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Federal data is disappearing. On Thursday, meet the teams working to rescue it
- actionfromafar 2y agoSo, are the feds saving money on hosting costs?! What's the point of this.
- rizky05 2y ago[dead]
- guff_se 2y agoThis is not an objection against saving hosting costs, it is the fact that the original data is not saved or backed up. To understand our future we need to know our past. Saving shelf space in the library is not a good justification to burn our history books. If you don’t like having them up, you can put them in the basement. Storage costs hardly anything.
- guff_se 2y agoThis is of course a deliberate move. By actively destroying ideas and work you don’t agree with, rather than archiving it, you make it harder for the other side to realize their vision. It’s a kind of scorched earth strategy.
- lazide 2y agoEspecially if done from the official archives, since you can then claim any copies are ‘fake news’/forgeries.
- watwut 2y agoIt is easier to claim "everything functions better then before" if you destroyed data about how to worked before and have under control what is said about now.
- exe34 2y agoChocolate rations can increase from 60g to 40g if you don't have a record of how much you got last week.
- mschuster91 2y ago[flagged]
- pjc50 2y agoPresumably this is being downvoted by idealogues, but it's absolutely correct. A couple of years ago I went to an exhibition in Munich on this subject, of surviving material from the era. It was a German doctor of the 1920s who pioneered the idea of giving trans people what was effectively a doctor's note against police harrasment, an ancestor of the modern paperwork transition process.
- exe34 2y agoany idea why this is such a big deal to Nazis? I know they go after other people too, but it's really eerie watching it replay scene by scene.
- defrost 2y agoThey had complicated feelings about their little trouser nazi sig heil'ing everytime they went to the Weimar cabaret. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdM36y-Dkyg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdM36y-Dkyg
- llamaimperative 2y agoScapegoating politically and culturally disempowered groups is super useful to such movements. Notice how literally every single problem in our country is “caused by DEI” now? It helps because it’s easier to solve fake problems with fake solutions instead of real ones.
- josteink 2y ago[flagged]
- actionfromafar 2y agoMaintaining systems is an operational thing, not an administration thing. Are you saying purges of federal data is something routine after a US transfer of power?
- p3rls 2y ago[flagged]
- cguess 2y agoThe difference is those were private platforms not giving a soapbox to certain politicians that were quite clearly violating private terms of service. This is the federal government deleting taxpayer-funded content, data and studies. They are not similar in any way and to imply otherwise is a disingenuous comparison.
- p3rls 2y ago[dead]
- hiddencost 2y agoThis is totally unprecedented.
- harimau777 2y agoAt least in recent history, there haven't been mass purges of information when a new administration came into power. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened in isolated cases, and that would of course be wrong, but nothing like what we are seeing now.
- computerthings 2y agoAs Hannah Arendt said, the difference between traditional and modern lies is like the difference between hiding it, and destroying it. > Moreover, the traditional lie concerned only particulars and was never meant to deceive literally everybody; it was directed at the enemy and was meant to deceive only him. These two limitations restricted the injury inflicted upon truth to such an extent that to us, in retrospect, it may appear almost harmless. Since facts always occur in a context, a particular lie – that is, a falsehood that makes no attempt to change the whole context – tears, as it were, a hole in the fabric of factuality. As every historian knows, one can spot a lie by noticing incongruities, holes, or the junctures of patched-up places. As long as the texture as a whole is kept intact, the lie will eventually show up as if of its own accord. The second limitation concerns those who are engaged in the business of deception. They used to belong to the restricted circle of statesmen and diplomats, who among themselves still knew and could preserve the truth.They were not likely to fall victims to their own falsehoods; they could deceive others without deceiving themselves. Both of these mitigating circumstances of the old art of lying are noticeably absent from the manipulation of facts that confronts us today. -- Hannah Arendt, "Truth and Politics"
- hexaga 2y agoIt is presented as an attack against the left, which is popular with proponents of the current administration. Trying to analyze it at the object level is pointless - this is, chiefly, a political move toward political ends.
- lazide 2y agoReally it’s just an attack against any truth/data found inconvenient. Why argue when you can just make it not exist?
