In the first few days after President Donald Trump returned to office last month, thousands of web pages disappeared from federal agency web sites.
Many of the pages had to do with diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts within the government. Others addressed climate change, health data, or the history of women and Black Americans.
Tech expert Omar Gallaga recently wrote for CNET that while some pages have returned, it is unclear what information will soon become permanently unavailable.
Highlights from this segment:
– Web sites affected include the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Census Bureau, which each lost 3,000 pages of content. Content included demographic information, as well as pages related to gender and to diversity initiatives. Some pages have returned, while others have either been altered or have disappeared.
– Researchers at Harvard and other organizations that rely on government data have used the Internet Archive to retrieve and download data that was formerly available from the government.
– The Trump administration’s executive orders requiring the elimination of DEI programs from the executive branch agencies appear to be the catalyst for the pages’ removal, although it is unclear why historical information about women scientists, or the Black military unit, the Tuskegee Airmen, were also removed.
