Update. "Researchers say the US government tried to erase sexual orientation from their findings"
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/researchers-us-government-erase-sexual-orientation-findings-120041183

"Two California researchers said Friday that a U.S. government health publication instructed them to remove data on sexual orientation from a scientific manuscript that had been accepted for publication… Instead of complying, the researchers withdrew their paper from _Public Health Reports_, the official journal of the U.S. Surgeon General and U.S. Public Health Service."

Also see the blog post by the two co-authors, Tamar Antin and Rachelle Annechino.
https://criticalpublichealth.org/blog/2025/03/21/resisting-attacks-on-science/

Update. "Foreign interference laws ‘no protection from #Trump edicts’"
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/foreign-interference-laws-no-protection-trump-edicts
(#paywalled)

"A memo sent to Australian collaborators in US-funded research projects seeks assurances that they and their institutions have no involvement in diversity, equity and inclusion (#DEI) initiatives, “environmental justice”, “gender ideology extremism” or “any party that espouses anti-American beliefs”. It asks whether they have received any funding from China, including Confucius Institutes and “non-state actors”, along with Russia, Cuba or Iran. The 36 questions also include queries on how the projects “create measurable benefits” for the US."

Update. "French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of #Trump found"
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-french-scientist-detained

"A French scientist was denied entry to the US this month after immigration officers at an airport searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration…The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment."

Update. "Don’t wait out four hard years: speak truth to power"
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00791-z

"More scholars must push back. The idea that scientists can keep doing what they know must be done to incorporate #DEI into their work while adjusting terms to fit the demands of bigoted autocrats bent on hobbling science is to whistle loudly past a graveyard of avoidable error, continued financial cuts and censorship. That diversity matters to science is a truth — albeit one that has only recently begun to be accepted and applied…Genomics has established that different groups of people respond differently to drugs and vaccines. The individuals recruited to and participating in clinical trials must be representative of those who will use those treatments in real life…Social scientists are well aware that understanding behaviour and implementing desired change requires studying populations besides white, Western, university psychology students."

Update. #Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate #EPA’s Scientific Research Arm"
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/climate/trump-eliminates-epa-science.html

"The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research arm, firing as many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists, according to documents reviewed by Democrats on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology…The EPA’s plan… calls for dissolving the agency’s largest department, the Office of Research and Development, and purging up to 75 percent of the people who work there. The remaining staff members would be placed elsewhere within the EPA…Rep. Zoe Lofgren [D-CA],…the top Democrat on the science committee, said that without the Office of Research and Development, the EPA would not be able to meet its legal obligation to use the “best available science” when writing regulations and considering policy. She also said that the office was created by congressional statute and that dissolving it would be illegal."

Update. "Scientists Say #NIH Officials Told Them To Scrub #mRNA References on Grants"
https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/nih-grants-mrna-vaccines-trump-administration-hhs-rfk/

"National Institutes of Health officials have urged scientists to remove all references to mRNA #vaccine technology from their grant applications…NIH acting Director Matthew Memoli sent an email across the NIH instructing that any grants, contracts, or collaborations involving mRNA vaccines be reported up the chain to #HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s office and the White House."

Update. Survey of US #librarians and #LIS faculty.
https://coloradomesa.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9GjMQWWDpB5zDDg

"Recent weeks and months have brought shifts to the pursuit of research across the United States, including funding freezes and budget cuts, executive orders regarding DEIA (and its variants) and other justice-related topics (e.g., environmental justice)…This survey aims to gather the perspectives of academic librarians and LIS-program faculty about the implications of these shifts (and executive orders) on research initiatives and, more broadly, academic freedom, researchers' freedom of thought/speech/expression within academia, and researchers' overall intellectual freedom."

Update. "#APDU [Association of Public Data Users] Statement on #Education Research and #Data"
https://apdu.org/?p=5812775

"On Tuesday, March 11, 2025, over 1,000 staff from the Department of Education [#DOE] were laid off. This includes almost all staff from the Institute of Education Sciences (#IES), which housed the National Center for Education Statistics (#NCES)…NCES is mandated by law to report on the condition of education annually, collect and disseminate key education data, and support state and local education agencies…The [layoffs] make it unclear how NCES will meet its legal obligations under the Education Sciences Reform Act, Every Student Succeeds Act, the Information Quality Act, and other federal laws…Congress and policymakers must act to ensure NCES has the resources to meet its statutory obligations. Stakeholders—including researchers, educators, and state leaders—must demand transparency on how education data will be maintained."

