#DefendResearch

#DefendResearch

@defendresearch.bsky.social

Take action to #DefendResearch against U.S. Government censorship! https://defendresearch.org (banner image from https://pen.org/banned-words-list/)

927 followers390 following284 posts

#DefendResearch reposted

Lisa Schiff
@lschiff.bsky.social

Great @scholarlykitchen.bsky.social piece by @alicemeadows.bsky.social about the assessment of #censorship by @researchconsulting.bsky.social in partnership with @defendresearch.bsky.social. Take a read, then take action to end this attack on knowledge! scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2026/10/28/f...

scholarlykitchen.sspnet.orgFrom Anecdote to Evidence: How US Government Censorship is Impacting Public Health - The Scholarly KitchenWith the midterms approaching, read about this timely report on US government censorship of research on public health -- the first to analyze the aggregated impact
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

The patterns of harm from U.S. government #censorship are clear, thanks to the excellent work by @researchconsulting.bsky.social assessing those individual acts. We are proud to be a partner on this study, and are ready to help the community use these findings to demand an intervention.

LSE Impact@lseimpactblog.bsky.social

💥New | What 4,200 data points reveal about US government interference in research ✍️ @rschrobuk.bsky.social #AcademicSky #ResearchPolicy #ResearchIntegrity

blogs.lse.ac.ukWhat 4,200 data points reveal about US government interference in research - LSE ImpactUS federal actions affecting research can look like isolated administrative decisions. A new report shows how they form a consistent and concerted pattern.

#DefendResearch reposted

Rob Johnson
@rschrobuk.bsky.social

Over the past 10 months we've worked with @defendresearch.bsky.social to map US government interference in public health research. Read the post below to discover what we found. It's not good.

LSE Impact@lseimpactblog.bsky.social

💥New | What 4,200 data points reveal about US government interference in research ✍️ @rschrobuk.bsky.social #AcademicSky #ResearchPolicy #ResearchIntegrity

blogs.lse.ac.ukWhat 4,200 data points reveal about US government interference in research - LSE ImpactUS federal actions affecting research can look like isolated administrative decisions. A new report shows how they form a consistent and concerted pattern.
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

The evidence of government #censorship and the consequences will continue to grow, unless there is an intervention. A new study from @researchconsulting.bsky.social and #DefendResearch provides analysis to help advocate for change! www.growkudos.com/projects/fro...

growkudos.comFrom anecdote to evidence: Mapping the impact of US government action on public health research – Kudos: Growing the influence of researchOctober 27, 2026 Report finds threats at every level of the research system, from tampering with the research record to conditioning funding and policing what researchers can say, and sets out recomm...
Dorit Reiss@doritreiss.bsky.social

"US vaccine recommendations are in limbo, access to vaccines is suffering, and some of the uncertainty may continue for years following major blows to vaccination by the Trump administration, experts say." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026... via @melodyschreiber.com @theguardian.com

theguardian.com‘It’s a mess right now’: RFK’s sweeping changes place new vaccines in limboHealth secretary’s effort to alter makeup of ACIP panel means no new recommendations coming – even as new vaccines are approved
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

US government #censorship of research creates harm at every level. A new study by @researchconsulting.bsky.social, in partnership with #DefendResearch, identifies these patterns of threat, so we can more effectively advocate to end these government actions. tinyurl.com/4aankxta

defendresearch.orgFrom anecdote to evidencePRESS RELEASE From anecdote to evidence: new study maps US federal censorship of public health research October 27, 2026 Report finds threats at every level of the research system, from tamperi...

#DefendResearch reposted

Jeremy Berg
@jeremymberg.bsky.social

This is one of the most powerful depictions of health research-driven progress. No statistics required.

Colette Delawalla, PhD@cdelawalla.bsky.social

Lots of people citing this one: HIV went from a death sentence to…undetectable and people get to live a full and healthy normal life!!!! I mean that’s amazing.

