CIA World Factbook Shuttered

The United States — Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) abruptly shuttered its widely recognized World Factbook on February 4, a decision made by the Trump administration. This move ended a six-decade-long tradition of providing free, publicly accessible information on global geography, demographics, governments, and militaries. The CIA stated the closure was due to a change in its core mission. The decision has been met with grief from users and critics, who lament the loss of a reliable, unbiased source of information, especially in an era of 'alternative facts' and the proliferation of inaccurate content online. Some analysts, however, suggest that a government agency's publication might never have been truly unbiased. The event also highlighted the Factbook's outdated information at the time of its closure, noting the incorrect listing of Ali Khamenei as Iran's head of government, despite reports of his death on March 1 from United States and Israel strikes.