Federal Government’s Growing Banned Words List Is Chilling Act of Censorship
S. E. Anderson
Federal Government’s Growing Banned Words List Is Chilling Act of Censorship
Note: This article was originally published on March 21, 2025, and has been updated with more terms and additional information.
A growing list of words and materials is being scrubbed from government websites and documents and flagged for review by federal agencies in an attempt by the trump administration to remove all references not only to diversity, equity and inclusion, but also to climate change, vaccines, and a host of other topics.
PEN America initially compiled a list of more than 250 words and phrases reportedly no longer considered acceptable by the trump administration, from “abortion,” to “women,” and including “disability,” “elderly,” “Native American” and, unsurprisingly, the “Gulf of Mexico.”
The list has now expanded to 350+ words, encompassing even desirable goals like “safe drinking water,” the mention of which can now result in research grants or other agreements with the federal government getting nixed. Some agencies ordered the removal of specific words from public-facing websites or the elimination of other materials (including school curricula) in which they might be included. In other cases, federal agencies used key words to flag materials for further review or asked staff to limit or avoid their usage. In a December court filing, Head Start provided a list of nearly 200 words and phrases it told administrators to avoid.
Our list is most assuredly incomplete. The New York Times published a list of words flagged by federal agencies to ban, limit, or avoid. Additional terms were reported by Politico, Reuters, The Washington Post, Propublica, Science, Gizmodo, 404 Media, Popular Information, Politico’s E&E News and the nonprofit news outlet More Perfect Union. These have been aggregated into a single list, below, which also reflects guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, NASA, the National Cancer Institute, the National Security Agency, the National Science Foundation, and the White House itself.
Some of these moves seem tragically comical, like the elimination of photos from a Defense Department database of the World War II B-29 aircraft Enola Gay while erasing the recognition of the service of LGBTQ+ Americans who served in the military. But this is not just the ham-handed applications of President trump’s executive orders. The reckless manner in which this is being done without regard to the consequences illustrates its nefarious intent.
“How can we have intelligent or difficult conversations if we can’t even use the words, the most basic unit of meaning?” said Jonathan Friedman, Sy Syms managing director of U.S. Free Expression Programs. “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.”
The White House has said it did not create a banned words list but has instead left it to federal agencies to interpret how to comply with executive orders that solely recognize male and female sex or eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Nonetheless, some departments have added terms that seem to have nothing at all to do with those executive orders.
In fact, any topic that has “received recent attention from Congress” or “widespread or critical media attention” must be flagged for extra scrutiny at the National Cancer Institute, according to an internal memo reported on by ProPublica. And agencies like the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, which works to find scientific solutions to challenges facing the U.S. 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.
Even the term “cancer moonshot,” which refers to a program that aimed to cut the nation’s cancer death rate by half, has been targeted for erasure, presumably because it was started under the Obama administration and championed by Joe Biden during his term.
These policies’ tentacles already extend beyond government websites, though removing HIV resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, regardless of whether they mentioned “gender ideology” or other banned terms, is bad enough. Reports say scientists are self-censoring in hopes of improving their chances of getting government grants.
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.
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.
List of Words Banned or Flagged by Federal Agencies
| abortion | |
| accessibility | |
| Accessible | |
| activism | |
| activists | |
| advocacy | |
| advocate | |
| advocates | |
| affirmative action | |
| affirmative action programs | |
| affirming care | |
| affordable home | |
| affordable housing | |
| agricultural water | |
| agrivoltaics | |
| air pollution | |
| all-inclusive | |
| allyship | |
| alternative energy | |
| anti-racism | |
| antiracist | |
| asexual | |
| assigned at birth | |
| assigned female at birth | |
| assigned male at birth | |
| at risk | |
| autism | |
| aviation fuel | |
| barrier | |
| barriers | |
| belong | |
| bias | |
| biased | |
| Biased toward | |
| biases | |
| Biases towards | |
| bioenergy | |
| biofuel | |
| biogas | |
| biologically female | |
| biologically male | |
| biomethane | |
| bipoc | |
| bisexual | |
| Black | |
| black and latinx | |
| breastfeed + people | |
| breastfeed + person | |
| Cancer Moonshot | |
| carbon emissions mitigation | |
| carbon footprint | |
| carbon markets | |
| carbon pricing | |
| carbon sequestration | |
| CEC | |
| changing climate | |
| chestfeed + people | |
| chestfeed + person | |
| clean energy | |
| clean fuel | |
| clean power | |
| clean water | |
| climate | |
| climate accountability | |
| climate change | |
| climate consulting | |
| climate crisis | |
| climate model | |
| climate models | |
| climate resilience | |
| climate risk | |
| climate science | |
| climate smart agriculture | |
| climate smart forestry | |
| climate variability | |
| climate-change | |
| climatesmart | |
| commercial sex worker | |
| community | |
| community diversity | |
| community equity | |
| confirmation bias | |
| contaminants of environmental concern | |
| continuum | |
| Covid-19 | |
| critical race theory | |
