you that you cannot publish something or takes any action to prevent you from doing so. Prior restraint is limited by the First Amendment and this law.
School officials sometimes engage in prior review, which is where they view school-sponsored media before it is distributed but do not have to give their approval. If your school officials hold your student media for more than 72 hours, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
If your media is withheld, ask why. If your media is taken for review, ask when it will be released. Remember that unless school officials believe your media contains unprotected speech, you do not need to wait for their approval to publish it. Write everything down, including the dates and times of your conversations, and contact the SPLC’s legal hotline.
Unprotected speech
The law does allow for school officials to restrict some student media, just as you can be penalized for saying certain things in class.
School officials may only prohibit student media that:
- Is obscene;
- Is libelous or slanderous under Iowa Code;
- Encourages students to commit unlawful acts, violate lawful school regulations, or cause the material and substantial disruption of the orderly operations of the school.
If content in your media does not fall into one of these categories, school officials — including your principal or your adviser — cannot stop you from producing or distributing it. They also cannot penalize your student media adviser for your decision to produce or distribute the media.
Even if your speech falls into one of these categories, it may be protected by the First Amendment or other laws. Just because this law says your speech can be censored for these reasons does not mean it should. If your student media is censored, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp.
Following sound journalism practices and ethics will help ensure your work does not meet any of these criteria. If you are concerned that your work falls into one of these categories, you should talk with your adviser, the Student Press Law Center, or other legal counsel. You can do this at any point in the research, production or distribution process.
Adviser protection
Often, advisers report that censorship of school-sponsored media takes the form of professional consequences for them instead of academic ones for a student. Under this law, no school employee or official, “acting within the scope of their professional ethics,” can be “dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, subject to termination or” suffer other retaliation for refusing to overrule, suppress or interfere with lawful student media expression.
School policy
Every school is required to have a written publications code. This code shall include “reasonable provisions for the time, place, and manner” of student expression. It cannot restrict your speech further than this law allows.
These policies are a public record, and your school board is required to make the code available to students and parents. If your district does not have such a code or it does not match what is described in this brochure, contact the Student Press Law Center.
If you’ve been censored
If you believe or suspect that you have been censored or are about to be censored, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline as soon as possible at splc.org/legalhelp. There are a range of options available to you. Whenever possible, write down the dates, times and description of events as they happen to help keep your facts in order and establish a timeline.
Calls to the legal hotline are confidential unless and until you approve otherwise.
FAQs
What is libel? What is slander?
Libel is the publication of false statements of fact that seriously harm a person’s reputation. Slander is the speaking of false statements of fact that seriously harm a person’s reputation. If a statement is true, it cannot be libelous or slanderous, no matter how harmful it is to the person’s reputation.
What is a “material and substantial disruption”?
A substantial disruption is anything that could so interfere with the school day as to make normal school activities nearly impossible. This is decided on a case-by-case basis, but could include walkouts, fights, interruptions to class, or harassment of teachers or students. This “substantial disruption” standard was established by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Tinker vs. Des Moines decision many years ago, so your administrators and advisers have plenty of practice applying it to student speech. Remember, the law does not prohibit you from reporting on these things, just from inciting them.
Isn’t freedom of the press protected by the First Amendment?
Yes, but the U.S. Supreme Court has given public schools some authority to restrict the activities of students. A U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District allows school officials to restrict student speech in certain narrow circumstances (including if it would cause a “material disruption” in the school community or could be libelous or slanderous). Another Supreme Court decision known as Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier allowed schools broader authority to censor student journalist’s speech. As a result, many school districts have censored students for reasons that have nothing to do with legitimate pedagogical concerns. This law restores key aspects of Tinker as it applies to student journalists and puts your speech back in line with the standard established by the Tinker decision.
If my school is sued for libel because of content in our student media, who is responsible?
You. However, libel lawsuits against high school journalists are exceptionally rare. (In fact, when this brochure went to press, there had not been a single reported case in the U.S. finding a school district liable for work published by its student media.) As long as you are following standard journalistic practices you should not have to worry.
Can my adviser tell me there are problems with my article?
Your adviser may teach you English and journalism standards, and may give you feedback regarding your article including questioning if something you have written is untruthful or ensuring you are prepared for any controversy. Unless your speech falls within one of the unprotected speech categories above, however, they cannot stop you from distributing your work.
How do I know if I’m being censored?
If nobody has expressly told you “don’t publish this,” it can be easy to tell yourself you’re not being censored or that you are overreacting. Talk with your adviser, parents and the SPLC if you suspect you are receiving any pressure to hold or edit material that does not contain unprotected speech.
Can my principal ask to review something before we distribute it?
This is called “prior review,” and while it’s not expressly prohibited by this law there is certainly no need for your principal to engage in it unless they have reason to believe you are engaging in unprotected speech. In fact, the practice of mandatory prior review by administrators has been roundly condemned by every major journalism education group in the country as the wrong way to teach young journalists. If your principal asks to review your materials before publication, ask if there is anything they are concerned about. If your principal does engage in prior review and holds your work for more than 72 hours, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
What if my adviser or principal says something is unprotected and I disagree?
