The following article is a supplement to the MRC Report: The Biden Administration Waged War on Free Speech with 57 Censorship Initiatives.
Type of Censorship: Grants
Agencies Involved:
- Department of Defense
- Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)
- National Security Innovation Network (NSIN)
- United States Air Force (USAF)
- Office of Small Business
- United States Army
- Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER)
- Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)
- Department of State
- Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor (DHRL)
- Office of the Assistant Secretary for DHRL
- Bureau of Global Public Affairs
- Global Engagement Center (GEC)
- Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor (DHRL)
- National Endowment for Democracy (NED)
Summary:
A Media Research Center report detailed the Biden administration’s extensive ties to the censorship outfit NewsGuard, which works with Big Tech firms to cut off access and ad revenue to right-of-center media outlets. Though NewsGuard presented itself as independent and nonpartisan, for years the for-profit corporation has maintained a highly lucrative deal with the federal government, with nearly $750,000 being awarded to the organization during the Biden administration to further the left’s agenda.
The administration’s work with NewsGuard incorporated a wide variety of federal agencies, including the Defense Department’s National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), U.S. Air Force and U.S. Cyber Command; the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC).
Together, these agencies worked with NewsGuard to censor American speech. The GEC’s principal deputy coordinator, Daniel Kimmage, then denied this censorship when appearing before Congress.
The Biden administration also funded the censorship outfit GDI (Global Disinformation Index) through both the GEC and the National Endowment for Democracy, a congressionally-chartered organization that is largely funded by congressional appropriations.
Key Individuals:
- Elizabeth Allen, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy & Public Affairs
- Erin Barclay, Senior Official of the DHRL
- Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
- Michael Brown, DIU Director
- Scott Carpenter, NED Expert (Board of Director member) & Jigsaw Managing Director
- Nicole Chulick, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs
- Stephen Fogarty, Army Lieutenant General
- Lea Gabrielle, GEC Special Envoy & Coordinator
- Frank Kendall III, Secretary of the Air Force
- Scott Kiser, Director of Air Force Small Business Programs
- Daniel Kimmage, GEC Principal Deputy Coordinator
- Aaron Ringell, Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs
- James Rubin, GEC Special Envoy & Coordinator
- Elizabeth Trudeau, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs
- Damon Wilson, NED President & CEO
