“Florida has banned 23 pf [sic] my books. What the f?”. This aligns with the controversial legislation signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2022, which aimed to eliminate books featuring sexually explicit material, a move prompted by concerns voiced by the conservative group, Moms for Liberty.

The law, effective as of July 2023, has led to the removal of significant literary works from educational institutions, impacting not only fiction classics like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer but also influential non-fiction such as Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl. Among the titles by King that have been flagged include iconic stories such as Carrie, It, The Gunslinger, The Running Man, and The Long Walk.

In a collective response, six prominent publishing houses—Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Sourcebooks—have banded together to dispute what they term as the excessive removal clauses within House Bill 1069. Their statement emphasizes the risks inherent in the law, which mandates the removal of any book that might be deemed to contain "sexual conduct" upon parent or resident complaint, with no regard for the book's overall educational value or context.

The publishers argue that it is critical for students to have access to a diverse array of literature reflecting a multitude of human experiences, asserting that teachers and librarians should have the professional autonomy to connect students with appropriate literature. Responding to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education dismissed the accusations as a publicity stunt, reiterating the stance that no books are banned in Florida, and maintaining that sexually explicit content is inappropriate in an educational setting.