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Category Archives: Censorship

AALL joins 60 advocacy groups calling for open access info on government websites

Via AALL: On February 14, 2017 “the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) partnered with OpenTheGovernment.org and more than 60 other public interest groups and associations on a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), asking OMB to issue guidance reminding agencies that they are required under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.… Continue Reading

Yale, Harvard Law School Deans rise up against attacks on judiciary

Law.com: “The deans of Yale Law School and Harvard Law School have joined the growing chorus of lawyers publicly condemning President Donald Trump’s attacks on the judiciary. In a blistering op-ed in The Boston Globe on Friday, Harvard’s Martha Minow and Yale’s Robert Post wrote that Trump’s Twitter-delivered insults against the federal judges who stayed… Continue Reading

Murray, Cantwell Seek Answers After Resource Website for Federal Law Protecting Students with Disabilities is Taken Down

“Washington state Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell today called on new Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to provide an immediate and detailed explanation for why the resource website for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has disappeared. “The Department’s failure to keep this critical resource operational makes it harder for parents, educators, and… Continue Reading

Durbin Demands Trump Administration Restore Animal Cruelty, Puppy Mill Records On USDA Website

“U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) [February 13, 2017]  joined a group of 18 Democratic Senators in calling on the Trump Administration to immediately restore animal cruelty information recently purged from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) website.  APHIS makes inspection reports for all regulated entities and annual… Continue Reading

Open Observatory of Network Interference

“A free software, global observation network for detecting censorship, surveillance and traffic manipulation on the internet. OONI develops free software tests designed to examine the following: Blocking of websites Blocking of instant messaging apps Blocking of Tor and other circumvention tools Detection of systems that could be responsible for censorship and/or surveillance Testing methodology There… Continue Reading

Deleted APHIS Annual Reports From Animal-Experimentation Facilities

Follow up to posting this week – Animal welfare information wiped from USDA website – via the MemoryHole – Russ Kick – “On February 3, 2017, with absolutely no warning, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) deleted its database of reports concerning animal welfare at zoos, circuses, aquariums, puppy mills, etc., as… Continue Reading

Covering Trump the Reuters Way

In a message to staff today, Reuters Editor-in-Chief Steve Adler wrote about covering President Trump the Reuters way: “The first 12 days of the Trump presidency (yes, that’s all it’s been!) have been memorable for all – and especially challenging for us in the news business. It’s not every day that a U.S. president calls… Continue Reading

Scientists collaborate in effort to preserve and distribute research and government data

Follow up to previous posting – Will Government Science from agencies be deleted from public sites? – via The Intercept: “American scientists are under siege in the Trump administration because their work threatens to undermine Trump’s anti-science policies. As a result, some scientists have already begun trying to preserve government data they worry will be deleted,… Continue Reading

ALA Midwinter 2017: Librarians Ponder the Future Under Trump

Via Publisher’s Week – “In his opening keynote at the 2017 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Atlanta, just hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, W. Kamau Bell made a plea to librarians: don’t let Trump’s vision of America become the new normal. “Everything that’s happening right now… Continue Reading

White House dismisses veteran DOJ acting AG stating she betrayed her agency

Follow up to previous posting and numerous related articles – Trump Refugee and Visa Order Generates Dissents from Diplomats, DOJ, Goldman Sachs, Silicon Valley Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates was a 27 year veteran of the DOJ. Via The Atlantic: “President Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates only hours after she instructed Justice… Continue Reading

WaPo Trump officials order agencies to restrict dispatches to public

Washington Post: “The new limits on public communications appear to be targeting agencies that are charged with overseeing environmental and scientific policy, prompting criticism from officials within the agencies and from outside groups focused on climate change. A memo to EPA communications staff said “no social media will be going out” and incoming media requests… Continue Reading

EPA staff directed to cease use of social media, blogs, press releases, agency site content updates

Via MediaITE: “In a memo sent out to staff at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Trump Administration has prohibited press releases, social media postings, blog posts or new content placed on the agency’s website.” Continue Reading