The Trump administration's attack on free speech

On Wednesday, Matt Taibbi once again testified before Jim Jordan's House Judiciary Committee, claiming to address government censorship. He specifically attacked John Kerry for expressing concern that the First Amendment restricts our ability to address disinformation. Taibbi also went after USAID for funding provided to an organization called "Internews," presumably because - in their efforts to support trustworthy news - they "tackle disinformation." 

But what I found most interesting is the actual censorship that Taibbi chose to ignore. Since January 20th, the Trump administration has done the following:

• Banned the use of words like "vulnerable," "entitlement," "diversity," "transgender," "fetus," "evidence-based" and "science-based" at CDC
• Banned the use of words like "women," "disability," "bias," "status," "trauma," "Black," "Hispanic communities," as well as "socioeconomic," "ethnicity" and "systemic" at the National Science Foundation.
• Banned the use of words like "immigrant," "undocumented," "foreign assistance," "Green New Deal," "climate change," "diversity," "equity," "racism," "discrimination," "transgender," "LGBT," "abortion," "pregnant," "birth control" and "fetus" from the Commerce Department.

Senator Brian Schatz and Chris Murphy had a little chat about all of this on the Senate Floor.

Yes, it is absurd. It is also extremely dangerous when it comes to things like medical research. But...it is also the most blatant attack on free speech that I've seen in my lifetime. Unlike Taibbi's pearl clutching about government asking social media companies to abide by their own rules of conduct, this is the government banning the use of certain words that - for whatever reason - they don't like. 

Catherine Rampell identified some additional examples of government censorship.

Civil servants have been ordered to snitch on colleagues who might secretly harbor support for DEI — or diversity, equity and inclusion — initiatives. An executive order issued on Wednesday says the government will withhold funding from public schools that teach concepts such as “unconscious bias.”...

The president and his allies have also leaned on private firms to disavow politically incorrect values. For example, a group of 19 Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to Costco demanding the retailer drop its diversity commitments, citing a Trump executive order.

Just this week, the Trump administration punished the Associated Press for not complying with its speech rules. 

I have to admit that it's hard to keep up with all of the ways this administration is attacking free speech. So I'm sure I've missed a lot of examples. But as we've seen, despite Trump's executive orders on religious liberty and free speech, the entire First Amendment is under attack. In the Trump/Musk/Vance era, you are only allowed to believe and say what they find acceptable.