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Sally Rooney says her books will no longer be sold in UK over support for Palestine Action

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 12 outlets. No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered it yet.

21 articles in total, 2 of them opinion. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Woman in black top holding a copy of Normal People at Costa Book Awards backdrop.
Image via Al Jazeera EnglishHow images are chosenReport this image

Irish novelist Sally Rooney says her books will no longer be sold in Britain because of her support for Palestine Action. Rooney and her publisher said she pledged to donate royalties from book sales to the group and can no longer receive royalties from UK sales. The British government has banned Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. Rooney has said that publishing her books in Britain could be a serious criminal offence. Coverage reports that the publisher is withdrawing the books from UK retail, with retailers no longer supplied.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Sally Rooney says her books will no longer be sold in Britain because of her support for Palestine Action.

    Reported byLeft5Center5Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian, The New York Times, TIME, CBS News, Al Jazeera English
    Center
    BBC News, Financial Times, Sky News, The Hill, France 24
    Right
    The Free Press

  2. Rooney pledged to donate royalties from her books to Palestine Action and says she can no longer receive royalties from UK sales.

    Reported byLeft3Center2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian, The New York Times, TIME
    Center
    Financial Times, France 24

  3. The British government has banned Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation under terrorism laws.

    Reported byLeft4Center4See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian, The New York Times, TIME, CBS News
    Center
    Financial Times, Sky News, The Hill, France 24

  4. Rooney has said that publishing her books in Britain could be a serious criminal offence.

    One outletFinancial Times· Center

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • Whether the withdrawal of Rooney’s books from UK sale amounts to censorship.

    The Free Press opinion pieces ask whether Rooney is a censorship victim and argue she is no free speech hero; the news reports describe a decision by Rooney and her publisher and do not characterize it as censorship.

How each side tells it

Compare views

Every side reports that Sally Rooney’s books will no longer be sold in Britain because of her support for Palestine Action, which the government has banned as a terrorist group. Left and center reports present it as Rooney’s decision; the right’s opinion pieces frame it as a free speech question.

  • the left

    7 outlets

    Headlines state the withdrawal as Rooney’s own decision and reasons, with the ban as background; TIME leads with an explainer on what Palestine Action is.

    Sally Rooney says she can no longer sell books in the UK because of Palestine Action support
    The GuardianLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    5 outlets

    Headlines report that the books were withdrawn or blocked over her support for the banned group, mostly without added judgement; The Hill attributes the blocking to Rooney’s own account.

    Sally Rooney books withdrawn in UK over Palestine Action support
    BBC NewsCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    0 outlets · 1 opinion

    Both headlines are opinion pieces from The Free Press that put the withdrawal in a free speech debate, one asking whether Rooney has been censored.

    Sally Rooney Is Loaded modifier“No Free Speech Hero”Denying Rooney the label of free speech hero pre-judges her claim of censorship before the question is settled.More neutral: Sally Rooney’s claim of censorship is questionedDisagree with this highlight?
    The Free PressRightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left2

    inflamed debatescramble

  • Center1

    perceived shortcomings

  • Right4

    anti-Israel groupNo Free Speech Herorigged against ordinary menshocking scale

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded modifier

    anti-Israel groupMore neutral: the group Palestine Action

    The label attaches a stance to the group that is not needed to describe the proscription.

    …Rooney to this point began in 2025, when the British government designated the anti-Israel group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization.

    Used byThe Free Press (Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    No Free Speech HeroMore neutral: Sally Rooney’s claim of censorship is questioned

    Denying Rooney the label of free speech hero pre-judges her claim of censorship before the question is settled.

    Sally Rooney Is No Free Speech Hero

    Used byThe Free Press (Right)

  • Sensational language

    inflamed debateMore neutral: prompted debate

    The word suggests a heated conflict beyond the reported facts, which the sentence does not establish.

    The news has inflamed debate over the British government’s unprecedented decision to use terrorism powers to…

    Used byTIME (Left)

  • Loaded verb

    rigged against ordinary menMore neutral: harder for ordinary men

    Saying dating is rigged asserts an unfairness as established fact, when it is a contested view.

    Why modern dating is rigged against ordinary men.

    Used byThe Free Press (Right)

Show 3 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Sensational language

    shocking scaleMore neutral: large scale

    Calling the scandal shocking presents a judgement as fact before the details are set out.

    The shocking scale of the debanking scandal.

    Used byThe Free Press (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    scrambleMore neutral: respond

    The word suggests a frantic reaction that the article does not describe.

    UK bookstores scramble as Sally Rooney novels withdrawn over Palestine group support

    Used byABC News (Left)

  • Loaded modifier

    perceived shortcomingsMore neutral: shortcomings identified by critics

    The word perceived presents the criticism as opinion without saying who makes it.

    …decision to halt sales puts spotlight on proscription of Palestine Action and perceived shortcomings of Terrorism Act

    Used byFinancial Times (Center)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

7 outlets

Leads with

  • Rooney’s statements on royalties
  • her public support for the banned group
  • the government’s terrorism ban

Leaves out

  • Rooney’s claim that publishing her books in Britain could be a serious criminal offence

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 7 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

5 outlets

Leads with

  • Rooney and her publisher’s announcement
  • the group’s terrorist ban
  • withdrawal from UK sale
See the 5 headlines from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

0 outlets · 1 opinion

Leads with

  • free speech and censorship
  • whether Rooney is a victim
  • the publisher pulling books from UK stores

Leaves out

  • the British government’s terrorism proscription of Palestine Action

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the headline from the rightHide the headlines

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    The Guardian, Oct 14, 9:06 AM EDT

  • Center

    2 hr 54 min later

    Its first report, Oct 14, 12:00 PM EDT

  • Right

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The GuardianLeftOct 14, 9:06 AM EDT
  2. BBC NewsCenterOct 14, 12:00 PM EDT
  3. Financial TimesCenterOct 14, 12:54 PM EDT
  4. Sky NewsCenterOct 14, 2:45 PM EDT
  5. Al Jazeera EnglishLeftOct 14, 3:23 PM EDT
  6. The New York TimesLeftOct 14, 3:45 PM EDT
  7. The HillCenterOct 14, 6:32 PM EDT
  8. TIMELeftOct 15, 2:15 AM EDT
  9. CBS NewsLeftOct 15, 7:51 AM EDT
  10. France 24CenterOct 15, 5:07 PM EDT
  11. ABC NewsLeftOct 16, 2:31 AM EDT
  12. NPRLeftOct 16, 7:30 AM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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