Update. "Joint Statement on Federal Censorship of American History"
https://www.historians.org/news/aha-oah-joint-statement-on-federal-censorship-of-american-history/

"The American Historical Association (#AHA) and the Organization of American Historians (#OAH) condemn recent efforts to censor historical content on federal government websites, at many public museums, and across a wide swath of government resources…Policies that purge words, phrases, and content that some officials deem suspect on ideological grounds constitute a systemic campaign to distort, manipulate, and erase significant parts of the historical record. Recent directives insidiously prioritize narrow ideology over historical research, historical accuracy, and the actual experiences of Americans.

As the institution chartered by the US Congress for “the promotion of historical studies” and “in the interest of American history, and of history in America,” the American Historical Association must speak out when the nation’s leadership wreaks havoc with that history. So, too, must the OAH, as the organization committed to promoting “excellence in the scholarship, teaching, and presentation of American history.” It is bad enough to forget the past; it is even worse to intentionally deny the public access to what we remember, have documented, and have expended public resources to disseminate."

"To date, 11 organizations have signed on to the statement."

Update. "A Call for Harm Reduction Strategies"
https://katinamagazine.org/content/article/open-knowledge/2025/a-call-for-harm-reduction-strategies

"The new US presidential administration has launched an unprecedented assault on research and higher education. This isn’t just collateral damage from wide-ranging realignment of budgets, which would be bad enough, but an orchestrated attack on academic freedom, research funding, and the institutional autonomy that underpins intellectual progress…Resistance is most effective when collective action amplifies individual efforts rather than occurring in isolation. This means fostering more frequent and open dialogue across all sectors of the academic and research community [e.g. #libraries and #publishers]."

Update. "US Funding Cuts Imperil Open Infrastructure Globally"
https://katinamagazine.org/content/article/open-knowledge/2025/US-funding-cuts-imperil-open-infrastructure-globally

"The impacts of funding cuts to research in the US extend far beyond their immediate targets. We see a chain reaction that could indelibly alter the education and research landscape, including the future of open and sustainable research…So what is there to do?… Here are our three specific calls to action…"

Update. It's not enough for #Trump to …

* nominate #climate denialists to run key agencies like the #EPA and #NOAA
* remove climate-related words from govt web sites
* take down whole climate science sites and datasets
* defund climate research and researchers
* layoff scientists and civil servants with climate expertise
* repeal climate regulations
* eliminate 10 regional EPA offices, including the one in DC
* and plan to replace consensus climate findings with ideological cherrypicking as the foundation for policymaking …

… now his #FBI is freezing the assets of nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity, which have received EPA grants, alleging that they might be guilty of “possible criminal violations” including “conspiracy to defraud the United States.”
https://newrepublic.com/post/192660/trump-fbi-charge-climate-organizations

Update. "Strong Scientific Leaders Must Speak Out against the Trump Administration’s Science Denial"
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strong-scientific-leaders-must-speak-out-against-the-trump-administrations/

"We are proud to be members of the #NAS [National Academy of Sciences], but we are not proud of its present inaction. In these challenging and defining times, the National Academy of Sciences, of all scientific institutions, must speak up…The new #Trump administration is now making an unprecedented effort to prevent science from informing public policy. In his first day in office, President Trump signed executive orders withdrawing the U.S. from participation in the Paris Agreement on #climate change and from the World Health Organization [#WHO]. The new administration has subsequently acted to drastically limit support for climate and medical research performed by scientists in the federal government and in universities. In this emergency, it is not enough for the National Academy of Sciences to speak up from its grass roots, as in 2016 or 2018. It must now speak as an institution if it is to fulfill its responsibilities to the nation and maintain its relevance in the future."

Last Friday I received a letter from a U.K. law firm with an attached injunction. The law firm claimed I must remove two posts about their client.

That is not going to happen. I am not under the jurisdiction of the U.K. or the High Court of Justice. My lawyer informed them of that yesterday.

But DataBreaches.net might disappear tomorrow because the U.K. law firm sent the injunction to my domain registrar who, innocently believing them, informed me they will suspend my site if I don't remove the posts within 24 hours. I have replied to them but have not heard back.

So...