They should be able to tell you exactly why it is unprotected, including pointing to the specific law or rule you are violating or giving you a clear reason why they believe your work presents a material and substantial disruption. If they do not give you this information within 72 hours or you disagree with their decision, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
I go to a private school. Am I protected?
This law does not apply to you at this time. Private schools have more ability to restrict student speech than public schools. However, you may still be able to push back against censorship at your school. Contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalrequest/ for more information.
I am a college student. Am I protected?
This law does not apply to you at this time. However, state and federal courts have decided over 60 cases in the last four decades directly involving censorship of the public college and university student press. The decisions have been unanimous in their agreement that the First Amendment forbids almost all censorship of student-edited publications by school administrators. If you think you have been censored, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
Advisers
Summary
The law protects student media advisers and other public school employees from retaliation for refusing to infringe upon students’ press rights.
Media content
Student editors “assign and edit the news, editorial, and feature content” of school-sponsored media. While you may make suggestions and offer feedback – especially with regard to English and journalism standards – you cannot sway or overrule the students’ final decisions about what is, and what is not, included in school-sponsored media.
Adviser protection
Often, advisers report that censorship of school-sponsored media takes the form of professional consequences for them instead of academic ones for a student. Under this law, no school employee or official, “acting within the scope of their professional ethics,” can be “dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, subject to termination or nonrenewal of a teaching [or extracurricular] contract [or] … other otherwise retaliated against” for refusing to overrule, suppress or interfere with lawful student media expression. If you believe you have experienced or are at risk of retaliation, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp.
Prior restraint and prior review
Prior restraint is when a school official tells a student they cannot publish something or takes any action to prevent them from doing so. Prior restraint is limited by the First Amendment and this law.
School officials sometimes engage in prior review, which is where they view school-sponsored media before it is distributed but do not have to give their approval. If your school officials engage in prior review and hold your student media for more than 72 hours, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp/.
Unprotected speech
The law does allow for school officials to restrict student media content in some narrow circumstances.
Public school officials may restrict student media that:
- Is obscene;
- Is libelous or slanderous under Iowa Code;
- Encourages students to commit unlawful acts, violate lawful school regulation, or cause the material and substantial disruption of the orderly operation of school.
Unless the student media meets these criteria, it cannot be restricted and you cannot be penalized for refusing to restrict it. If the student has a strong understanding of sound journalism practices and ethics, their work is unlikely to fall into any of these criteria.
Even if a student’s speech falls into one of these categories, it may be protected by the First Amendment or other laws. Just because this law says your speech can be censored for these reasons does not mean it should. If your student media is censored, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp.
Censorship and retaliation
Censorship can take many forms, but in general it is any action that is meant to stop, dissuade, or discourage a student from producing or distributing student media. This can include, but is not limited to, strong suggestions that a story be withheld or changed, “reviewing” a student piece until the publication deadline has passed, threats to change a student’s grades unless an aspect of a student media piece is changed, or the disappearance/destruction of student media once it has been distributed.
Often, advisers report that the censorship took the form of professional consequences for them instead of academic ones for the student. This has included loss of funding for the student media program, adviser reassignment, meetings or phone calls with administrators in which the administration’s dislike of a story is the main topic, or pressure from other teachers and school employees. These actions are prohibited under the law.
If you believe you have experienced or are at risk of retaliation, or your students are being censored, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp.
If your student has been censored or you have been retaliated against
Contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp. There are a range of options available to you.
FAQs
Can I suggest my students not run an article? What if my student produces something I suspect will be disruptive?
You can share your concerns with your students, but unless the work includes unprotected speech, the decision is ultimately theirs. If you believe your student is planning to distribute work which meets the criteria for unprotected speech, you should be as clear as possible with them about the concerns and the reasons why you believe their work is not protected by the Student Free Expression Law.
I work at a private college or a community college. Am I protected?
The law does not expressly protect you at this time. However, your speech may still be protected by law. Contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at ssplc.org/legalhelp for more information.
What do I do if the administration tells me to edit or stop something from being distributed?
Contact the Student Press Law Center’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
School Officials
Summary
The law protects the press freedom of Iowa’s public school student journalists. The law says that student media cannot be censored except in certain very narrow circumstances, and that school employees cannot be penalized for refusing to infringe on students’ press rights.
School-sponsored media
The law protects from censorship any “material produced by students in the journalism, newspaper, yearbook, or writing classes and distributed to the student body either free or for a fee.” Student media does not include projects students do just for class or their personal social media (which may be protected by other laws and/or court decisions).
Media content
Student editors “assign and edit the news, editorial, and feature content” of school-sponsored media. While advisers may make suggestions and offer feedback, students make the final decision about what is, and what is not, included. This also means they are responsible for the final product, including any praise, criticisms, or (in very rare circumstances) potential lawsuits. Journalism advisers do supervise student journalists “in order to maintain professional standards of English and journalism and to comply with” this law.
