Tell Congress: Don’t Censor America

After President Donald Trump’s recent executive order 14149 “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship,” in which he declared government censorship of speech “intolerable in a free society,” he immediately set about doing just that. Subsequent executive orders (including 14168 and 14151)require federal agencies to remove reference to “gender,” “diversity,” “inclusion,” and “environmental justice” from all federal documents. Staff at the National Science Foundation have reportedly been told to scrutinize projects that use words including “disability,” “women,” “female,” “minority,” “historically,” “underrepresented,” or “socioeconomic.” There is no act of censorship more explicit than literally banning words. These orders will have a clear chilling effect that will range well beyond the halls of government.