Since February 2nd, executive orders have resulted in significant censorship across U.S. government agencies, prompting the removal of thousands of web pages and datasets. This wave of takedowns has not only impacted the Department of Veteran Affairs and the CDC but has also erased accurate discussions around sex and gender. This censorship poses risks for vulnerable communities as they lose access to critical information, including scientific research on health and climate. Efforts by technologists and organizations like the Internet Archive are ongoing to preserve this lost information, essential for public awareness and advocacy against these changes.
Government workers had just two days to carry out sweeping takedowns and rewrites due to a memo from the Office of Personnel Management.
The result was a government-mandated censorship to erase these identities from a broad swatch of websites, resources, and scientific research regardless of context.
What we're left with has been an anti-science, anti-speech, and just plain dangerous fit of panic with untold impacts on the most vulnerable communities.
New administrations often revise government pages to reflect new policies, though they are usually updated, not erased.
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