The Trump administration’s attempt to remove publicly available deposition videos of former government officials has failed, as the internet has already archived and re-uploaded the content. The videos, originally hosted by academic organizations, went viral due to revelations about how funding cuts were determined within the DOGE agency, raising significant questions about political bias and transparency.
The Viral Deposition Footage
Last week, hours-long depositions of two former DOGE employees, Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh, surfaced online. These recordings were obtained as part of a lawsuit filed by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the American Historical Association (AHA), and the Modern Language Association (MLA), concerning cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The footage quickly spread after clips highlighting Fox’s inability to define DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) despite using it as justification for funding cuts.
Specifically, Fox admitted that programs flagged with terms like “Black” or “LGBTQ+” were disproportionately targeted, while similar identifiers for majority groups were not. The depositions also revealed that ChatGPT was used to automate the identification of programs for reduction.
Government Intervention and Legal Battle
The Trump administration moved to suppress the videos, citing security concerns and claiming that the online mockery of the former DOGE staffers led to harassment and death threats. A federal judge, Colleen McMahon, sided with the government, ordering the ACLS, AHA, and MLA to remove the recordings.
However, the academic organizations argued this was a First Amendment issue, emphasizing the public interest in the testimony of high-ranking officials. The judge rejected this argument, but before enforcement, the videos had already been widely disseminated.
The Internet’s Response: Archiving and Distribution
Despite the court order, the viral clips remained available on social media platforms. More importantly, internet archivists and data hoarders swiftly downloaded and re-uploaded the full depositions to sites like the Internet Archive and through torrents on Reddit’s r/datahoarders.
The internet has proven that once information is released, complete suppression is nearly impossible. These depositions are now permanently accessible in multiple forms.
This incident underscores the limitations of censorship in the digital age. While legal action can temporarily remove content from centralized platforms, decentralized archiving and peer-to-peer sharing ensure that records remain accessible indefinitely. The attempt to erase these videos has ultimately failed, confirming that the internet has already passed its own verdict on the matter.
