1. EXCLUSIVE
Today, the NSA is planning a "Big Delete" of websites and internal network content that contain any of 27 banned words, including "privilege," "bias," and "inclusion," a NSA source tells Popular Information.
The massive purge is creating chaos, taking down "mission-related" work
Today, the NSA is planning a "Big Delete" of websites and internal network content that contain any of 27 banned words, including "privilege," "bias," and "inclusion," a NSA source tells Popular Information.
The massive purge is creating chaos, taking down "mission-related" work
2. A memo distributed by NSA leadership to its staff says that on February 10, all NSA websites and internal network pages that contain banned words will be deleted.
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popular.info/p/the-nsas-big…
3. The memo acknowledges that the list includes many terms that are used by the NSA in contexts that have nothing to do with DEI. For example, the term "privilege" is used by the NSA in the context of "privilege escalation," which is a counterintelligence technique
4. The purge extends beyond public-facing websites to pages on the NSA's internal network, including project management software like Jira and Confluence. The NSA is trying to identify mission-related sites before the "Big Delete" is executed but appears to lack the personnel to do so.
5. Instead, the NSA is working with "Data Science Development Program interns" to "understand the false-positive use cases" and "help generate query options that can better minimize false-positives." Nevertheless, the NSA is anticipating "unintended downtime" of "mission-related" websites.
6. While Trump's executive order claims to target "illegal and immoral discrimination programs," the NSA's banned-word list demonstrates that the implementation is far broader. The Trump administration is attempting to prohibit any acknowledgment that racism, stereotypes, and bias exist.
7. The ban is so sweeping that "confirmation bias" — the tendency of people "to accept or notice information if it appears to support what they already believe or expect" — is included, even though it has nothing to do with race or gender.
8. For more independent accountability journalism, subscribe to Popular Information.
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