Update. Here's a good use of #GitHub to track textual changes and page takedowns on federal govt web sites since #Trump took office.
404media.co/github-is-showing-…

This project is dedicated to the pages on #DEI. I hope someone launches a similar project on the pages dedicated to science and research.

#Censorship #Takedowns #USPol #USPolitics

GitHub Is Showing the Trump Administration Scrubbing Government Web Pages in Real Time

Watch the Trump administration play DEI whac-a-mole on this government agency's GitHub page.

^{Jason Koebler (404 Media)}

Update. "For the first time in its more than 60-year history, the #CDC's [#OpenAccess] Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (#MMWR) did not go out as scheduled because of a communications pause at federal health agencies issued by the #Trump administration."
medpagetoday.com/infectiousdis…

#Censorship #Medicine #USPol #USPolitics

Trump's Gag Order Halts CDC Publication

MMWR did not publish as usual at 1 p.m. today

^{Rachael Robertson (MedpageToday)}

Update. As recently as January 2, 2025, #NASA had five modules for teaching #OpenScience on its web site. The #Trump administration has taken them down.
science.nasa.gov/open-science/…

Here they are in the @internetarchive Wayback Machine.
web.archive.org/web/2025010214…

#Takedowns #TrumpAntiScience #USPol #USPolitics

Open Science 101

Open Science 101 is a free curriculum designed to teach researchers, educators, students, and the general public about the principles and practice of open science.

^{Lauren Leese (NASA Science)}

Update. If you're following this thread, also follow the Silencing Science Tracker from Sabin Center for Climate Change Law (at Columbia Law School) and the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund.
climate.law.columbia.edu/Silen…

#Climate #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Datasets aggregated on data.gov, the largest repository of U.S. government #OpenData on the internet, are being deleted, according to the website’s own information. Since Donald Trump was inaugurated as president, more than 2,000 datasets have disappeared from the database."
404media.co/archivists-work-to…

#Data #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Archivists Work to Identify and Save the Thousands of Datasets Disappearing From Data.gov

More than 2,000 datasets have disappeared from data.gov since Trump was inaugurated. But analyzing exactly what happened and where it went is going to take some time.

^{Jason Koebler (404 Media)}

Update. "#USDA ordered to scrub climate change from websites"
politico.com/news/2025/01/31/u…

"Agriculture Department employees have been ordered to delete landing pages discussing climate change across agency websites and document climate change references for further review, according to an internal email obtained by POLITICO...."

#Agriculture #Censorship #Climate #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. I just posted an item outside this thread that belongs in the thread. Sorry. Here it is. The #Trump #CDC is asking staffers to withdraw pending scientific publications that use newly-prohibited terms like #transgender, #immigrant, or #LGBT.
fediscience.org/@petersuber/11…

#Censorship #ScholComm #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Top advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [#CDC] are asking the agency’s acting director to explain the abrupt removal of information and data from CDC websites, and say when it will be restored. In a sharply worded letter sent Saturday, the group asked Acting Director Susan Monarez what the rationale was for removing the data, if the consequences and legal authority of such a decision were considered, what was being done to safeguard the data sets that were removed, and when access to them would return. The letter asks for answers by Feb. 7."
archive.is/SWhYj

The CDC advisory board was disbanded by Trump in 2019 and revived by Biden in 2021. The members "expect to be fired" for asking the agency to explain and reverse the takedowns.

#Censorship #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, Doctors for America filed a #lawsuit today [Feb 4] against the Office of Personnel Management (#OPM), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (#CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (#FDA), and the Department of Health & Human Services (#HHS) for the removal of a broad range of #health-related data and other information used by health professionals and researchers from publicly accessible government websites."
citizen.org/news/doctors-for-a…

#Medicine #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Doctors for America Sues Over Removal of Health Information From HHS, CDC, FDA Websites - Public Citizen

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, Doctors for America filed a lawsuit today against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the…

^{Public Citizen}

Update, on the #CDC order directing staffers to retract pending journal articles that use now-prohibited terms like #transgender and #immigrant (earlier in this thread) …

Bravo to the #BMJ (@bmj_latest) for calling this order "sinister and ludicrous."
bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r253

"This is not how it works. Medically relevant terminology and inclusive language follow evidence based reporting standards or are matters of individual journal style and policy. They do not follow political orders. Similarly, co-authors cannot simply scrub themselves from articles. Authorship gives credit and accountability for the work, and an article’s list of authors does not ghost contributors. If authors wish to withdraw submissions under review at a journal, this process is feasible should all of their co-authors agree. However, if somebody who merits inclusion in the authorship group of an article requests to be removed, even with the approval of the co-authors, this is a breach of publication ethics."