| cultural competence | |
| cultural differences | |
| cultural heritage | |
| Cultural relevance | |
| cultural sensitivity | |
| culturally appropriate | |
| culturally responsive | |
| decarbonization | |
| definition | |
| DEI | |
| DEIA | |
| DEIAB | |
| DEIJ | |
| diesel | |
| dietary guidelines/ultraprocessed foods | |
| dirty energy | |
| disabilities | |
| disability | |
| disabled | |
| disadvantaged | |
| discriminated | |
| discrimination | |
| discriminatory | |
| discussion of federal policies | |
| disparity | |
| diverse | |
| diverse backgrounds | |
| diverse communities | |
| diverse community | |
| diverse group | |
| diverse groups | |
| diversified | |
| diversify | |
| diversifying | |
| diversity | |
| diversity and inclusion | |
| diversity in the workplace | |
| diversity, equity, and inclusion | |
| diversity/equity efforts | |
| EEJ | |
| EJ | |
| elderly | |
| electric vehicle | |
| emissions | |
| energy conversion | |
| energy transition | |
| enhance the diversity | |
| enhancing diversity | |
| entitlement | |
| environmental justice | |
| environmental quality | |
| equal opportunity | |
| equality | |
| equitable | |
| equitableness | |
| equity | |
| ethanol | |
| ethnicity | |
| evidence-based | |
| excluded | |
| exclusion | |
| expression | |
| female | |
| females | |
| feminism | |
| fetus | |
| field drainage | |
| fluoride | |
| fostering inclusivity | |
| fuel cell | |
| gay | |
| GBV | |
| gender | |
| gender based | |
| gender based violence | |
| gender diversity | |
| gender dysphoria | |
| gender expression | |
| gender identity | |
| gender ideology | |
| gender nonconformity | |
| gender transition | |
| gender-affirming care | |
| gendered | |
| genders | |
| geothermal | |
| GHG emission | |
| GHG modeling | |
| GHG monitoring | |
| global warming | |
| green | |
| green infrastructure | |
| greenhouse gas emission | |
| groundwater pollution | |
| Gulf of Mexico | |
| H5N1/bird flu | |
| hate | |
| hate speech | |
| health disparity | |
| health equity | |
| hispanic | |
| hispanic minority | |
| historically | |
| housing affordability | |
| housing efficiency | |
| hydrogen vehicle | |
| identity | |
| ideology | |
| immigrants | |
| implicit bias | |
| implicit biases | |
| inclusion | |
| inclusive | |
| inclusive leadership | |
| inclusiveness | |
| inclusivity | |
| Increase diversity | |
| increase the diversity | |
| indigenous | |
| indigenous community/ people | |
| inequalities | |
| inequality | |
| inequitable | |
| inequities | |
| injustice | |
| institutional | |
| integration | |
| intersectional | |
| intersectionality | |
| intersex | |
| issues concerning pending legislation | |
| justice40 | |
| key groups | |
| key people | |
| key populations | |
| Latinx | |
| lesbian | |
| lgbt | |
| LGBTQ | |
| low-emission vehicle | |
| low-income housing | |
| male dominated | |
| marginalize | |
| marginalized | |
| marijuana | |
| measles | |
| membrane filtration | |
| men who have sex with men | |
| mental health | |
| methane emissions | |
| microplastics | |
| migrant | |
| minorities | |
| minority | |
| minority serving institution | |
| most risk | |
| MSI | |
| msm | |
| multicultural | |
| Mx | |
| Native American | |
| NCI budget | |
| net-zero | |
| non-binary | |
| nonbinary | |
| noncitizen | |
| non-conforming | |
| nonpoint source pollution | |
| nuclear energy | |
| nuclear power | |
| obesity | |
| opioids | |
| oppression | |
| oppressive | |
| orientation | |
| pansexual | |
| PCB | |
| peanut allergies | |
| people + uterus | |
| people of color | |
| people-centered care | |
| person-centered | |
| person-centered care | |
| PFAS | |
| PFOA | |
| photovoltaic | |
| polarization | |
| political | |
| pollution | |
| pollution abatement | |
| pollution remediation | |
| prefabricated housing | |
| pregnant people | |
| pregnant person | |
| pregnant persons | |
| prejudice | |
| privilege | |
| privileges | |
| promote | |
| promote diversity | |
| promoting diversity | |
| pronoun | |
| pronouns | |
| prostitute | |
| pyrolysis | |
| QT | |
| queer | |
| race | |
| race and ethnicity | |
| racial | |
| racial diversity | |
| racial identity | |
| racial inequality | |
| racial justice | |
| racially | |
| racism | |
| runoff | |
| rural water | |
| safe drinking water | |
| science-based | |
| sediment remediation | |
| segregation | |
| self-assessed | |
| sense of belonging | |
| sex | |
| sexual preferences | |
| sexuality | |
| social justice | |
| social vulnerability | |
| socio cultural | |
| socio economic | |
| sociocultural | |
| socioeconomic status | |
| soil pollution | |
| solar energy | |
| solar power | |
| special populations | |
| stem cell or fetal tissue research | |
| stereotype | |
| stereotypes | |
| subsidized housing | |
| sustainability/sustainable | |
| sustainable construction | |
| systemic | |
| systemically | |
| tax breaks | |
| tax credits | |
| tax subsidies | |
| they/them | |
| tile drainage | |
| topics of federal investigations | |
| topics that have received recent attention from Congress | |
| topics that have received widespread or critical media attention | |
| trans | |
| transexual | |
| transexualism | |
| transexuals | |
| transgender | |
| transgender military personnel | |
| transgender people | |
| transitional housing | |
| trauma | |
| traumatic | |
| tribal | |
| two-spirit | |
| unconscious bias | |
| under appreciated | |
| under represented | |
| under served | |
| underprivileged | |
| underrepresentation | |
| underrepresented | |
| underserved | |
| understudied | |
| undervalued | |
| vaccines | |
| victim | |
| victims | |
| vulnerable | |
| vulnerable populations | |
| water collection | |
| water conservation | |
| water distribution | |
| water efficiency | |
| water management | |
| water pollution | |
| water quality | |
| water storage | |
| water treatment | |
| white privilege | |
| wind power | |
| woman | |
| women | |
| women and underrepresented | |
| women in leadership |
s. e. anderson
author of The Black Holocaust for Beginners
"If WORK was good for you, the rich would leave none for the poor." (Haiti)
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