- 0xEF 2y ago[flagged]
- matwood 2y agoI think we're about the learn how effective the internet really is at remembering. Here is Rubio talking about how great USAID is not that long ago... https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/05/politics/video/kfile-marco-rubio-usaid-foreign-aid-praise-ebof-digvid https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/05/politics/video/kfile-marc... Not he says it's a criminal organization they've been trying to get rid of over multiple administrations. Obviously they want to scrub all the past.
- lazide 2y agoWe’ve always been at war with East Asia.
- soco 2y agoReminds me of that tweet where someone was complaining how difficult is to combat the arguments of the left because these tend to be based on facts.
- christkv 2y agoI view it more like a battle between two groups of the elites. The left/right prism is a distraction. Personally I think both political parties got taken over by what we used to call the Neo-cons. The Republicans underwent an internal revolution that sidelined the Neo-cons inside it. So I view this as a battle between one group Neo-cons vs this new group represented by the current administration. I don't have an opinion if that is better or worse, only time will tell. Demolishing USAID etc. should be seen as purging their political enemies and their supporters who's been nesting in the public structure for a couple of decades.
- 4ndrewl 2y agoSo, we're saving money on shelf space by burning those books. What's the problem?!
- WhyNotHugo 2y agoFor a political leader who makes a lot of unsubstantiated claims where data contradicts him, removing that data makes his claims a lot harder to refute.
- zo1 2y ago[flagged]
- misja111 2y ago[flagged]
- zo1 2y ago[flagged]
- hiddencost 2y ago[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- anon7000 2y agoIt’s because you frankly have a pretty petty, small-sized idea about what the left’s goals were. To you, the goal is to fucking burn out everyone you disagree with, and to change the government to actively persecute those who aren’t in the in group. It’s super aggressive, and by your own admission, not really what the leftists were doing. The liberal ideas are pretty goddamn simple. There’s a place for everyone, as long as you’re not hurting someone or making them uncomfortable. That really sums up a large part of cancel culture. Yeah, it means you’ll get a lot more flack for being a dick. But we don’t try to get rid of consumer protections, weather forecasts, social safety nets (and those safety nets provide benefits to anyone, even if they got cancelled, by the way), and the like just because our feelings got hurt. But I know for a god damn fact that my children would be safer in a liberal future. Some of the info taken down includes stuff about protecting women from harassment and abuse. Would my daughter be safer in your world. I mean a solid 90% of cancel culture is people who were absolutely horrid towards the women in their lives. You want to make crass jokes again? Or not get called out for wandering eyes and hands? Yeah, I’m sure ignoring that widespread problem will protect our daughters.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- washadjeffmad 2y agoIt looks like you're getting some knee-jerk downvotes because some people are likely misreading your exasperation with what practical utility removing the data could possibly serve as "So [what], the feds are saving money on hosting costs?! What's the point of this [thread]." That's not your fault, and I'm sorry.
- matwood 2y ago> What's the point of this. "Who controls the past, controls the future."
- walrus01 2y agoThey already deleted the main USAID YouTube channel, likely so news media can't easily pull any public domain footage of projects in various developing nations.
- know-how 2y ago[dead]
- bloomingkales 2y agoFound one for ya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcla7WoWIpQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcla7WoWIpQ The USAID Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) began its program in Haiti in January 2010 as part of the post-earthquake response, supporting short- and medium-term activities aimed at stabilizing Haiti through support for community revitalization, improved governance, and economic strengthening.