#Authorship #Retractions #ScholComm #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Medical journal editors must resist CDC order and anti-gender ideology

The news that on 31 January 2025 the Trump administration instructed scientists employed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to withdraw or retract articles from medical and science journals is sinister and ludicrous.

^{The BMJ}

Update. Here's an online tool from #BradleyAllf to help you publish research in the #Trump age, especially if you're a US govt scientist. Just paste in your abstract and it will underline the banned words.
brad7280.github.io/thoughtcrim…

#Censorship #ReviseAndResubmit #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. The #BMJ isn't the only journal pushing back against the #CDC directive that staff scientists should retract pending publications that use Trump-banned words. (Earlier in this thread.)

Kudos to the _American Journal of Public Health_ (#AJPH) for pushing back as well.
medpagetoday.com/special-repor…

From publisher Georges Benjamin: "We at the American Journal of Public Health have no interest in following the president's prohibitions on language. We will publish things under our guidelines, under our ethical principles." Benjamin acknowledged that the journal may now get fewer submissions from government scientists.

AJPH is published by the American Public Health Association (#APHA).

#Censorship #Medicine #ScholComm #SocietyPublisher #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Public Health Journal Won't Be Complicit in Trump Admin's Censorship

'We will publish things under our guidelines, under our ethical principles'

^{Kristina Fiore (MedpageToday)}

Update. #OMB is telling #DOGE to stop using #Slack. Why? Because Slack messages are subject to #FOI requests.
404media.co/doge-employees-ord…

#Trump #USPol #USPolitics

DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA

Employees at Elon Musk's agency have been told "OMB is asking us to stop generating new slack messages starting now."

^{Jason Koebler (404 Media)}

Update. If you're following this thread, you might also follow Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to #Trump Administration Actions, from #JustSecurity.
justsecurity.org/107087/tracke…

#USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions

A public resource tracking the legal challenges to the Trump administration's executive orders and actions.

^{Just Security}

Update. The Dept of Defense (#DOD) just released the implementation plan for its upgraded #OpenAccess policy under the Biden-era #OSTP #NelsonMemo.
discover.dtic.mil/wp-content/u…

This is the first fed agency action of its kind since #Trump took office. Note that, so far, this work has not stopped or changed.

Update. "Intense backlash prompted the reinstatement of some online resources. But guidelines for safe contraception and information on racial inequities in health care remain missing."
nytimes.com/2025/02/03/health/…

#CDC #Censorship #Medicine #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

C.D.C. Site Restores Some Purged Files After ‘Gender Ideology’ Ban Outcry

^{Apoorva Mandavilli (The New York Times)}

Update. "White House budget proposal could shatter the National Science Foundation"
arstechnica.com/science/2025/0…

" 'This kind of cut would kill American science and boost #China and other nations into global science leadership positions,' [said] Neal Lane, who led the #NSF in the 1990s during Bill Clinton's presidency."

PS: I've never liked #nationalist arguments for funding or fostering science. Science is international. But the #Trump admin is putting us in a dilemma. Either we see deep cuts in US science funding. Or we use nationalist arguments to avert those cuts.

There are non-nationalist arguments to fund US science. For example, good science is usually expensive and those who do it well should be funded for the benefit of all. Unfortunately that argument is not likely to work on Trump admin officials. It's not US-specific and applies everywhere, even in China.

#Nationalism #USPol #USPolitics

White House budget proposal could shatter the National Science Foundation

“This kind of cut would kill American science and boost China.”…

^{Eric Berger (Ars Technica)}

Update. The @WashPost does a good job showing the breadth of govt science and info taken down by the #Trump admin.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/in…

#Censorship #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Trump officials exerting unprecedented control over CDC scientific journal"
cbsnews.com/news/trump-officia…

"Trump administration political appointees have taken steps in recent weeks to exert unprecedented influence over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's flagship medical research publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, multiple federal health officials tell CBS News. The interference included dictating what to cover and withholding studies on the growing bird flu outbreak."

PS: Just curious. How do Trump officials decide that covering bird flu is bad for their agenda?

#Medicine #ScholComm #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Trump officials exerting unprecedented control over CDC scientific journal

"The MMWR has lost its autonomy," one health official told CBS News.

