jarkkoFeb 5
kottke.org
The CIA has deleted the CIA World Factbook (a popular almanac about the countries of the world) from the web. Fuck this. All these assholes do is pillage & destroy. https://apnews.com/article/cia-world-factbook-ratcliffe-trump-fbec61ce16c4b3db59db9cefce0da043
The CIA World Factbook is no more

The CIA is ending the publication of its popular World Factbook reference manual. The agency announced the decision Wednesday but gave no reason for it. It comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has promised to return the agency's focus to its core missions. First launched more than 60 years ago as a classified reference manual for CIA officers, the Factbook went on to be a reference manual cited by journalists, trivia experts and college essayists alike. A message seeking comment from the CIA about the decision to end publication of the Factbook was not immediately returned.

AP News
Feb 5 at 2:42amkottke bot
Show threadKelsonFeb 5

@kottke ugh....I remember using the print edition at the school library back in the day, and the online version later on. It always seemed weird to be using a CIA resource, but it seemed to be dry enough and factual enough that I sort of looked at it as one of the rare legit things to come out of the agency.

But (a) this regime doesn't want dry and factual that might contradict it's sensationalized propaganda, (b) they can't stand the idea of government doing something useful for someone who isn't "one of them" and (c) they hate the idea of putting something out there that people aren't paying for.

Show threadBeeCyclingFeb 5
@kelson @kottke Quite. It's hard to portray European countries as crime-ridden hell holes, with no indoor plumbing, ruled by Sharia law, when there's an official book of facts from your own intelligence organisation saying the opposite.
Show threadianjsFeb 5

@kottke

It's "governments shouldn't exist - destroy whatever you can" all the way down.

Show threadlucie digitálníFeb 5
@kottke that was a really good resource. I used it a lot in a previous life.
Show threadKatLSFeb 5
@kottke snl skit coming soon
Show threadScott JannFeb 5
@kottke to be fair, I don’t trust any “facts” from the federal government anymore.
Show threadDan Kletter 🥑Feb 5
@kottke FYI https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon/116015180016712361
Simon Willison (@[email protected])

The CIA just stopped publishing their World Factbook and took every page, including the archived copies of previous versions! This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub https://simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/the-world-factbook/

Mastodon
Show threadJarrettFeb 5
@kottke I’ve recommended it to so many people. It was literally the only good thing the CIA ever did.
Show threados68ngFeb 5
@kottke WTF.
Show threadAral BalkanFeb 5
@kottke @Heliograph I’m pretty sure half of them are functionally illiterate anyway so they probably don’t see the point.
Show threadHeliographFeb 5
@aral half is an ambitious assumption 😒 @kottke
Show threadRa (Freyja) (it/its)𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩Feb 5
@kottke i'm guessing someone archived it?
Show threadNik | Klampfradler 🎸🚲Feb 5
@kottke But then, did we ever trust "facts" published by the CIA?
Show threadMichel PatriceFeb 5

@kottke

I hope that libraries and universities around the world have downloaded and saved copies of Wikipedia.

And universities should download as much as they can from the MedLine and PubMed websites.

Show threadMichel PatriceFeb 5

@kottke

This makes me think about the Foundation in Asimov's Foundation. A kind of library to save human knowledge from the coming dark age.

Show threadKim Spence-Jones 🇬🇧😷Feb 5
@kottke
Another nail in the international soft power of the USA. Putin must be so impressed with his protégé’s work.
Show threaddecapitaeFeb 5
@kottke Central Insurrectionist Asshats?
Show threadKyle Memoir 🍉🐧Feb 5

@kottke

Facts are dangerous.

Facts are not meant for children who must obediently do whatever they're told, even when the command is 'kill thy neighbour.'

Show threadJames 🦉 #FBPE 🇪🇺Feb 5
@kottke They do so hate facts
Show threadPaul BarnfatherFeb 5
I guess facts are woke now? 🤷‍♂️
Show threadDaniel FischerFeb 6
@kottke The 2020 version has just been resurrected by a fan: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/the-world-factbook/
Spotlighting The World Factbook as We Bid a Fond Farewell

Somewhat devastating news today from CIA: One of CIA’s oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications, The World Factbook, has sunset. There's not even a hint as to why they decided …

Simon Willison’s Weblog
Show threadHarryMuttFeb 6

@kottke

Last time I checked something about my home country Germany a few years ago, the data was outdated by a decade or so, and much of the information was rather of questionable quality anyway. If that's the general level of accuracy, then it's utterly useless, and you could just read a 19th century travel guide. The idea that government decisions could be based on such an inaccurate source of information is rather troubling, I should say...

Anyway, there are much better sources available, so there is hardly any reason to keep this inadequate thing online or even printed.