Smokey the Bear is the face of the “longest-running public service advertising campaign in US history,” according to his official website. With the tagline ‘Only you can prevent wildfires,’ the 72 year-old black bear has allowed the US Forest Service to communicate with the public about its fire policies. Without transparency of information from the nation’s sciences and environmental agencies, a valuable dialogue between the American public and its tax-funded organisations may be missing.

President Donald Trump’s 25 January decision to freeze hiring and grants at major scientific institutions, prohibit communications with the press and the public, and limit statements by individuals to the public has affected the transparency of these organisations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), like many of its cohorts, including Nasa, is mandated to communicate about its purpose – ensuring understanding of human health and environmental risks. Trump’s decision does not allow the EPA to fulfill that part of its mission. Alex Thomson, advocacy director at communications consultancy Hanover says, “Government agencies need freedom to speak to lawmakers so constituent concerns can be addressed, and they need to be able to engage stakeholders in policymaking processes so government action gains popular consent.” Thomson says this is likely a symptom of Trump’s desire to control the flow of information and may result in the agencies themselves bypassing his limitations and leaking information online.

The ability of these government-funded agencies to communicate is a key part of their mandates, but also a key factor in allowing for transparency in a democratic system. The New York Times reported that the EPA, the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Health and Human Services were all told to stop external communications. Their press offices were also frozen. In the days since, certain individuals and national parks have defied the order by posting on social media. The former director of the National Parks Service (NPS), Jon Jarvis, wrote today on Facebook, “The NPS is the steward of America’s most important places and the narrator of our most powerful stories, told authentically, accurately and built upon scientific and scholarly research. The park ranger is a trusted interpreter of our complex natural and cultural history and a voice that cannot be suppressed.”

Not only does this decision limit the transparency of publicly-funded bodies, but limits the communication of authoritative scientific study into the media and the public – two of the government’s most important stakeholders.

However, the furore over Trump’s decision may be unwarranted at this point in his presidency. Chris Rogers, the associate director of public relations at London’s public affairs firm the Whitehouse Consultancy, says, “The reality is that civil servants in the UK don’t have carte blanche when it comes to communicating with the media and the public. I would expect suspensions of social media accounts and directives on how press enquiries are handled to be a relatively short-term measure as the new administration sets its rules for what it wants and will allow from departments. The White House’s goal will be to ensure the likes of the Parks Service are not putting out communications that undermine or contradict what’s coming out of the Oval Office.”

Rogers adds, though, that the longer the agencies remain muzzled, the more damage will be incurred by the administration. This action, he says, also damages the ability of civil servants to effectively do their jobs in the meantime.

In the UK, agencies like Defra, the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and Natural England are also tasked with public communications, but as part of the Government Communications Service’s (GCS) wider oversight of external communications. The UKSA states, “We are responsible for all strategic decisions on the UK civil space programme and provide a clear, single voice for UK space ambitions.” The GCS is tasked with ensuring a high standard of government communications. MP Matthew Hancock, in his previous role as minister for the Cabinet Office, wrote in the GCS communications plan for 2017 that communications is essential to establishing economic stability and reform Britain’s public services. The GCS core objectives for 2017 are to provide economic security, protect national security and extend opportunity.

Limiting individual US agencies that are tasked with external communications means limiting their ability to carry out this objective and could be detrimental to their ability to achieve their purpose.