What Would Censorship of the USDA Mean for America?

Turns out, a hell of a lot can happen over the course of 24 hours. Early Monday morning, the US Department of Agriculture sent out an email to staff members at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS)—the agency's primary in-house research arm—informing the nearly 3,000 employees that they were henceforth barred from relaying information to the public. The department-wide email—which was first reported by BuzzFeed News and later by many other outlets including  The Washington Post,  The Independent,  Mother Jones,and  Scientific American—read as follows: "Starting immediately and until further notice, ARS will not release any public-facing documents.This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content." It seemed the new mandate explicitly banned a taxpayer-funded federal agency from publicly disclosing information regarding projects and data that were directly funded by that very same public. That is, until 24 hours later when the USDA called the move a "misunderstanding" and walked away from the policy, stating it "is hereby rescinded." Read more on MUNCHIES