^{Alexander Tin (CBS News)}

Over at @deltathink, Dan Pollock and Ann Michael estimate the impact of #Trump executive actions on academic publishing, starting with the #CDC.
deltathink.com/news-views-spec…

"The proportion of CDC-authored papers is tiny [0.1% of global output and 0.6% of US output], and so their suppression is unlikely to lead to a drop in publishing output. However, should the orders spread to other areas of health research, then the effects could be profound – especially for journals and publishers relying heavily on US-authored papers."

#Censorship #USPol #USPolitics

News & Views Special Edition: How much scholarly publishing is affected by US Presidential Executive Orders?

^{Dan Pollock and Ann Michael (www.deltathink.com)}

Update The #Trump admin has taken down the #OSTP #NelsonMemo.

It was formerly at this URL.
whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uplo…

You can still find it in the @internetarchive #WaybackMachine, as recently as Jan 18, 2025.
web.archive.org/web/2025011802…

We can't tell yet whether it was taken down because Trump officials didn't like the #OpenAccess policies it laid out, didn't like its use of #DEI language — or both.

h/t fediscience.org/@jnonfiction@s…

#Censorship #Takedowns #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "In the initial days of the #Trump administration, officials scoured federal websites for any mention of what they deemed #DEI keywords — terms as generic as “diverse” and “historically” and even “women.” They soon identified reams of some of the country’s most valuable public health data containing some of the targeted words, including language about LGBTQ+ people, and quickly took down much of it — from surveys on obesity and suicide rates to real-time reports on immediate infectious disease threats like bird flu."
vox.com/future-perfect/399319/…

#Censorship #Medicine #Takedowns #USPol #USPolitics

Trump’s shocking purge of public health data, explained

Trump and Elon Musk have said they want to get rid of DEI. But their purge has swept up data on obesity and suicide rates plus teen smoking and sexual behavior.

^{Dylan Scott (Vox)}

Update. "The White House has designated Mr. #Musk’s office, United States #DOGE Service, as an entity insulated from public records requests."
nytimes.com/2025/02/10/us/poli…

In Nov 2024 before Musk joined the #Trump government, he wrote on X / Twitter: "There should be no need for FOIA requests. All government data should be default public for maximum transparency."
x.com/elonmusk/status/18530796…

#FOAI #Secrecy #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Trump’s Declaration Allows Musk’s Efficiency Team to Skirt Open Records Laws

Government watchdog groups say they will challenge the Trump administration’s decision to put the initiative under the Presidential Records Act, which shields its work from public disclosure.

^{Minho Kim (The New York Times)}

Update. "Court Orders #CDC, #FDA to Restore Scrubbed Webpages, Data"
medpagetoday.com/washington-wa…

"A federal judge on Tuesday ordered government agencies to restore public access to health-related webpages and datasets that they removed to comply with an executive order by President #Trump…The scrubbed material includes reports on HIV prevention, a CDC webpage for providing clinicians with guidance on reproductive healthcare, and an FDA study on 'sex differences in the clinical evaluation of medical products.'"

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Litigation #Medicine #Takedowns #USPol #USPolitics

Court Orders CDC, FDA to Restore Scrubbed Webpages, Data

Judge agreed to temporary restraining order requested by the Doctors for America advocacy group

^{Associated Press (MedpageToday)}

Update. From @hildabast: "What if We Can’t Rely on PubMed?"
absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/…

"#PubMed is incredibly reliable…That said, between the risks of an exodus of key personnel, understaffing, or goodness-knows-what vandalism when a goon squad arrives at NIH, it’s not paranoid any more to think ahead to the once-unthinkable. What would PubMed enshittification look like? Could PubMed go down more often, and for longer? Might services no longer be free? How else could the #quality and #reliability of its services be degraded?"

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Medicine #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

What if We Can't Rely on PubMed? - Absolutely Maybe

PubMed is incredibly reliable. And a lot depends on it. It’s an ecosystem built around MEDLINE, the steady feed of new publications…

^{Hilda Bastian (Absolutely Maybe)}

Update. "The Trump Administration Is Targeting Science. The Scientific Integrity Act Could Help Protect It."
blog.ucsusa.org/kellickson/the…

"The Scientific Integrity Act (#SI Act) is a bipartisan bill re-introduced on February 6th in the US House of Representatives… [It] would include language prohibiting scientific or research misconduct; preventing intimidation or attempted coercion to alter or censor scientific or technical findings; and allowing public dissemination of scientific and technical findings…It would ensure that scientific conclusions are not made based on political considerations but based on the best available science."

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Legislation #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

The Trump Administration Is Targeting Science. The Scientific Integrity Act Could Help Protect It.

