Government-Funded Center Censorship Targets Blaze Media Despite Assurances

A recent article has highlighted that the government-funded Global Engagement Center continued its funding for trials specifically targeting Blaze Media, contradicting earlier promises made to the State Department that it wouldn’t focus on U.S. audiences.

“Let’s break it down simply,” remarked Blaze TV host Sarah Gonzalez.

She pointed out that an executive order signed by President Obama in 2011 established the State Department’s Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications to create a communications agency aimed at violent extremism and terrorist organizations.

According to her, this was the groundwork for a domestic censorship framework that evolved over time.

In 2016, the center was renamed the Global Engagement Center, with a mission to coordinate counterterrorism communications efforts that targeted foreign nationals abroad. “Please keep these dates in mind: 2016; [Obama] It’s just around the corner,” she mentioned.

However, during President Trump’s term, particularly between December 14, 2020, and January 7, 2021, the GEC-funded testbed trial shifted its focus toward Blaze Media, deviating from its original purpose of tackling foreign disinformation. Another entity that drew attention was Sputnik News, a state media outlet from Russia.

“Why are we such a primary focus like Russia’s state news agency?” Sarah questioned. “Is there something threatening about what we’re discussing?”

“Yes,” she asserted, “what we’re discussing does indeed threaten the deep state.”

After Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismantled the GEC and its successor, the Office of Foreign Information Operations and Counter-Interference, in 2025, several left-wing news outlets lamented the decision.

Sarah commented sarcastically on the media coverage of this event, saying, “He shut down the State Department office on foreign disinformation. Why would that matter? That’s just awful!”

“It was simply a tool to suppress and censor real American media,” she clarified. “I mean, calling it American media makes it sound like there’s a plethora of it out there. But it was really just us.”

What’s behind the focus on Blaze Media, specifically?

Sarah suggested it was connected to their extensive reporting on the coronavirus. “For many of us, including myself, it was really the sole alternative media outlet telling the truth about the pandemic,” she explained. “Because we were speaking the truth, we were losing revenue constantly.”

If you’re curious for more insights, be sure to check out the episode linked above.