A report from the House Small Business Committee found that the State Department worked with fact-checkers and academics to target conservative news organizations.
This report: investigation The investigation, which lasted more than 14 months, found that an “interagency organization” within the State Department Global Engagement Center (GEC) — The committee circumvented its international mandate by hiring private organizations “to fund, nurture, and promote technology startups and other small businesses in the field of disinformation detection” for censorship purposes, according to the report, which was first obtained by the Washington Examiner.
The report also accuses the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) of violating international rules by working with fact-checking organizations “in assessing domestic news organizations for membership in credibility bodies.” One of the companies specifically mentioned in the report is the Daily Caller. (Related: Mark Zuckerberg's belated admission of government censorship may ignite First Amendment claims)
EXCLUSIVE: The State Department secretly built a “fake news” listserv targeting conservative media outlets with help from the Poynter Institute, Clemson University, disinformation professor Kate Starbird, Snopes and others, documents obtained by the State Department have revealed. Translator 🧵1/4 pic.twitter.com/AFWrqddptc
— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) September 10, 2024
The report said GEC recently gave taxpayer money to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, which in turn gave a grant to the Poynter Media Institute. The grant was used to persuade international news organizations to join Poynter's International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) code of conduct, “a group of news and information organizations that adhere to certain quality criteria that indicate journalistic standards,” the report said.
Kohler reached out to the State Department but had not received a response as of press time.
The House of Commons report alleges that it “appears” that GEC staff were included in a Google email thread in which IFCN assessors criticised conservative media outlets' applications. Such as the Daily Caller and its fact-checking division, Check Your Fact. (Related: America First Law Firm Launches Investigation into Biden Administration's Potential Role in Brazil's X Censorship)
The email group is titled “#FakeNewsSci” and its members are Related According to a report in the Washington Examiner, the report found collaborations with organizations such as NED, Poynter and Snopes. A professor at the University of Washington said: Kate Starbird — According to, it was on the list. document Obtained by the examiner.
The report said that communications obtained by the committee did not indicate that GEC was an active participant in the conversations, although it did receive related emails. However, documents in the report showed that emails from NED staff criticized the sender's credibility.
The report includes a screenshot of what appears to be an email from an account associated with NED: “On the other hand, you really have to ask yourself if you want to be on a website that has a history of…” the screenshot reads, followed by what appears to be a link to Snopes. articleThe email also asks if the writer would like to appear “next to a headline like…” and then appears to follow with a link to the Daily Caller article.
The committee's report said it was “inappropriate” for GEC and NED to be members of bodies that “prevent domestic media organisations from belonging to private credible organisations”. (Related article: Harris doesn't need a Ministry of Truth to police speech)
Biden administration officials have been in contact with foreign NGOs advocating online censorship, the report said. Email The documents were obtained by America First Legal in March, as previously reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
/1🚨Censorship Scandal Exposed — Evidence has been unearthed that the Biden Administration's Departments of Homeland Security and State have mobilized federal counterterrorism assets to support the Countering Digital Hate Center, a foreign-based organization that censors American speech.
thread: pic.twitter.com/wHtnW3W2Ph
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) March 20, 2024