If my site is gone tomorrow, I will let you know where you can read a lot more about the injunction and how the injunction poses a serious risk of censorship in the U.K.

If my site is still online tomorrow, I will still let you know here where you can read about the over-reaching injunction obtained in a private hearing where no one represented journalists whose reporting was being censored.

#censorship #injunction #pressfreedom
#AssociatedPress #RCFP

@freedomofpress @campuscodi @zackwhittaker @aj_vicens @carlypage @iainthomson @amvinfe @lawfare

Update: they’ve reportedly reinstated the #antifa hashtag. As well as #noAFD, which was, apparently, also blocked.

***

Hey FLOSS.social, do you understand that “antifa” stands for “anti fascist?” Do you know what folks who are anti-anti fascist are? That’s right, they’re fascists.

While you’re at it, you might also want to look up what the “F” and the “L” in your name stand for.

If they don’t fix this ASAP, I’d recommend a swift #fediblock by any instance that isn’t fascist.

Important edit:
Meanwhile, the admin responded and clarified the situation. It was a configuration mistake. #antifa was auto blocked because of spam (if I got this correctly?) and #NoAfD basically for the same reason. The latter, however, wasn't resolved that fast because it has never been reported. Which is believable because it's super German specific.
https://floss.social/@admin/114041817627451631

Original:
@admin I'm sorry, what?!

#Fediverse #Mastodon #FLOSS #antifascism

/7 🧵 #final

This. #saysitall #freepress #journalism #Blinken #pressconference #SamHusseini #MaxBlumenthal #censorship #Israel #genocide #Gaza #BidenAdmin #ICJ

👇 ❗

/5 🧵 👇

3/6 #MaxBlumenthal #Blinken #pressconference #journalism #freepress #censorship #Israel #Gaza #genocide #warcrimes #ICJ #US #BidenAdmin

👇

RT @MaxBlumenthal
My final words for Tony Blinken, Secretary of Genocide, and his smirking press secretary, Matt Miller

5:19 p.m. · 16 jan. 2025
·

2/6 "Physically dragging out a reporter from the State Department briefing room while preaching press freedom to the rest of the world is the perfect example of the Biden administration's love affair with double standards and duplicity," said one foreign policy observer."

🧵 1/6 "Criminal! Why aren't you in The Hague?" Respect for mr. Sam Husseini.

And while mr. Husseini was carried out and handcuffed, all the other reporters remained silent. F*cking cowards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQwmH8y0KmI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Husseini

I believe I'm suffering from #YouTube #Anxiety Disorder (YAD). Every time I comment somewhere (even on mastodon), I feel like I'm walking on eggshells, careful not to offend the AI overlords. I also feel the urge to comeback later and ensure that the comment hasn't been censored randomly.

The interesting part is that despite the snowflake #censorship #algorithms, inflammatory speech on YouTube is growing faster than ever. What exactly are they trying to achieve anyway? More #Enshittification?

In the lead-up to the 2016 election, I began to find that any time I posted anything with the words "white evangelical(s)" in it, Facebook took the posting down.

Meanwhile, I see on an ongoing basis all sorts of obvious right-wing disinformation being circulated freely on Facebook, with no attempt that I can see made by Facebook to censor that disinformation.

More than "just the algorithm" is at work in Facebook censorship.

#Facebook #censorship #Republicans #Trump
/7

Obviously something more is at work as Facebook censors some people than "the algorithm."

One dynamic, I suspect, is that if people watching your account for hostile reasons flag it and report it repeatedly to Facebook, often acting in concert with others, Facebook then puts censorship mechanisms in place for your account. These often have overt political intent.

#Facebook #censorship #Republicans #Trump
/7

People keep saying that "the algorithm," as if it's some mystical force acting in independence of human tinkering and will, takes down postings on Facebook.

If that's the case, then I'd like some explanation for why, when I posted that graphic, it was immediately taken down with a warning to me, but when she posted it, nothing happened.

#Facebook #censorship #Republicans #Trump
/6

A clear silencing of me up to the post-election period….

One of the postings was a graphic that Jess Piper had posted on Substack.

After the postings were removed, I shared information about this on my Mastodon page. A follower there told me she would post the same Jess Piper graphic on her Facebook feed and see what happened.

She did so. Facebook did not take it down.

#Facebook #censorship #Republicans #Trump
/5