Category «Civil Liberties»

Database and dashboard – activities, groups and businesses supporting democracy through action

The Team at Horizons Project is keeping up a database about movement activity focusing on the range of activity against various pillars. The Pillars — principled collective action & loving defiance. Subject matter tools, links and resources authored by: government workers; business; faith based initiatives; professional associations; unions. Includes Tactics Used, Links and Further Details. …

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

Researcher Captures Contents of ‘DEI.gov’ Before It Was Hidden Behind a Password

404 Media [unpaywalled] “A German researcher captured the contents of the White House’s “DEI.gov” during a brief period when it was not password protected. The capture shows that the site contains a list of vague, alleged government-funded tasks and their costs, without sources or context, like “$1.3 million to Arab and Jewish photographers,” “$1.5 million …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

 A Digital Extension of Historical Bias: Arab Americans and the New Frontier of Algorithmic Discrimination

Via LLRX – A Digital Extension of Historical Bias: Arab Americans and the New Frontier of Algorithmic Discrimination – The integration of artificial intelligence into U.S. national security operations has automated and amplified discriminatory practices established in the post-9/11 era, creating unprecedented barriers for Arab Americans. This paper by Natalie Abdou examines how AI systems …

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy, Transportation

Site tracks how much of Project 2025 has been implemented

Project 2025 Tracker – The site tracks overall progress now at 34% as well as well as detailed objectives specific to each government agency. This is a significant and very disconcerting tool. Thanks go out to the folks at the free project you can support via Patreon. See also Searchable Full Project 2025 Text: Mandate …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Congress, Courts, E-Government, E-Records, Environmental Law, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

DOGE Has ‘God Mode’ Access to Government Data

The Atlantic [unpaywalled]: “The president’s special commission now has an unprecedented ability to view and manipulate information at many federal agencies. The employee’s account, along with the accounts of several others across federal agencies, offers the clearest portrait yet of just how deep DOGE has burrowed into the systems of the federal government—and the sensitive …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Data Governance, E-Government, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

Memory-Holing January 6: What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish?

ProPublica: “On Jan. 10, the U.S. Department of Justice released a 123-page report on the 1921 racial massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which claimed several hundred lives and left the thriving Black neighborhood of Greenwood in smoldering ruins. The department’s investigation determined that the attack was “so systematic and coordinated that it transcended mere mob violence.” …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Trumpworld’s War on Words

Vanity Fair [unpaywalled] – “The administration’s attack on the AP, along with efforts to rewrite history and reframe reality, only reaffirms the maxim that language is power. The right-wing war on all things “woke” has relied on a critical weapon: language. Trumpworld’s culture-war arsenal may contain many things—a flurry of social media posts and videos, …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Health Care, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Medicine

DOGE’s Millions: As Musk and Trump Gut Government, Their Ax-Cutting Agency Gets Cash Infusion

ProPublica – “The Department of Government Efficiency is funded and acts like a federal agency. But the White House has shielded DOGE from the rules that govern such agencies, ProPublica found as it examines the group and expands a list of DOGE workers. While Elon Musk and his underlings demand budget cuts and layoffs across …

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

Climate and DEI Deleted From Government Websites, Federal Workers Fired

Via LLRX – Climate and DEI Deleted From Government Websites, Federal Workers Fired – Since January 20, 2025 America has been catapulted into an unimaginable inflection point. Sabrina I. Pacifici chronicles seismic events in recent weeks which have upended America’s democracy, jeopardized our economy, financial system, national security, science and medical communities, and fractured our …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, E-Government, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

Trump signs executive orders limiting power of agencies

Washington Times: “President Trump on Tuesday [February 18, 2025] signed an executive order [Ensuring Accountability For All Agencies] declaring that only the attorney general or the president, instead of federal regulators or bureaucrats, can speak for the U.S. when interpreting the meaning of laws carried out by the executive branch. The order was among three …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

The war on DEI is a smoke screen

The Verge – [unpaywalled] “Violent metaphors abound for what’s happening in Washington: Elon Musk and his allies have taken a “slash-and-burn” approach to the government and a “sledgehammer” to government institutions, doing away with supposed waste and excess while leaving the fundamental structure intact. All of this is being done with the stated goal of …

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