Trump’s first 4 days: a ban on disclosing scientific facts and felony charges for journalists
It’s only been a handful of days since Donald Trump took office, but we’re already getting strong signals about the sort of administration he intends to run: workers at US government agencies have been banned from making any public disclosures of the research they conduct at public expense until new political minders can be installed to ensure that these facts don’t contradict Trump’s official narrative; and six journalists have been charged with felonies for covering the protests during the inauguration.
The ban on public disclosures covers all “public-facing documents”: “news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content.” Government scientists must submit all upcoming appearances at conferences and meetings to the administration for approval. This echoes the tactics deployed by Canada’s discredited Stephen Harper government, whose official climate denial stance was accompanied by a “war on science” that included suppression of publicly funded science and the shut-down of the world’s largest scientific instrument: the Experimental Lakes Area.
A total of six media workers are facing 10 year prison sentences and fines of $25,000 after being arrested while covering the Trump inauguration, after being “indiscriminately targeted people for arrest en masse based on location alone,” according to the National Lawyers’ Guild.
https://boingboing.net/2017/01/25/trumps-first-4-days-a-ban-o.html