Category «Censorship»

The Supreme Court Says Laws Aren’t Real

The New Republic, no paywall – The Roberts court majority seems bound and determined to undermine the American constitutional order. “To cover the Supreme Court these days is to catalogue its lawlessness. The conservative justices’ latest decision in McMahon v. New York allows the president to effectively demolish the Department of Education—a Cabinet-level department that …

Subjects: Censorship, Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

White House’s plan to downsize the federal government, in charts

Washington Post – no paywall: “President Donald Trump and his advisers have called for dramatically shrinking the size and scope of the federal government, dispatching officials to agency after agency to block funding and slash staffing. The Supreme Court has revived the administration’s efforts to lay off workers, allowing planned reductions in force to resume …

Subjects: Censorship, Climate Change, Courts, Economy, Education, Energy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Food and Nutrition, Government Documents

Nobody (Not Even Trump) Can Control the Epstein Story

The Atlantic – no paywall: “Donald Trump helped create a monster. Now he’d like for everyone to ignore it. After years of sounding dog whistles and peddling outright conspiracism to work his supporters into a lather about global pedophile rings, Trump is telling those same people to move on. Earlier today, Trump posted on Truth …

Subjects: Censorship, Congress, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Social Media

Inside efforts to capture federal data after ‘the big takedown’

NextGov/FCW: “Days after President Donald Trump took office again in January, thousands of government pages with critical data were taken down as agencies rushed to comply with executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, as well as what the administration calls “gender ideology.” That day activated a community, said Denice Ross, the government’s former …

Subjects: Censorship, E-Government, E-Records, Education, Government Documents, Health Care, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Data manipulation within the US Federal Government

Data manipulation within the US Federal Government, Freilich, Janet et al. The Lancet. Published July 3, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01249-8 – “A US Department of Veterans Affairs dataset compiling veteran health-care use in 2021 was quietly amended on March 5, 2025. A column titled gender was renamed sex, and the words were also switched in the …

Subjects: Censorship, E-Government, E-Records, Education, Government Documents, Health Care, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Medicine

Using Signal groups for activism

Micah Lee: “Things are heating up. Millions of people are taking to the streets against Trump’s rising authoritarianism. Communities around the US are organizing to defend against ICE raids, to protest Israeli genocide, for mutual aid, and for other forms of fighting fascism. Signal can help people safely organize in all of these contexts. Signal …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

Agencies plan to decommission hundreds of .gov websites following GSA review

Federal News Network: “Hundreds of federal agency websites are being targeted for elimination, following a governmentwide review. In an analysis led by the General Services Administration, the 24 largest departments and agencies inventoried more than 7,200 total websites. Documents obtained by Federal News Network show agencies plan to eliminate 332 of those websites — less …

Subjects: Censorship, Climate Change, E-Records, Education, Energy, Environmental Law, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

What to Do When You See ICE in Your Neighborhood

The Intercept – How can you deter the Trump administration’s immigrant deportation machine when it pops up in your community? Follow these steps… Out running errands and see a cluster of weirdos kitted out for war, milling about like they’re stuck in a Call of Duty matchmaking lobby? Grab some pics and vids to raise …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

Cops’ favorite AI tool automatically deletes evidence of when AI was used

Ars Technica: AI police tool is designed to avoid accountability, watchdog says. On Thursday, a digital rights group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, published an expansive investigation into AI-generated police reports that the group alleged are, by design, nearly impossible to audit and could make it easier for cops to lie under oath. Axon’s Draft One …

Subjects: AI, Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

First Amendment: Government Retaliation for Protected Expression

CRS Legal Sidebar – “The Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment provides that “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.” The clause applies to any government action, whether federal, state, or local. Individuals may be able to challenge violations of their free speech rights in a variety of …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Masked, Armed and Forceful: Finding Patterns in Los Angeles Immigration Raids

Bellingcat: “Armed and masked men leaping out of unmarked vehicles. Latino men taken from their places of work or while waiting for the bus. Street vendors roughly tackled to the ground and forcefully held down. Since early June, the streets of Los Angeles have borne witness to frequent and aggressive immigration raids that have seen people …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legal Research

DHS Tells Police That Common Protest Activities Are ‘Violent Tactics’

Wired: “The Department of Homeland Security is urging local police to consider a wide range of protest activity as violent tactics, including mundane acts like riding a bike or livestreaming a police encounter, WIRED has learned. Threat bulletins issued during last month’s “No Kings” protests warn that the US government’s aggressive immigration raids are almost …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Internet, Legal Research, Social Media