NCAC - National Coalition Against Censorship

While censorship in the fields of art and politics has traditionally garnered the preponderance of public attention, the last few years have brought increased scrutiny of First Amendment concerns in the area of scientific research. A scientist's right to communicate and disseminate his or her research findings is a form of speech that is no less privy to the protections of the First Amendment than any other type of expression.

The impulse to stifle scientific speech is not, of course, a recent development. Government and religious officials have often sought to quash scientific findings that threaten their political message or value system. The censure (and imprisonment) of Galileo by the Catholic Church during the Inquisition for his theory that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe and, later, Stalin's brutal repression of scientific inquiry in the totalitarian Soviet Union, are but two examples of the long history of suppression of scientific thought. Even a democracy such as ours has experienced tension between the often competing aims of the scientific community and our political leaders, as evidenced, for example, by Nixon's frayed relationship with his science advisors and Reagan's bitter reaction to the scientific community's skeptical evaluation of his Strategic Defense Initiative.

Recently, however, the federal government, motivated by a desire to sustain a specific political agenda, has suppressed and/or distorted scientific reports to a degree not previously seen in this country. This incursion on the scientific community has impinged on a wide range of topics, including the environment, climate change, contraception and abstinence education, stem cell research, missile defense, energy sources and evolution. And these attacks have come in various forms: introducing a "controversy" where none actually exists by mandating equal attention and resources for quasi-theories containing little to no support in the scientific community; suppressing scientific reports by delaying their release or failing to make them available to the public; removing otherwise qualified scientists from important agency and panel positions by virtue of their disagreement with the current administration's politics or because their research yielded results that did not favor the administration's policy; enacting legislation that restricts the areas of inquiry an agency may permissibly study; and finally, distorting current scientific research by intentionally misrepresenting its findings.

All of these acts raise serious First Amendment concerns and represent a general assault on the scientific process. Further, they represent an erosion of our constitutional rights to freedom of speech, inquiry and exchange of ideas by creating a "chilling effect" for scientists who now fear repercussions for producing data or advocating positions that are inconsistent with the current political agenda. This situation is untenable. The benefits to society of robust and unencumbered scientific research and debate are incalculable, especially considering that government-sponsored research is often the primary means to developing sound public policy.

For reports on specific acts of scientific censorship, go to the archive. And to learn more how about this issue, check out NCAC's The Knowledge Project: Censorship & Science.

» Political Science: Safeguarding Science from Censorship - an NCAC special report
» Redacting the Science on Climate Change - a GAP report
» Censor This: Censorship in Science on Quirks & Quarks – 2/24/2007
» What the Government Won't Say About Global Warming Will Hurt Us All, in Legal Times – 12/11/2006
» When eyes remain wide shut on Abstinence, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – May 19, 2006

» NCAC spoke on a panel at the National Press Club that addressed issues of science of censorship and was organized by Open the Government as part of Sunshine Week 2007. The event was reported on here.

» NCAC briefed Congress on issues of science and censorship, an event organized in collaboration with the ACLU.

» NCAC addressed issues of science and censorship on a panel at the National Academies' Committee on Science, Technology, and Law. The Committee meets several times a year to discuss critical issues at the interface of science and technology.

» NCAC coordinated a panel presentation on science and censorship for the Free Expression Network. The Free Expression Network is an alliance of organizations dedicated to protecting the First Amendment right of free expression and the values it represents, and to opposing governmental efforts to suppress constitutionally protected speech.

» NCAC addressed the New York Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Roundtable Program. A copy of those remarks can be found here.