Summarised by Centrist
A new congressional report reveals that the State Department, through its Global Engagement Center (GEC), fueled a “censorship ecosystem” that trampled First Amendment rights to freedom of speech.
The report explains how the GEC and other US-funded entities, like NewsGuard and the International Fact-Checking Network, targeted independent media outlets and online users questioning the Biden administration’s COVID policies.
These efforts made it harder for smaller media outlets to compete, as their content was demonetised or suppressed.
Tim Hinchliffe, publisher of The Sociable, said “These so-called ‘fact-checkers’ are not in the business of actually checking facts. They are in the business of controlling narratives.”
Also, NewsGuard partnered with organisations like the CDC and WHO, using taxpayer money to rate the credibility of media outlets. These ratings, according to the report, are “fatally flawed” due to their partisan bias.
However, Hinchliffe warns that censorship is like a pendulum.
“The people calling for censorship now may be in a greater position of power to do so, but it will one day swing back at them,” he said.
