404: Vital Information Not Found

Many web pages that provided critical information to all Americans on .gov sites

continue to be deleted upon Mr. Trump’s unprecedented unilateral orders. Now, instead of finding accurate, trustworthy information, Americans encounter frustrating “404: Page Not Found” messages, which means vital information on science, vaccines, disaster relief, and many other important topics cannot be found by the people who rely on them.

The New York Times reported Trump’s team removed: over 3,000 pages from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Census Bureau, over 1,000 pages from the Office of Justice Programs, over 200 pages from the Head Start Program, over 180 pages from the Department of Justice, almost 150 pages from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and over 100 pages from the Food and Drug Administration. In addition, pages from the IRS, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Department of the Interior, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Marshal’s Service are now missing.

Our government isn’t perfect, but we had democratically vetted systems and programs in place, checks and balances, and numerous other safeguards to ensure that Americans could access needed information from our government’s websites. 

When our country’s leader rashly censors government-funded, reliable information sources, we should all be alarmed. 

In George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, the government invented “Newspeak” to scrub any information the government deemed “dangerous.” The real danger, however, was the government’s control of the people through censorship and disinformation. 

When our president orders censorship of government websites because he doesn’t like what scientific researchers have found, or he prefers that Congress had reached a different decision on a policy choice, or he disagrees with the viewpoint expressed, he obstructs our ability to be the informed citizens that are necessary for democracy. He violates our Constitution’s First Amendment and our Free Speech Rights, which he took an oath to protect and preserve.

At present, there isn't a centralized government-maintained log or public record of all deleted .gov websites. Additionally, no watchdog site currently monitors every deletion across various topics and agencies. However, one site, the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI), does track modifications to environmental and climate-related content on government websites.

Orwell’s fictional 1984 seems to have become our reality. We face an “Information Not Found” crisis of epic proportions. Contact your representatives; tell them “Error 404” is not acceptable.