Secretive organizations that attempt to blacklist and censor “conservative news” outlets online are being called out for their anti-free speech efforts and bias.
The Washington Times emphasized Aug. 14 how right-leaning outlets are blacklisted online by networks that some of them receive taxpayer funding, such as biased NewsGuard. As MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider said in comments to The Times, conservative media would be happy to target illegal content, such as terrorism and child pornography. But that’s wildly different from trying to censor news outlets with differing opinions. As Schneider explained, the organizations’ goals aren’t just illegal content but woke environmental, social and governance investing (ESG), which is currently and understandably bringing backlash on companies that practice it.
These networks include the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which was founded by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). GARM is associated with a “network of global elites that has created a universal framework full of guidelines and ratings designed to enforce ‘approved’ narratives and punish ‘disapproved’ ones,” as The Daily Wire podcast host Ben Shapiro put it. Online ratings firm NewsGuard is a GARM partner. As noted by The Times, MRC Free Speech America has consistently exposed NewsGuard’s bias in favor of left-leaning outlets.
The Times quoted MRC’s Schneider. “The WFA is desperately trying to dry up revenue streams of pro-American organizations who oppose this administration’s left-wing agenda,” Schneider said. “The ESG companies and woke CEOs think that American consumers will lie down for this. They are wrong.”
NewsGuard reportedly received a Defense Department grant in 2021. The Times also mentioned the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a biased website blacklister, which reportedly received State Department grants. GDI rates sites including New York Post and The Blaze as risky, versus NPR and The Washington Post. All these organizations steer advertisers away from news sites.
The outlet also cited MRC Free Speech America’s exclusive research on NewsGuard. “The conservative-leaning Media Research Center conducted a study of NewGuard’s rating system in December 2021 and found that out of 55 news sites, right-leaning outlets received an average score of 66% and liberal outlets received an average score of 93%,” The Times noted.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) subpoenaed two officials from WFA and GARM, The Times reported, over potential antitrust law violations. Meanwhile, NewsGuard’s co-CEO Gordon Crovitz tried to claim to The Times that his company uses “basic, apolitical criteria of journalistic practice to rate news sites,” despite MRC research proving otherwise.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Microsoft (Edge), the State and Defense Departments, and NewsGuard’s other partners and demand they drop NewsGuard. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