The chairman of the House Oversight Committee initiated a formal investigation of federal agency scientific integrity policies and scientific work.

^{The Equation}

Update. "The #Trump administration and Elon #Musk are reportedly taking aim at #NOAA, the agency responsible for the National Weather Service and many other crucial functions."
fastcompany.com/91274927/trump…

"#Project2025 specifically noted NOAA as a target, as well. The Heritage Foundation’s 900-page right-wing playbook called the agency “one of the main drivers of the #climate change alarm industry” and recommended it be “dismantled and many of its functions eliminated” and instead #privatized. It’s not clear what that would look like, though experts have said it isn’t a good idea—and that private weather companies wouldn’t even want that change because they’d have to bear the cost of collecting weather data that’s currently given to them for free."

#Censorship #DefendResearch #OpenData #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Science at Risk: Protect #NOAA"
secure.ucsusa.org/a/2025-prote…

I just signed this open letter from @ucsusa and hope you will too.

"Scientists and other experts: Add your name to this open letter calling on Congress and the #Trump administration to ensure that NOAA and its sub-agencies remain fully funded and staffed, and that the independent, trusted science the agency produces is protected."

#Climate #DefendResearch #OpenData #Takedowns #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Join the Organizing Team for Your Local Stand Up For Science Rally!"
airtable.com/app4h5wUssMGXxiaX…

#DefendResearch #USPol #USPolitics

Airtable | Everyone's app platform

Airtable is a low-code platform for building collaborative apps. Customize your workflow, collaborate, and achieve ambitious outcomes. Get started for free.

^Airtable

Update. I applaud this open letter from 48 US scientific societies to US researchers, educators, and academics.
unitedsciencealliance.org/

"Today, science is under threat…We need scientific research to support the health and safety of people and our planet. We need policy decisions that are grounded in research and data…We will champion scientific integrity, including academic freedom, the inclusion of diverse perspectives, and policies grounded in scientific evidence…Scientific truths are nonpartisan. It has never been more important to recommit to scientific knowledge, and to ensure you have access to data, are free from censorship, and are able to do your valuable work."

#Academia #Censorship #DefendResearch #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics
@academicchatter

Letter

^{unitedsciencealliance.org}

Update. "This position is a response to concerns raised regarding prohibition of specific terminology, and restrictions on researchers’ activities and collaborations. #COPE [Committee on Publication Ethics] considers that authors and editors are best placed to determine the appropriate language to be used in their respective fields, to ensure that research is communicated appropriately…COPE supports the World Association of Medical Editors (#WAME)’s statement that editorial decisions must remain unaffected by the authors’ nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, or religion. Publication choices should not be swayed by external governmental policies, unless compliance with applicable laws is at stake.”
publicationethics.org/guidance…

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. The Union of Concerned Scientists (#UCS, @ucsusa) just released this open letter to Congress. I signed and hope you will too.
secure.ucsusa.org/a/2024-save-…

"I am asking you to defend the science and scientists that keep Americans safe. The Trump administration's current agenda is eviscerating the protections that Americans count on and support: clean air and water; safe food and medicine; products that won't harm us; and protection from extreme weather and other damaging effects of climate change…Protecting rigorous and independent science is a common-sense, nonpartisan goal."

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Save Science, Save Lives

Please join science supporters, scientists, and experts in signing an open letter asking Congress to stand up against attempts to politicize or eliminate scientific roles, agencies, and federal research that protect our health, environment, and our c…

^{Union of Concerned Scientists}

Update. Kathleen Bachynski and Martin McKee argue that #Trump cuts to medical research and ongoing clinical trials violate the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki on Research Ethics and the 1979 Belmont Report on Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research.
bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r289

#DefendResearch #Ethics #Medicine #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Join academic workers across the country in fighting restrictions on research - Feb. 19th Rally."
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…

"For the last three weeks, we have seen unprecedented attacks on science that have severely impacted our day-to-day work as scientists, researchers, and clinicians - funding that sustains critical scientific research to improve human health has been dramatically cut, research is being censored, and scientists are losing their jobs…The work we do is a public good and essential for the health of each and every American, now and in the future. We must fight to save science so we can continue doing the work that keeps Americans healthy."

h/t @ClimateJenny

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Join academic workers across the country in fighting restrictions on research - Feb. 19th Rally

Why? For the last three weeks, we have seen unprecedented attacks on science that have severely impacted our day-to-day work as scientists, researchers, and clinicians - funding that sustains critical scientific research to improve human health has b…

^{Google Docs}

Update. @juddlegum and #RebeccaCrosby provide more evidence that the #Trump team is taking down valuable govt pages — this time #OSHA pages on workplace safety — that use #DEI language in ways that have nothing to do with the kind of DEI Trumpists oppose.
popular.info/p/in-botched-dei-…

For example, they're taking down pages that refer to "diversity of state-specific…regulatory requirements" and "diverse conditions under which EMS responders could work."