#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

ICYMI: Political interference in science happens at the state level, too. This report outlines protections for research and scientists. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/pol... #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky

brennancenter.orgSafeguarding Science in State AgenciesOfficials too often distort research for political gain. Legislatures and agencies can push back by establishing standards for evidence-based policymaking, protections for scientists, and executive br...

#DefendResearch reposted

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD
@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social

A summary of the unethical Guinea-Bissau trial of the birth dose of HepB vaccine that RFK Jr. funded: -It was first reported in January and public backlash got it canceled -Or not, because it reemerged this month -It got ethics approval from a Danish review board, resulting in 4 people resigning

#DefendResearch reposted

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD
@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social

Holy cow. The Guinea-Bissau offices of the two Danish researchers who were funded by RFK Jr. to conduct an unethical experiment with the HepB vaccine just had their offices raided and vaccines seized by the police. Great work on reporting this story once again by @melodyschreiber.com.

theguardian.comRFK Jr’s ‘deities of vaccine research’ raided by police in Guinea-BissauPolice seize doses of hepatitis B vaccine from people at center of dispute over research on African newborns

#DefendResearch reposted

AAUP
@aaup.org

“International students, full-time faculty and part-time faculty in particular—we were all feeling very vulnerable,” said Hank Kalet, a journalism lecturer and vice president of the adjunct faculty union. “So these protections became a central focus for a lot of our members.” #academicfreedom

insidehighered.comRutgers Unions Win Academic Freedom for All Unit MembersTraditionally limited to full-time faculty, academic freedom protections will now extend to librarians, postdocs and clinicians at Rutgers. But without accompanying job security, adjuncts could still ...
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

Government information belongs to the public. Records survive while access vanishes. Preservation without access is storage. #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky blog.archive.org/2026/10/06/w...

blog.archive.orgWho Is Government Information For? Information Stewardship Forum 2026 Report - Internet Archive BlogsDemocracy’s Library exists as a project of the Internet Archive to make government publications and information broadly accessible and available. But Democracy’s Library is about more than collections...

#DefendResearch reposted

Jonathan Howard
@joho.bsky.social

Same vibes...

sciencebasedmedicine.orgThe Covid Amnesia Project and the Plot to Erase 2020It’s up to those of us who experienced the pandemic in the real-world to make sure that what actually happened in 2020 isn’t deliberately erased by sheltered disinformation agents who experienced
Tom Joscelyn@tomjoscelyn.bsky.social

In early 2025, I assumed the Trump regime would delete the Department of Justice’s press releases and other statements related to more than 1,000 Jan. 6 cases. So I downloaded them. We’ve now made them available to the public with a search tool. They can’t erase history. jan6memoryproject.org

jan6memoryproject.orgThe January 6 Memory ProjectA public archive of Department of Justice news releases and related court filings concerning prosecutions from the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

At New College of Florida, books were dumped and gender studies shuttered. Students and faculty kept organizing. That's the fight for academic freedom. #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky www.aft.org/news/lessons...

aft.orgLessons from the frontlines of the fight for academic freedomOn Sept. 27, the AFT’s Higher Education division hosted a screening and panel discussion with creators of and participants in the documentary “First They Came for My College.” The event, co-sponsored ...

#DefendResearch reposted

AAUP
@aaup.org

“We are facing an onslaught like we’ve never seen before. We need a movement that is wall to wall, every single worker, and coast to coast.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

This is immoral, and being done in our name.

Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH@gavinyamey.bsky.social

Good news Contrary to what the Danish researchers themselves are saying publicly, in fact the government and key health authorities in Guinea-Bissau have NOT approved this highly unethical RFK Jr-funded trial www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...

theguardian.comGuinea-Bissau denies it has approved controversial vaccine trial in newbornsHealth minister says government ‘did not authorize’ Danish-led hepatitis B trial in babies backed by RFK Jr

#DefendResearch reposted

Jonathan Howard
@joho.bsky.social
sciencebasedmedicine.orgDr. Jay Bhattacharya on Measles: “I Think I’ve Done My Best.”As football coach Bill Parcells famously said, “you are what your record says you are”.
NBC News@nbcnews.com

Two babies died. An 18-year-old with measles died from a rare complication that caused inflammation in the brain. At least six infants have been born infected with measles. There’s no way to predict which kids will get hit hardest.

nbcnews.toPennsylvania doctors are seeing what measles can do to previously healthy, unvaccinated kidsThe virus is proving it can attack multiple organs, including the gut, liver, lungs and brain, even in children who were previously healthy.

