A new report on book bans in US schools finds It author Stephen King is the writer most likely to be censored, with the country divided between states actively restricting works and those attempting to limit or eliminate bans. AdvertisementPEN America’s “Banned in the USA”, released on Wednesday, tracks more than 6,800 instances of books being temporarily or permanently pulled for the 2024-2025 school year. The new number is down from more than 10,000 in 2023-24, but still far above the levels of a few years ago, when PEN didn’t even see the need to compile a report. Some 80 per cent of those bans originated in just three states that have enacted or attempted to enact laws calling for the removal of books deemed objectionable – Florida, Texas and Tennessee. Advertisement“It is increasingly a story of two countries,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN’s Freedom to Read programme and an author of Wednesday’s report.