- somenameforme 2y agoWhether this is a great or awful example probably depends on one's views of USAID. They were associated with the Red Cross there in the high profile failure that managed to spend more than $1.5 billion to ultimately build a total of 6 permanent housing units. [1] While that was definitely more Red Cross than USAID, the video also makes no secret of what one of the major issues with USAID is. It uses the pretext of aid, but generally has the goal of manipulating the politics in other countries, which often leads to conflict. Quoting literally from that video, --- ... the following november the election represented a potential flashpoint for instability but also an opportunity for haitians to determine their own future. usaid coordinated the first televised presidential debates and supported voter education campaigns including a mobile strategy using text messages to help with political awareness ... --- Ironic because it's rather clear who USAID was endorsing [2] because his opponent (who lost) [3] ran specifically on a platform of a "more independent Haitian state, one less reliant upon and subject to foreign governments and NGOs." The USAID (and Bill/Hillary Clinton) backed candidate was roiled in numerous claims of corruption, subsequent vote rigging, backing Haitian criminal gangs, and was ultimately sanctioned by the US and Canada for involvement in cocaine trafficking into the US. Incidentally, as the video also mentions, USAID spent their money not on the people, but the government - they built the units for this lovely fellow's government to reside in as the Presidential Palace was severely damaged in the quake. [1] - https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-... [2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Martelly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Martelly [3] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirlande_Manigat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirlande_Manigat
- roenxi 2y agoLooks like an admirable effort, although I assume this is all happening too quickly for them to put out a list of what is actually disappearing. It'll be an interesting topic to revisit in a few months.
- misja111 2y agoDoes anybody have an example of federal data that has disappeared already? I'm interested what kind of data it's about.
- diggan 2y agoExamples: > At the Department of Justice, a database detailing the vast array of criminal charges and successful convictions of January 6 rioters was removed, according to a report from Donie O’Sullivan and Katelyn Polantz at CNN > Several pages on the Center for Disease Control have also been removed, including information on LGBTQ+ rights, HIV and adolescent health, reports Will Stone and Selena Simmons-Duffin from NPR From https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2025/feb/04/the-fight-to-preserve-federal-government-data/ https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2025/feb/04/the-fight...
- matwood 2y agoWe’ve always been at war with Eurasia. This wholesale purge of data is an effort to rewrite history. Hopefully the Internet can mostly remember.
- mandeepj 2y ago> Several pages on the Center for Disease Control have also been removed, including information on LGBTQ+ rights, HIV and adolescent health, reports Will Stone and Selena Simmons-Duffin from NPR A federal judge has already ordered to restore that data https://fedscoop.com/federal-judge-orders-hhs-cdc-fda-to-restore-webpages-datasets/ https://fedscoop.com/federal-judge-orders-hhs-cdc-fda-to-res...
- anon291 2y ago> At the Department of Justice, a database detailing the vast array of criminal charges and successful convictions of January 6 rioters was removed, according to a report from Donie O’Sullivan and Katelyn Polantz at CNN Like it or hate it, they're all pardoned now and don't have a criminal record.
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- libsofhn 2y ago[flagged]
- enaaem 2y agoWhat do Trump supporters here think of this?
- junek 2y agoI doubt they think much, in general
- snakeyjake 2y agoThere are two types of Trump supporters. One type thinks that the data being disappeared is "trans DEI libtard lies". The other type believes that the federal government should collect no data because it is stealing a Job Creator's god-given right to act as a middleman in all aspects of human culture and charge money for access to that data (because that's, somehow, more efficient).
- soupbowl 2y agoNice! Now do Biden/Harris supporters.
- snakeyjake 2y agoNo. Every time someone says or implies "bOtH sIdEs" a hungry child gets kicked out of a free and reduced school lunch program and called a parasite.
- bloomingkales 2y agohttps://www.foodandwine.com/free-school-lunch-programs-matter-8784083 https://www.foodandwine.com/free-school-lunch-programs-matte... Can you believe we are having to write articles like this in America in 2025? It’s embarrassing, but alas, we have to do it.
- Rhapso 2y agoSure, most Biden/Harris supporters are ultimately "centrists", like most trump supporters. They spend their life struggling to juggle costs of living and responsibilities of adulthood. They participate in a society that demands they use all of their energy physical and cognitive to just survive and they reasonably outsource their judgement regarding larger scale policies and politics to trusted leaders of their community. They then believe and do what those leaders tell them. The other type of Biden/Harris supporter has the privilege of time and energy to spend examining the situation critically and recognizes them as just supporting further corporate control behind the guise of bureaucracy instead of "strong men". But they vote/evangalize for them anyway because at least they don't actively advocate for harming people out of spite.
- ldng 2y agoBut only the public data is salvageable. I can't imagine the extent of the internal damage. "Interesting" lesson on how painless and deadpan digital autodafé are.. Scary how fast USA is sinking into dark ages.