Censor, purge, defund: how Trump is following the authoritarian playbook on science and universities

Christina Pagel – Diving into Data & Decision making: “The attacks on science and universities are neither random nor new. This isn’t chaos—it’s a deliberate war on science and academic freedom. In just six weeks, the Trump administration has slashed research budgets, purged health and scientific agencies, censored research, and threatened universities. Making a list …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Economy, Education, Environmental Law, Financial System, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Welcome to the TCI Library

“The TCI Library is maintained by Telephone Collectors International, a non-profit organization, as a public service. It supports our goal of helping to preserve the history of telephony — particularly fragile paper documents that may otherwise be lost to posterity. It is supported by members through dues and by the generous donation of funds and …

Subjects: Education

Perkins Coie Drags Trump Administration Clear To Hell In New Lawsuit

Above the Law: “Last week, Perkins Coie was called out by the Trump administration for retribution. They were the subject of an executive order that purported to revoke security clearances for employees of the firm, called for the termination of government contracts with the firm, and called for a review of the DEI policies of Perkins Coie …

Subjects: Censorship, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Monitor Tracking Civic Space Adds US to Watchlist

Trump administration puts US civic freedoms under severe threat – CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist: “The United States of America (USA) has been added to our Watchlist as the country faces increasing undue restrictions on civic freedoms under President Donald Trump’s second term. Gross abuses of executive power raise serious concerns over the freedoms of peaceful assembly, …

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

DOGE Threat: How Government Data Would Give an AI Company Extraordinary Power

Gizmodo: “The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has secured unprecedented access to at least seven sensitive federal databases, including those of the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration. This access has sparked fears about cybersecurity vulnerabilities and privacy violations. Another concern has received far less attention: the potential use of the data to …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Government, E-Mail, E-Records, Financial System, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

How Government Data Would Give an AI Company Extraordinary Power

Gizmodo: “The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has secured unprecedented access to at least seven sensitive federal databases, including those of the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration. This access has sparked fears about cybersecurity vulnerabilities and privacy violations. Another concern has received far less attention: the potential use of the data to …

Subjects: AI, E-Government, E-Records, Economy, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Tracking the Ukraine war through graphs

War Wrapper: “Below are a series of charts showing how the control of territory has developed throughout the war, from the rapid advances by the Russian forces in the early days of the conflict to the counter-offensive operations by Ukraine to regain control of the lost territory. If you follow the war in Ukraine closely …

Subjects: Defense, Legal Research

Improved Public Access to CRS Reports on Congress.gov

“We are pleased to announce the new Congressional Research Service (CRS) products collection that is searchable within Congress.gov. CRS products include coveted CRS reports, testimony by CRS analysts, infographics, and more. Find descriptions for each CRS product type on our About Congressional Research Service (CRS) Products page. Public access to CRS products, which are produced …

Subjects: Congress, E-Records, Government Documents, Legal Research

DOGE Has Deployed Its GSAi Custom Chatbot for 1,500 Federal Workers

Wired – no paywall – “Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency has deployed a proprietary chatbot called GSAi to 1,500 federal workers at the General Services Administration, WIRED has confirmed. The move to automate tasks previously done by humans comes as DOGE continues its purge of the federal workforce. GSAi is meant to support …

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Government, E-Records, Knowledge Management, Privacy

Photos are disappearing, one archive at a time

Washington Post – no paywall: “Kira Pollack, a former editor at Time and Vanity Fair, is a distinguished fellow at the Starling Lab for Data Integrity, a research lab co-anchored by Stanford University’s School of Engineering and USC Libraries. When Hurricane Milton threatened Tampa last October, photojournalist Christopher Morris faced a familiar challenge: protecting his …

Subjects: Climate Change, Education, Environmental Law, Knowledge Management, Libraries

Military marks vast imagery database for DEI purge

“The Associated Press obtained a database of tens of thousands of Department of Defense website images that have been flagged for removal [scroll down to middle of this article is find and search the database], or already removed due to having content that highlighted diversity, equity or inclusion. Images highlighting female service members’ contributions have …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, Education, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

National Cancer Institute Employees Can’t Publish Information on These Topics Without Special Approval

ProPublica: “Employees at the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, received internal guidance last week to flag manuscripts, presentations or other communications for scrutiny if they addressed “controversial, high profile, or sensitive” topics. Among the 23 hot-button issues, according to internal records reviewed by ProPublica: vaccines, fluoride, peanut allergies, …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research