Researchers who study how disinformation spreads are under investigation in the United States for allegedly helping to censor conservative opinions about COVID-19 vaccines and government elections. Jim Jordan, a US representative for Ohio, is leading the charge against the scientists. He is also one of the Republican leaders who have suggested that the Democrats have stolen the 2020 presidential election from former president Donald Trump, and who have made unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud.
The House of Representatives judiciary committee that Jordan chairs is one of at least three investigating an alleged ‘censorship regime’ that involves academic researchers, US government programmes designed to counter disinformation and social-media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook. The committees have sent out letters demanding communications and records from numerous scientists and institutions — in some cases under threat of legal action. In parallel, a cadre of activist groups and Republican-led states that challenged the 2020 election results have launched lawsuits against the administration of President Joe Biden, as well as against individual researchers...
We have seen this playbook before, says Rebekah Tromble, who leads the Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics at George Washington University in Washington DC. Many climate scientists, for instance, have been targeted by legal actions and information requests from conservative activists and leaders. “This is a practice that is going to touch more and more researchers’ lives.”
Read the article in Nature.