Massive purge of Pentagon websites includes content on Holocaust remembrance, sexual assault and suicide prevention

(CNN) — Articles about the Holocaust, September 11, cancer awareness, sexual assault and suicide prevention are among the tens of thousands either removed or flagged for removal from Pentagon websites as the department has scrambled to comply with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s order to scrub “diversity” content from all its platforms.

A database obtained by CNN shows that more than 24,000 articles could be purged, with many gone already. The scrub goes well beyond just the removal of images from the Pentagon’s visual database, known as DVIDS, and includes articles from across more than 1,000 websites hosted by the department.

The Pentagon previously said in a memo last month that it would be removing news and feature articles promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) content.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot said in a statement Wednesday that the Defense Department was “pleased by the rapid compliance” across the Pentagon with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms.

“In the rare cases that content is removed – either deliberately or by mistake – that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content so it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their fellow Americans, period.”

But dozens of the articles either flagged for removal or removed already — but still accessible via the Internet Archive’s Wayback machine — and reviewed by CNN have no ostensible connection to DEI programs; race theory; gender ideology or identity-based programs.

At least half a dozen articles already removed are about the Holocaust and now have the word “DEI” in their URL.

Those include an article about Holocaust survivor Kitty Saks, which remembers the Holocaust as “the state-sponsored, systemic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry”; an article about Holocaust Remembrance Week; and an article titled “A Cadet’s Perspective: Holocaust Days of Remembrance.”

The CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, told CNN that “we are concerned by reports that the Department of Defense has removed Holocaust-related content, including survivor stories, under the label of ‘DEI.’”

“Honoring the memory of the Holocaust and those who survived is not a matter of political ideology — it is a moral imperative and a vital component of education, remembrance, and the fight against antisemitism,” Greenblatt said. “The history of the Holocaust, including the liberation of the camps, also reflects the bravery and sacrifice of Allied soldiers — a legacy that should be preserved, not erased. We urge the DoD to reverse this decision and preserve these vital historical records.”

Articles related to September 11 remembrance, including service members reflecting on their service and where they were that day, have also been removed. So have articles about cancer awareness, including those related to Breast Cancer Awareness month and colon cancer awareness.

One such article authored by an Air Force Surgeon General titled, “A healthy lifestyle lowers your risk of getting breast cancer,” was removed and now has “DEI” in its URL.

Several articles about sexual assault have also been removed and now have “DEI” in their URL, including “April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month” and “A call to action – Three ways to combat sexual assault.”

Articles about suicide prevention have been purged, too, including ones titled: “VA releases veteran suicide statistics by state”; “Suicide prevention alliance focuses on troops, veterans”; and “Suicide Prevention Resources That Can Help.” The latter two articles now feature “DEI” in their URLs.

The content either removed or flagged for removal also includes thousands of articles about contributions made to the military over the years by women, LGBTQ people, people of color and historical figures like Jackie Robinson, who served in the US military during World War II.

Much of the content has been scrubbed not by individual units, but by an automated script run by DoD’s public web administrators, according to an email explaining the process that was obtained by CNN and three defense officials familiar with the matter. That appears to align with Hegseth’s February 27 memo, which said that DoD’s media arm, Defense Media Activity, “will support systematic content removal” from across the Pentagon’s many platforms.

That automated process has led to “a high level of irresponsible collateral damage,” one of the defense officials said. “People don’t understand the scope and the carelessness of ‘unpublishing’ that’s happened,” the official said.

Another of the defense officials said that the Pentagon understands that the process needs a significant course-correction and is now undergoing a more thorough review of what has been purged to determine if it should be republished.

“Because of these series of events, the department recognizes that this needs to be a more deliberative process involving human beings to ensure that a thorough review of content is completed,” the official said. “This may take more time than originally planned.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

The-CNN-Wire
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