Illustration by Aaliyah Diaz
Where ignorance spreads, authoritarianism takes root — suppressing democracy and concentrating power in the hands of the elite. To maintain power, authoritarian leaders suppress political freedoms and civil rights, and one of the most powerful ways to do so is through disinformation. It’s important to note the difference between disinformation and misinformation. Both spread false information, but disinformation is doing so intentionally to manipulate an audience or cause harm. This is why free access to information is so important to maintain. If people consistently have resources to fact-check and inform themselves, disinformation is harmless and malicious actors cannot easily shape the knowledge and opinions of the public. Unfortunately, the Trump administration is actively targeting this right. Since his inauguration, Trump has taken steps towards controlling and censoring the press — he has begun attacking libraries and removed critical information that used to be publicly available online.
Trump popularized the term “fake news” a long time ago, claiming “it is the enemy of the American People”. He’s not wrong! Fake news is extremely harmful, but in this case, he’s just calling out media platforms that inform their consumers of his (real) actions. With this attitude, Trump has sued multiple media companies including The Des Moines Register, ABC News, and CBS. During the most recent election, Trump sued CBS over a “60 Minutes” interview of Kamala Harris, claiming it was edited in a way that would interfere with the election (CBS has since refuted these claims). Even more recently, Trump posted the following message on Truth Social:
“Almost every week, 60 Minutes, which is being sued for Billions of Dollars for the fraud they committed in the 2024 Presidential Election with their Interview of Failed Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris, mentions the name “TRUMP” in a derogatory and defamatory way (...) I am so honored to be suing 60 Minutes, CBS Fake News, and Paramount, over their fraudulent, beyond recognition, reporting (...) They are not a “News Show”, but a dishonest Political Operative simply disguised as “News”, and must be responsible for what they have done, and are doing”
These are some attempts made by Trump to diminish the authority and credibility of news outlets that don’t align with the goals of his administration. If he can delegitimize the voices that speak out and challenge his actions, he can control the public’s understanding and shape their reality to fit his agenda — a tactic historically used by authoritarian leaders to control their subjects, and one that should raise concerns among the American public.
Beyond delegitimizing voices, Trump has also tried to completely silence critical coverage sources. In an executive order, Trump effectively dismantled the United States Agency for Global Media, which in turn defunded Voice of America. Voice of America (VOA) is a broadcast that spreads American news globally and aims to inform individuals living in countries without free press. By attacking this organization, Trump has gone beyond controlling the information consumed by U.S. citizens, and onto controlling information consumption around the world. No one person should have that much influence on the minds of individuals, and thankfully, a federal judge recently determined that his attempt to shut down VOA violated the law and Constitution. The First Amendment explicitly protects free press — it is an indicator of democracy because it informs voters and keeps those in power accountable. Therefore, by limiting the ability of journalists to report factual information freely and without consequence, Trump is attacking democracy. Shouldn’t the President of the United States uplift and strengthen democracy, instead of actively destroying it?
If news stations are truly going under, citizens must make the conscious decision to seek out information themselves. Unfortunately, the Trump administration is limiting this as well by attacking libraries, websites, and open data. In the same executive order that struck the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Trump ordered the Institute of Museum and Library Services to eliminate their “non-statutory components and functions”.
If you’re thinking, “Who even goes to libraries anymore? I find my information online”, well, Trump is restricting that too. Since his inauguration, thousands of U.S. Government web pages have disappeared. According to The New York Times, CDC pages including research articles, vaccine guidelines, and treatment guidelines were removed. Pages from the Census Bureau, the Department of Justice, the FDA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and other significant pages for research and general understanding were also removed. These removals were all part of Trump’s goal to target and eliminate DEI initiatives. Thousands of datasets also disappeared from data.gov, an open data platform run by the U.S. government. Open data is used in many fields for different democratic purposes. For example, researchers use open data to understand developments and trends in society and come up with ways to improve quality of life. Additionally, citizens can use open data to fact-check claims made by politicians. In this sense, facts that make it possible to question claims made by Trump are gone, making it more difficult to challenge his position. This also puts more power into the hands of the U.S. government, since information that used to be available to the public is now only accessible to certain government officials. This should concern the American public! Suddenly useful information about health and justice are gone, limiting the ability to educate oneself on such significant topics, and requiring blind faith in whatever information the government may choose to share.
One of the most important things you can do in times such as these is stay informed. Subscribe to sources that you trust to provide factual, relevant, and reliable information (like iJournal!). Don’t immediately believe everything you see on social media, and fact check statements that seem questionable, even if they come from sources as elevated as government officials. If the American public can recognize how important information is, we can maintain a lot of power, even through times where we feel like we have none.
