Many southern states banned the publication of abolitionist material true or false

True

Explanation:

The Southern States were not fond of the idea of abolishing the slavery, and they did pretty much everything in their power to counter this movement on their territory. One of the moves was to not allow the publication of abolitionist material. The reason for the banning of this material was to not allow their population to read it, thus to avoid some people to start changing their minds and be pro-abolitionist, creating a movement for it in their own territory.