Staff at the National Cancer Institute have been instructed to flag materials for further scrutiny if they address certain listed “controversial, high profile, or sensitive” topics, including vaccines, fluoride, gender ideology, autism, bird flu, and measles. The guidance, issued by the Institute’s communications department, says that employees “do not need to share content describing the routine conduct of science if it will not get major media attention, is not controversial or sensitive, and does not touch on an administration priority.”
All materials must be reviewed by a ‘clearance team’ at the Institute, and could potentially also be examined by officials at the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Experts have expressed concern that the new guidance will create a lengthier and more complex clearance process which could have a chilling effect on research.