“We’re now living in a country where the government has decided that a sweeping array of everyday terms will now be erased and forbidden in government agencies, websites, or even scientific research proposals. These prohibitions on language are utterly chilling and will impede efforts to research real world problems and advance human knowledge.”
-Jonathan Friedman, Sy Syms managing director of US Free Expression Programs

I was catching up by phone with Lib Hutchby, a Chapel Hill branch and Earth Democracy Committee member, when she mentioned the article by AJ Connelly in PEN America, Federal Government’s Growing Banned Words List Is Chilling Act of Censorship.

I knew about Trump’s March 15, 2025 executive order banning books, subsequent lawsuits, and local resistance, but now—banning words? 

Recent experience with the administration’s objections to DEI or, for example, antisemitism that now allows for charges of terrorism and legal actions against those speaking, writing, and protesting doesn’t require an executive order.

Banning Words and Free Speech

As AJ Connelly writes in this article: “A growing list of words and materials are being scrubbed from government websites and documents” as the Trump administration tries “to remove all references not only to diversity, equity and inclusion, but also to climate change, vaccines, and a host of other topics.” Connelly emphasizes the reckless way “this is being done without regard to the consequences illustrates its nefarious intent.”

PEN America first compiled a list of more than 250 words and phrases reportedly no longer considered acceptable by the Trump administration—later expanded to 350+ words, even including “safe drinking water,” “the mention of which can result in research grants or other agreements with the federal government getting nixed.”

Connelly cites The New York Times list of “words banned by federal agencies” and terms reported by Reuters, The Washington Post, Propublica, Science, Gizmodo, 404 Media, Popular Information, Politico’s E&E News, and the nonprofit news outlet More Perfect Union, now aggregated in a single list here (scroll to the bottom).

The White House spokespeople have said the administration did not create a banned words list but instead left it to federal agencies to interpret how to comply with executive orders.

As Connelly emphasizes, any topic that has “‘received recent attention from Congress’ or ‘widespread or critical media attention’ may be subject to deletion or alteration. And agencies like the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, which works to find scientific solutions to challenges facing the US agriculture industry, must attempt to function without mentioning water, air, soil, or groundwater pollution, or the insidious PFAS chemicals previously recognized as a major health concern to all Americans.”

Connelly draws attention to the impacts these bans have on funding, particularly in the sciences. “Reports say scientists are self-censoring in hopes of improving their chances of getting government grants,” she notes. “That’s exactly the sort of response the administration is hoping for, and it will immeasurably limit the research and other work supported by the federal government, universities and more, on the public’s behalf.”  

The Trump administration’s list of banned words now includes more than 350 terms.

How will organizations, the media, and journalists respond over the short and long term? Just think of the words—the vocabulary—our issue committees use that you may find on the list.

The article “Fire Alarm Fire for Free Speech: The Trump Administration’s 100 Day Assault on Free Expression” exposes what lies ahead—our voices will be heard!

In conclusion, Connelly recognizes that “while every president aims to use language that reflects its priorities in its communications, the widespread restrictions on specific words represent a dystopian effort to control what Americans think and say, despite President Trump’s lip service to ‘freedom of speech and ending federal censorship.’ There’s nothing ‘free’ about banning words or ideas.”