#DefendResearch reposted

AAUP
@aaup.org

“Every single one of us in this room has lost at least one year in our life expectancy because of the Alzheimer’s therapy, the cancer therapy, the diabetes research that will not be there when we need it because they closed our labs." –Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

ipmnewsroom.orgUniversity of Illinois tenured faculty restart unionization process in midst of Trump policy changes - IPM NewsroomThe Campus Faculty Association hosted a panel Tuesday focused on attacks on higher education, where organizers and heads of other unions pitched unionization as the way to fight back.

#DefendResearch reposted

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD
@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social

I’m a public health voter because US public health is dying of RFK Jr. poisoning. Remember: not one Democrat voted to confirm him. Republicans in charge are either sitting by and letting it happen or ardently cheering him on.

#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

ICYMI: Cancel grants “for convenience”? ED proposes new power. Higher ed groups warn of politicized funding. https://f.mtr.cool/5i8lbcce74 #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky

f.mtr.coolHigher Ed Groups Bash ED Proposal to Allow More Grant TerminationsThe Education Department received more than 5,500 public comments on rule changes that would allow the secretary to, among many other things, ax awards simply “for convenience.”

#DefendResearch reposted

Jeremy Berg
@jeremymberg.bsky.social

Regaring this Press Release from yesterday. A 🧵 www.nih.gov/news-events/... I was pleased that NIH has been supporting early career investigators after Director Bhattacharya's rhetoric but lack of action last year. 1/9

nih.govNIH announces record number of grants to support early career investigators, launches new recruitment initiative for intramural researchNIH highlights actions to strengthen American biomedical science at White House Science: A New Golden Age Summit.
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

ICYMI: The AHA backs a bill to shield the Smithsonian from interference. Historical scholarship must be evidence-based. https://f.mtr.cool/5p93k0h4va #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky

f.mtr.coolAHA Endorses Legislation to Protect the Independence of the Smithsonian InstitutionThe AHA endorses the Smithsonian Integrity and Historical Independence Act of 2026, introduced by Reps. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), and Kweisi Mfume (MD-07) in response to ongoing attacks on the Smithsonian by the Trump administration.

#DefendResearch reposted

Miranda L. Barnes
@mirandab-oa.bsky.social

The first event in the Trust, Open Knowledge, and Infrastructure @toki-crassh.bsky.social research network series is coming up in two days time! There is still time to register to hear @lschiff.bsky.social speak about @defendresearch.bsky.social. Register here: www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/52427/

crassh.cam.ac.ukResponding to political upheaval with #DefendResearch - CRASSHCentre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
Trust, Open Knowledge & Infrastructure Research Network@toki-crassh.bsky.social

We are very happy to share with you our schedule of events for the Michaelmas term! Find out more by clicking on the 'Programme' tab at www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/research/networks/future-of-open-knowledge/ Our first event with @lschiff.bsky.social at @defendresearch.bsky.social is coming up 15th October

#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

ICYMI: Congress approved the money. Trump moved to cancel nearly $1B—including $70M in international education grants. Lawmakers question the legality. https://f.mtr.cool/e5j3ju820l #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky

f.mtr.coolTrump cancels nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, a move some lawmakers called illegalPresident Trump moved to cancel almost $1 billion in spending that was approved by Congress, marking the second time his administration has employed a rarely used tactic that some lawmakers in both parties have called illegal.
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

