The following article is a supplement to the MRC Report: The Biden Administration Waged War on Free Speech with 57 Censorship Initiatives.
Initiative #57
The Shadow Government for Censorship
Type of Censorship: Partnership
Agencies Involved:
- Department of State
- U.S. Embassy to the Ivory Coast to Ukraine
- National Science Foundation
Summary:
Unfortunately, the Biden administration was at least partly successful in its effort to get courts to rewrite the First Amendment (see Initiative #40). In Murthy v. Missouri, the U.S. Supreme Court aggressively limited censorship victims’ standing to vindicate their First Amendment rights.
This means that even though President Donald Trump has been able to temporarily roll back federal government censorship with a day one executive order (aptly titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship”), the Biden administration threat to the First Amendment remains. Until either Congress provides new limits on government censorship actions (with robust standing rights for censorship victims) or agency heads enact pro-free speech rulemaking under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), the Biden era censors are ready to return to their war against free speech the instant Trump is out of office.
Below are just six examples of known censors either still serving in government or positioned to reenter at a moment’s notice:
- Jessica Davis Ba, the diplomat who pushed the “Stop the Digital Sorcerer” censorship campaign, remains U.S. ambassador to the Ivory Coast. (See Initiatives #17).
- Nina Jankowicz, who headed the Disinformation Governance Board, is now running the censorship outfit American Sunlight Project with the former head of an E.U. media literacy firm. (See Initiative #6).
- Laurie Locascio, the National Institute of Science & Technology (NIST) director who oversaw both the AI censorship order and Washington’s $16 million media literacy grant, runs the powerful trade association American National Standards Institute (ANSI). (See Initiatives #7 and #18).
- Michael Mosier, the then-acting FinCen director who oversaw the dismantling of the Fair Access Rule and the surveillance of everyday Americans, now runs the legal advisory firm Arktouros. (See Initiatives #3 and #36).
- Sethuraman Panchanathan, the National Science Foundation (NSF) director who oversaw censorship via “Track F,” and the taxpayer funding of censorship outfit Meedan and censorship advocate Pancopop, continues to run the NSF. (See Initiatives #5, #14 and #17).
Lauren Protentis, who oversaw the Biden administration censorship at both CISA and the National Security Council, is currently listed as a fellow at the Congressionally-chartered National Endowment for Democracy. (See Initiatives #2 and #4).
