Thanks to AIMN regular Kronomex for bringing this to our attention.
Trump silences government scientists with gag orders
Trump Administration Puts Gag Order on Several Government Agencies
Employees at several federal agencies including the Department of Agriculture have been barred by the Trump administration from making any statements, or providing any documents to the public or journalists, according to published reports.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services are also impacted by the orders, which were reportedly handed down this week, and include a prohibition against some of the agencies posting on social media.
It’s not clear how long these gag orders will remain in place, or whether they are simply designed to freeze activity until President Trump’s hand-picked staff can issue new regulations for those agencies for posting on social media and interacting with the public. The EPA has also been ordered to freeze all grants, contracts and other agreements until further notice, according to numerous reports.
A memo sent to EPA staff said that there should be no press releases sent to “external audiences” and that “no social media will be going out,” according to a report by The Hill. The memo also says that a digital strategist will be coming in to oversee the agency’s social-media policies, and that “existing, individually controlled social-media accounts may become more centrally controlled.”
The memo also ordered that no new posts be made to any agency blogs, that staff send a list of any external speaking arrangements, that no new documents be uploaded to any public website, and that “incoming media requests will be carefully screened.”
14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
4. Supremacy of the Military
5. Rampant Sexism
6. Controlled Mass Media
7. Obsession with National Security
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
9. Corporate Power is Protected
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14. Fraudulent Elections
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