ICYMI: Who decides what history the Smithsonian tells? A bill would bar federal interference and require reporting. https://f.mtr.cool/9ds92ivjh5 #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky

f.mtr.coolReps. Stansbury, Jackson, and Mfume Introduce Bill to Protect the SmithsonianWASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Ranking Member of the DOGE Subcommittee, Rep. Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), and Rep. Kweisi Mfume (MD-07) introduced the Smithsonian Integrity and Historical Independence Act of 2026, a bill to protect the independence of the Smithsonian Institution.
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

ICYMI: Can a major climate research lab be broken up for political reasons? UCAR sued to stop the NCAR selloff, alleging retaliation against Colorado. https://f.mtr.cool/q57ocflaky #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky

f.mtr.coolUCAR sues its partners to block Trump administration’s “arbitrary and capricious” selloff of Boulder NCAR labScientific consortium that runs the Boulder federal lab says retribution is only reason for dismantling the climate, weather research agency

#DefendResearch reposted

Joshua Weitz
@joshuasweitz.bsky.social

The NIH proposal to conceal reviewer scores from program officers, investigators, and advisory councils is ill-conceived, introduces disproportionate weight to small percentile differences, diminishes the role of scientific peer review, and should be withdrawn in its entirety. a 🧵

joshuasweitz.substack.comWhat is NIH Leadership Trying to Hide from Researchers & the Public?A NIH proposal to conceal reviewer rankings of investigator-initiated research grants is ripe for misuse & demands a collective response (by October 13).
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

ICYMI: “Nobody’s OK.” A former NIH program director describes fear, lost expertise and political pressure on science. Staff started documenting it. https://f.mtr.cool/ytpndpxzmo #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky

f.mtr.coolNIH Employees Lived in a Culture of Fear, So They Started Keeping ReceiptsSylvia Chou, former NIH program director, says “nobody’s OK” after massive disruptions to funding policies and infrastructure.
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

ICYMI: Reporting science under pressure? Journalists share tactics: fact-check officials, protect sources and follow evidence. https://f.mtr.cool/izu2i2yfdo #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky

f.mtr.coolRoundtable: How to Cover Science During Sociopolitical Disruption - The Open NotebookSince the second Trump administration took office, news on how the nation’s leaders are systematically dismantling the practice of science in the U.S. has arrived in a daily deluge. In this roundtable discussion, five journalists share their strategies for choosing stories, balancing science and politics in their reporting, working with hesitant sources, and navigating an information landscape that’s constantly shifting.
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

ICYMI: Who decides what gets funded? OMB’s plan favors presidential priorities and would bar grant-paid publication fees. https://f.mtr.cool/16813jleus #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky

f.mtr.coolWhat Is Trump’s OMB Trying to Do to Research This Time?Jonathan Grunert explains why the latest changes to rules affecting federal financial assistance for research proposed by the Office of Management and Budget fail to pass peer review.

#DefendResearch reposted

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD
@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social

This is a disaster. The ethics committee in Denmark that approved the Guinea-Bissau study which will withhold the birth dose of HepB vaccine “had never considered medical studies before but it changed the rules in order to vote on this one”. Four members of the committee have resigned in protest.

theguardian.comControversial vaccine trial touted by RFK Jr gets go-ahead in Guinea-BissauRecommended dose of hepatitis B vaccine will be withheld from thousands of newborns by Danish researchers
#DefendResearch
@defendresearch.bsky.social

Nearly 12,000 school book bans in ONE year. PEN America reports a new record—with over 8,100 in Texas alone and AI helping remove books en masse. https://f.mtr.cool/wlzxmnj690 #Censorship #DefendResearch #AcademicChatter #AcademicSky

f.mtr.coolNearly 12,000 School Book Bans Nationwide in 2025-2026—Biggest Number in a Single YearPEN America today reported nearly 12,000 book bans in public schools nationwide during the 2025-2026 school year—the largest number in a single year. New state censorship laws accounted for much of the increase, coupled with the use of artificial intelligence to remove books en masse including pop...