Thread by @SunWebIntegrity

NEW Report: “Erasing the Affordable Care Act: Using Government Web Censorship to Undermine the Law.”

We’ve analyzed ACA web content censored at HHS and the impact that removing this content has on the public, particularly vulnerable populations

sunlightfoundation.com/2019/05/15/new…

The report demonstrates how censorship of ACA content has enhanced the policy goals of the Trump admin to undercut the ACA. We show that loose regulation allows an administration to use federal websites to weaken laws it opposes.

Read full report: sunlightfoundation.com/wp-content/upl…

The report documents several new findings of web censorship, and we detail one of the more expansive examples in a new website monitoring report about the removal of an 85-page “Facts and Features” website from HHS.gov in early 2017

sunlightfoundation.com/2019/05/15/85-…

The “Facts and Features” site had several years’ worth of fact sheets, news releases, and informational publications about the ACA, removed from HHS.gov without notice or explanation, and most without being archived

See full report: sunlightfoundation.com/wp-content/upl…

If repeated broadly, censorship of ACA information on federal websites has the potential to affect public support and awareness of the law. Ultimately, this may jeopardize Americans’ access to coverage and health services, and, down the line, the ACA’s long-term viability

Censoring online information about rights, benefits, and services under the ACA may have an outsized negative impact on the most vulnerable in our society, who are already more likely to be uninsured or have less access to ACA health services than the rest of the population

“People rely on government information, and there’s a presumption of objectivity that comes from the government address" - @SJohn_4455 as reported by @issielaposky @Wired

wired.com/story/trump-sc…

While our report analyzes the harms that can stem from widespread censorship of ACA-related info, this approach could be used by agencies to affect public opinion and reduce access to public info about any law the executive opposes and seeks to undermine

sunlightfoundation.com/2019/05/15/new…