The censorship regime

 NY Post:

The State Department is using taxpayer money to smear its critics — the ones who exposed its funding of pro-censorship groups that target right-wing news organizations, including The Post, under the guise of combating “disinformation.”

A bombshell Committee on Small Business report confirmed the reporting of independent journo Matt Taibbi and the Washington Examiner: “The Federal government has fueled a censorship ecosystem impacting not only individuals’ First Amendment rights, but the ability of certain small businesses to compete online.”

One group, Global Disinformation Index, created a “blacklist” of conservative publications for advertisers to avoid, smearing The Post and other major news outlets as “risky” possible spreaders of false info.

GDI received $100,000 from the State Department’s Global Engagement Center between October 2021 and March 2022.

Another group mentioned in the report, the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, maintained a private email list that included GEC staffers, called “FakeNewsSci,” where members maligned conservative news organizations that had applied to join Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles.

In response, the State Department’s press team has handed out talking points trying to discredit Taibbi, who exposed GEC censorship in his “Twitter files” posts in early 2023, and Washington Examiner reporter Gabe Kaminsky, who broke the GDI story, by framing them as bumbling and uninformed.

State’s flacks also deceptively claim the GEC “did not fund GDI to study, analyze or report on social media platforms or accounts inside the United States,” and “the GEC’s work with GDI was limited to disinformation efforts in East Asia and Europe.”
...

Censorship is a tool of despots. The proper response to material you disagree with is to provide information you believe disputes the material. That is how freedom of speech is supposed to work. It is a mistake to try to impose censorship on your political opponents.

See also:

CA Gov. Newsom Signs Ban Against Political Deepfakes; Elon Musk Mercilessly Trolls Him With… Deepfakes

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