Trump asked Americans to help him whitewash national parks. They revolted instead
The DOI placed QR codes in national parks, inviting visitors to report content deemed ‘negative about either past or living Americans’. Instead, it became a mode of resistance Over the past year and a half, Donald Trump and his administration have launched a campaign to censor American history at US national parks and federal lands. As part of Executive Order 14253, “Restoring truth and sanity to…
The Department of Interior (DOI) has placed QR codes in national parks, inviting visitors to report content deemed 'negative about either past or living Americans'. This initiative was part of Executive Order 14253, "Restoring truth and sanity to American history", which aimed to censor American history at US national parks and federal lands.
However, the QR codes became a mode of resistance rather than a tool for whitewashing history. Over the past year and a half, this campaign led to dozens of sign removals across the US, most of them related to slavery, Indigenous history, and the climate crisis. Instead of promoting a sanitized version of American history, the QR codes sparked a backlash, with visitors using them to highlight the removals and the censorship efforts of the Trump administration.
Brief written by urgent.news from The Guardian US's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
