Weekly civic intelligence report · v2.2
The new FDA chief expressed support for Robert Kennedy's claims linking vaccines to autism and stated there are no plans for mass cuts. This represents a significant shift in FDA policy regarding vaccine safety communications.
A-score 45.2: FDA chief endorsing debunked vaccine-autism link represents severe regulatory capture (5) and rule of law violation (4) as agency abandons evidence-based standards. Civil rights impact (4) from undermining public health protections. Information operation mechanism adds 1.4x modifier for coordinated disinformation from authority position. Federal scope with broad population impact adds 1.3x. Severity multipliers reflect high precedent danger (1.3) of health agency legitimizing pseudoscience, moderate durability (1.2) and reversibility (1.1). B-score 35.9: Extremely high outrage potential (9) and media appeal (9) for FDA contradicting scientific consensus. Strong novelty (8) of agency head supporting conspiracy theory. Layer 2 shows high narrative pivot (9) and mismatch (8) between institutional role and statement. Intentionality 11/15 from coordinated messaging pattern with Kennedy appointment, strategic policy coupling. D-score +9.3 indicates Mixed classification as both constitutional damage and strategic distraction are significant.
PRIORITY ALERT: Monitor for actual FDA policy changes on vaccine approvals/recommendations versus rhetorical positioning. Track scientific community response and potential staff resignations. Document any changes to vaccine safety monitoring systems or public communications. Assess whether this represents genuine regulatory capture or strategic distraction from other FDA actions. Key question: Are concrete policy changes following the rhetoric or is this pure information operation?