PS: It's no accident that this might remind you of the brainless firing of US nuclear security staffers, which Trumpists are still trying to reverse. Autopilot ransacking.
nytimes.com/2025/02/16/us/poli…

#BrainlessKeywordSearching #Censorship #DefendResearch #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Trump Fired, Then Unfired, National Nuclear Security Administration Employees. What Were Their Jobs?

The administration asked some of the agency’s workers, who were part of last week’s massive layoffs across the federal government, to come back.

^{Minho Kim (The New York Times)}

Update. US space scientists have written an open letter to #NASA and #Congress.
sites.google.com/view/space-sc…

"Almost all of our work as space scientists is funded by U.S. taxpayers, and we have a responsibility to oppose actions that limit the reach of our work to the public… Following NASA’s request, all AG [Analysis/Assessment Group] websites and the important, labor-intensive study reports, science goals documents, and other resources hosted on those websites are indefinitely unavailable to the communities who did this work and to the general public…We ask that all those in decision-making positions unequivocally condemn and act to reverse recent attacks on scientific integrity, federal grant funding for scientific research, and initiatives that broaden public participation in science."

PS: Also see the list of similar letters growing the left sidebar.

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Home

Space Science is for Everyone: An Open Letter Written February 6, 2025

^{sites.google.com}

Update. From @alicejmeadows: "Declaration To #DefendResearch Against US Government Censorship"
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/20…

"Much of the resistance to the Trump administration’s efforts to censor research and researchers is happening at the grassroots level, including this Declaration To Defend Research Against US Government Censorship, instigated by Lisa Schiff, together with Catherine Mitchell, Sara Rouhi, Peter Suber, and myself [Alice Meadows]. Like many of those who are protesting against these growing threats to research, we are acting in a personal capacity, rather than on behalf of our organizations. As members of the scholarly communication community, we believe that researchers must be freely able to conduct, collaborate on, share, review, and discuss their research…I very much hope that you’ll join the 1,000 plus who have already signed."

#Censorship #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Declaration To #DefendResearch Against US Government Censorship - The Scholarly Kitchen

In response to US government efforts to censor research and researchers, a small group of scholarly communications professionals have launched a Declaration to defend research.

^{Alice Meadows (The Scholarly Kitchen)}

Update. From @mayank_mchugh and @JACoates at @force11: "Science is Under Siege: The Open Science Community Must Act and Lead by Example"
upstream.force11.org/open-scie…

"The new US administration has thrown the entire academy into chaos, threatening global health. This article is a call for the #OpenScience community to practice what it preaches and lead by example in defending science…The only viable line of defence against such rapid and intense attacks is transparency and a heightened rigour. And it is here that the open science community has a unique and essential role in this very moment."

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Science is Under Siege: The Open Science Community Must Act and Lead by Example

Worldwide, science is under attack by anti-scientific movements. The new US administration has thrown the entire academy into chaos, threatening global health.

^{Mayank Chugh (Upstream)}

Update. "Defend Scientific Freedom and Integrity Against Political Suppression."
change.org/p/defend-scientific…

I just signed this petition and hope you will too.

"We call on governments, funding bodies, academic institutions, and international organizations to:
1. Protect Scientific Freedom: Ensure that research funding decisions are made based on scientific merit, not political ideology.
2. Stop Censorship in Public Health and Environmental Science: Allow government scientists to communicate freely with the public and publish research without political interference.
3. Preserve Open Access to Data: Governments must not delete, withhold, or manipulate scientific data that serves the public good...."

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Defend Scientific Freedom and Integrity Against Political Suppression

^{Gunther Eysenbach (Change.org)}

Update. Special thanks to the Association of University Presses (#AUPresses, @aupresses). It not only signed the Feb 13 Declaration to #DefendResearch, it posted an announcement to spread the word.
aupresses.org/news/aupresses-s…

#Censorship #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

AUPresses Supports Anti-Censorship Declaration - Association of University Presses

AUPresses joins with individual and institutional members of the scholarly communications community to assert that researchers must be freely able to conduct, collaborate on, share, review, and discuss their research.

^{awindhorn (Association of University Presses)}