Prior restraint and prior review
Prior restraint is when a school official tells a student journalist they cannot publish a story, or takes any action to prevent the student journalist from doing so. Prior restraint is limited by the First Amendment and expressly prohibited by this law except when the media in question contains unprotected speech defined below.
Prior review is when a school official views the content of school-sponsored media before it is published or distributed. The practice of mandatory prior review has been roundly condemned by nearly every major journalism education group in the country as the wrong way to teach young journalists. Prior review should be avoided unless there are specific, articulable concerns that the school-sponsored media contains unprotected speech
Unprotected speech
The law brings the speech rights of student journalists in line with the standard for all other student speech set forth in Tinker vs. Des Moines, and allows for the restriction of student media in certain narrow circumstances.
School officials may only prohibit school-sponsored media that:
- Is obscene;
- Is libelous or slanderous under Iowa Code; or
- Encourages students to commit unlawful acts, violate lawful school regulations, or causes the material and substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school.
Unless the school-sponsored media meets these criteria, school officials cannot stop student journalists from producing or distributing their work.
Even if a student’s speech falls into one of these categories, it may be protected by the First Amendment or other laws. Just because this law says a student’s speech can be censored for these reasons does not mean it should or that the censorship is lawful.
Material and substantial disruption
A substantial disruption is anything that could so interfere with the school day as to make school activities nearly impossible. The material and substantial disruption exemption applies only if a student journalist is inciting the disruption; reporting on a controversial topic is itself not sufficient cause for restricting student speech. These are taken on a case-by-case basis, but there should be an articulable risk of disruption, informed by specific facts, including past history at the school and current events influencing student behavior.
Whenever a risk of material and substantial disruption occurs, school officials should consider all other avenues of alleviating this disruption before resorting to censorship.
Types of censorship
Censorship can take many forms, but in general it is any action that is meant to stop, dissuade, or urge a student journalist not to produce or distribute student media. While some students have been explicitly told not to publish a particular story, others have faced more subtle forms of censorship. This can include, but is not limited to, strong suggestions that a story be withheld or changed, “reviewing” a student piece until the publication deadline has passed, threats to change a student’s grades certain aspects of a piece are changed, outright or suggested cuts to the student media program’s funding following a controversial piece, reassignment of the student media adviser, or the disappearance/destruction of student media once it has been distributed.
Adviser protection
Often, student media advisers report that censorship takes the form of professional consequences for them instead of academic ones for the student. This has included loss of funding for the class or club, adviser reassignment, meetings or phone calls with administrators in which the administration’s dislike of a story is the main topic, or pressure from other teachers and coaches. All of these actions are prohibited under the law, which expressly states that no public school employee or official may be “dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, subject to nonrenewal of a teaching contract … or otherwise retaliated against” for protecting or refusing to infringe on protected student media.
Student media policy
Every public school board of directors is required to adopt a written publications code, which is to be made available to students and parents. This code shall include “reasonable provisions for the time, place, and manner” of student expression. It cannot restrict student journalists’ speech further than this law allows. If your school does not have such a code, they may inadvertently be violating the law and subject to penalties. A model policy is available via the Student Press Law Center.
If a student is unlawfully censored or an adviser retaliated against
They have a range of options available to them.
FAQs
Doesn’t Hazelwood give school administrators the right to restrict student media?
States are always able to extend more protections to their residents than Supreme Court decisions hold to be required. Iowa is a leader protecting student press freedom, having been among the first states to extend stronger protections to student journalists and providing more concrete guidance to schools than that put forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier decision. Iowa then renewed that commitment to press freedom in 2021 by adding explicit protections for school employees who support protected student speech.
What do I tell angry parents when a student writes a controversial article?
The law makes clear that student journalists alone determine the content of school-sponsored media, and that student expression in an official school publication is not an expression of school policy. Parents certainly have the option of registering their opinion with the student editor.
If my school is sued for libel or slander, who is responsible?
The student journalist. However, lawsuits against student journalists are exceedingly rare. (In fact, as of when this brochure went to press, there had not been a single officially reported case in the U.S. finding a school district liable for work published by its high school student media.)
Journalism standards and ethics prevent libel and slander. Schools should ensure that advisers and student journalists have adequate training and appropriate resources to thoroughly educate students on media law and journalistic ethics. Students can also reach out to the Student Press Law Center’s legal hotline for more guidance on libel and slander.
If student journalists report on rumors of a walkout, does that constitute a material and substantial disruption?
If they are simply reporting on information, no. The disruption already exists. If they are calling for a walkout and there is a history of such walkouts proving irreparably disruptive to the school, maybe. However, before resorting to the censorship of a student journalist you should consider whether the same call is already reaching students through social media and whether the work by the student journalist offers school officials an opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with the student body about their concerns.
Can I talk to a student journalist about my concerns relating to their article?
You can certainly help student journalists have as many facts as possible. Unless the media contains unprotected speech, you cannot require, suggest or encourage a student journalist to pull a story from school-sponsored media.
How can I get more information about the Student Free Expression Law and our rights and responsibilities?
Contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
Resources
For more information or assistance on the Student Free Expression Law, student press freedom, or other issues regarding student media, please contact:
