Cancer Institute Employees Can't Publish on These Topics Without Approval | Hacker News Reader

Cancer Institute Employees Can't Publish on These Topics Without Approval

propublica.org

103 pointshn_acker15 comments

Fascists suppressing science and research to toe a political and identity politics party line. Where have we seen this before?

The party of "free speech" is only for speech they approve of. Again, there is no defense of this.

Some of my favourite examples from last few weeks:

"You are not supposed to ask about that" ~ POTUS, during a Q/A with the press, March, 2025

And let’s not forget that first amendment:

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/06/nx-s1-5288181/why-cbs-stands-...

And interfering with companies and demanding people be fired:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-demands-msnbcs-rachel-ma...

——

If it walks like a duck…

Gun control:

The CDC once did [studies to prevent gun violence] – until 1997, when the NRA convinced Congress to cut all of the CDC’s funding for gun research, a loss equivalent to millions of dollars a year.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/27/health/cdc-gun-research-walen...

Yet on this very site when I would have suggested (let's say two years ago) that the right historically tends to go "free speech for me but not for thee" people would downvote.

What Trump does is no surprise to anybody who knows the man and this type of leader in history. The best times for the US are over until there is a major popular uprising with a new class of political leadership.

I don’t understand. He signed this executive order: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/rest...

So clearly he’s against any censorship? /s

Silencing science makes me angry. Scientists should be able to publish freely, but information and truth seems to be under attack world wide.

The full title is:

> National Cancer Institute Employees Can't Publish Information on These Topics Without Special Approval

The topics are:

Cancer Moonshot, NCI budget, COVID-19, Vaccines, H5N1/bird flu, Opioids, Marijuana, Dietary guidelines/ultra-processed foods, Obesity, Stem cell or fetal tissue research, Abortion, Autism, Peanut allergies, Fluoride, Measles, Diversity/equity efforts, Gender ideology, Environmental justice, Discussion of federal policies, Topics of federal investigations, Issues concerning pending legislation, Topics that have received recent attention from Congress, Topics that have received widespread or critical media attention

It has been noted in some circles that by the time you get to the end of that list, you've arguably included damn near everything.

The last item, "Topics that have received widespread or critical media attention", might as well include everything RFK mentions.

Peanut allergies?

> Peanut allergies?

Yes. The article has an image of an internal memo with the list, if you believe ProPublica.

FactCheck.org checked [1] a speech from RFK in which he (at timestamp 1:05:53 of [2]) attributed some "autoimmune diseases, neurological diseases, obesity, peanut allergies, food allergies" to some toxin that humans use in food production or as a flame retardant. (He also threw in cellphone radiation.)

[1] https://www.factcheck.org/2024/08/rfk-jr-s-exaggerations-on-...

[2] [video] 2024 Presidential Policy Perspectives with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUMhLMGs_2o

I like RFK Jr -- to express a contrarian view here. He has some quirky views (substitute your adjective, if you like), but he seems to be more flexible than his boss, and he is quite committed to transparency. He also has a genuine concern for the health of the American people, especially children.

I think what we're seeing here is some micromanagement and a desire to present a unified front to the public.

> he is quite committed to transparency

About that:

"... Kennedy has axed a public meeting on vaccines—leaving lingering questions about the future of those transparent proceedings. He has also revoked a broad transparency policy for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that required public notice for certain new rules and a comment period to allow for the public to be involved with the rulemaking process."[0]

> genuine concern for the health of the American people, especially children

Whether or not this is true, his views on vaccines are going to kill and maim countless children for years and decades to come.

[0] https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/03/rfk-jr-shuts-american...

In the Soviet Union, and, after that, Russia, all scientific publications had to go through the "1st department" of the institutions where the authors work, to certify that the to-be-published article or book did not contain any secret or confidential information.

Where I worked prior to 2008, it was a quick formality.

So, do you let the bullies dictate scientific information?

No, you publish outside of their intellectual blindspots and let the crew at the end of the tunnel pull it through when things simmer down.

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