The Catalogue of Prohibited Phrases Linked to Trump that Results in Paper Flagging at NSF
In an attempt to adhere to President Donald Trump's executive order, every federal agency in the United States is grappling with the task of eliminating certain words from their online documents. This purge includes terms like "female," "disability," and "LGBT+" among others, and nowhere is this more bizarre than at the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The NSF is meticulously scouring websites and research papers for this extensive list of problematic words. When a word like "women" pops up, the content is flagged but requires manual review to determine if it falls under the anti-DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) order's forbidden topics. Unsurprisingly, "men" does not initiate a review, underscoring the inherent suspicion towards non-straight, white, male identities.
The list of flagged terms includes "hate speech", which is certainly eye-catching given the frequent Nazi salutes displayed by Trump supporters. Redefining terms like "hate speech" is part of the broader fascist agenda, as the executive order seeks to control language and marginalize certain perspectives.
The NSF's decision tree, shared by Professor Darby Saxbe of the University of Southern California, includes words like "activism", "discrimination", "equality", and "minorities", causing concern among researchers and academics.
Remarkably, this isn't an isolated incident. As reported by Gizmodo last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also purging its websites and reports of forbidden words. Meanwhile, billionaire Elon Musk, who serves as an unelected representative of Trump's government, continues to gain access to highly sensitive data without any form of halt.
With words like "women" and "trauma" being flagged less than three weeks into this initiative, it's safe to say that the outcome cannot be positive. This misguided attempt to purge DEI-related terms from federal agencies could potentially undermine efforts to support underrepresented researchers and weaken initiatives addressing disparities in science and healthcare. The impact on research and funding could be significant and long-lasting, potentially leading to self-censorship and defunding of studies on ethnic disparities or social determinants of health.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is actively looking to the future, exploring how technology and 'tech' can aid in their quest to eliminate problematic words from their documents. This forward-thinking approach could potentially shape the language we use in discussing diversity and inclusion issues in the future.
Despite the efforts to remove 'female' and 'LGBT+' from online documents, the future of scientific research might involve a more inclusive vocabulary, one that incorporates terms like 'gender' and 'sexuality' to promote equality and inclusion in all fields.
