{"id":1937736,"date":"2023-05-25T07:44:46","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T11:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-funded-university-of-texas-managed-censorship-project-targeting-conservative-outlets\/"},"modified":"2023-05-25T07:51:51","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T11:51:51","slug":"state-funded-university-of-texas-managed-censorship-project-targeting-conservative-outlets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-funded-university-of-texas-managed-censorship-project-targeting-conservative-outlets\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas university censors conservative media with state funding."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstate-funded-university-of-texas-managed-censorship-project-targeting-conservative-outlets%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1937736&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><blockquote class=\"article-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Exposed: Anti-Conservative Bias in Blacklisting Report<\/h2>\n<p>Conservative news outlets, including The Federalist, New York Post, Daily Caller, and Washington Examiner, were blacklisted as the \u201criskiest\u201d disinformation media companies by the Global Disinformation Index (GDI). Shockingly, it has been revealed that the report was researched and written by students at the University of Texas at Austin\u2019s Global Disinformation Lab, who were found to have an anti-conservative bias.<\/p>\n<p>Internal communications obtained by The Federalist show that the academics running the lab held a clear bias against conservative media outlets. This is just one of several troubling revelations contained in the 1,000-plus pages of documents reviewed by The Federalist.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-904975227\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-68704b27020f3ef842014fead58fbdd2 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-68704b27020f3ef842014fead58fbdd2\"><\/div>\n<p>But that&#8217;s not all. The report also revealed that the University of Texas\u2019 Global Disinformation Lab joined forces with GDI in this censorship enterprise. The lab conducted the review for the \u201cDisinformation Risk Assessment: The Online News Market in the United States,\u201d which targeted conservative outlets, leading to The Federalist filing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-child-soldiers-of-the-culture-war\/\" title=\"The Child Soldiers of the Culture War\">public-records request<\/a> at UT Austin for all communications related to GDIL\u2019s work with GDI on the U.S. media market review.<\/p>\n<p>The documents obtained by The Federalist reveal that a handful of students, with limited training, evaluated the media outlets and wrote the report that GDI then marketed to advertisers for blacklisting media outlets. This cost the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-funded-university-of-texas-managed-censorship-project-targeting-conservative-outlets\/\" title=\"Texas university censors conservative media with state funding.\">conservative press potentially millions<\/a> of dollars, and even more appalling is that the students used a state-funded lab, and the university profited from the project.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Political Bias on Display<\/h3>\n<p>Internal communications between lab staff revealed an anti-conservative bias. One message suggested GDI \u201cshould be more aggressive in going after conservative outlets.\u201d This is a clear indication that the blacklist was politically motivated and not based on any objective criteria.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GDI\u2019s Partner in Censorship<\/h3>\n<p>The report also revealed that the government-funded National Endowment for Democracy granted GDI more than half a million dollars between 2020 and 2021. The State Department\u2019s Global Engagement Center likewise awarded the GDI $100,000 in taxpayer funds in 2021. This raises serious questions about the government\u2019s role in censorship and the use of taxpayer funds to silence conservative voices.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GDIL Did the Dirty Work<\/h3>\n<p>The internal documents from the University of Texas\u2019 GDIL show that the Global Disinformation Index paid the state university to manage student workers who would then apply the GDI methodology to rate the various media outlets and write the final report. The students received minimum training for the project, and when GDIL struggled to meet the deadlines, the lab manager, Sally Dickson, stepped in to help with the ratings, with everyone rushing the reviews of the various media outlets.<\/p>\n<p>It is deeply concerning that a handful of students, with limited training, evaluated the media outlets and wrote the report that GDI then marketed to advertisers for blacklisting media outlets. This cost the conservative press potentially millions of dollars, and even more appalling is that the students used a state-funded lab, and the university profited from the project.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>The blacklisting of conservative outlets by GDI and the University of Texas\u2019 Global Disinformation Lab is a clear example of political bias and censorship. The use of taxpayer funds to silence conservative voices is deeply concerning and raises serious questions about the government\u2019s role in censorship. It is time to hold these institutions accountable and ensure that free speech is protected for all.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Government-Funded Censorship: The Censorship Complex<\/h2>\n<p>Internal communications from the Global Disinformation Index Lab (GDIL) reveal the extent of the State Department&#8217;s involvement in promoting censorship activities. GDIL works with governments, policymakers, social media platforms, and adtech companies to defund disinformation. The lab&#8217;s risk-ratings report is &#8220;really going to be hammered,&#8221; with right-wing media outlets like The Federalist, Daily Caller, and New York Post being targeted. Even the students conducting the research saw problems in GDI&#8217;s rating system, with one student finding the methodology &#8220;to be a little interesting in that it requires reviewers to give subjective scores in response to objective trends in data.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Additional internal communications indicate other students involved in the project also had concerns about the methodology. The GDIL executive director defended the methodology, framed disagreements with the report as &#8220;quibbles,&#8221; and declared the right-wing media don&#8217;t care about the details. However, the &#8220;misinformation landscape&#8221; is dotted with &#8220;one-sided \u2026 media consumption.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">State Department Shenanigans<\/h3>\n<p>GDIL&#8217;s reach and the State Department&#8217;s involvement in promoting censorship activities are revealed in internal communications. GDIL has formal and informal relationships with &#8220;trust and safety teams at various big platforms, the most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fda-clears-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine-for-children-as-young-as-12\/\" title=\"FDA Clears Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine For Children As Young As 12\">recently announced partnership<\/a> is with Twitch.&#8221; The State Department&#8217;s Global Engagement Center invited GDIL to participate in a technology pilot, titled &#8220;the Ukraine Content Aggregator,&#8221; which claims it seeks to &#8220;amplify unique and verified content related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including war crimes being committed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Significantly, for this project, the State Department was working with the Centre for Information Resilience, which is where Nina Jankowicz landed after backlash forced the Biden administration to shutter the Department of Homeland Security&#8217;s Disinformation Governance Board, which Jankowicz had been tapped to head.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">So Much More to Learn<\/h3>\n<p>While these new details raise additional concerns about the government&#8217;s funding of efforts to silence speech, The Federalist&#8217;s open-records request reveals there is so much more to uncover to understand the breadth and depth of the Censorship Complex fully.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">Margot Cleveland is The Federalist&#8217;s senior legal correspondent. She is also a contributor to National Review Online, the Washington Examiner, Aleteia, and Townhall.com, and has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize\u2014the law school&#8217;s highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-media-lies-about-the-latest-special-counsel-revelations\/\" title=\"5 Media Lies About The Latest Special Counsel Revelations\">full-time university faculty member<\/a> and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. As a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of a young son with cystic fibrosis, Cleveland frequently writes on cultural issues related to parenting and special-needs children. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/2020-election\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">2020 Election<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/2022-midterms\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">2022 midterms<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/big-tech\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Big Tech<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/censorship\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">censorship<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/censorship-complex\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">censorship complex<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/gdi\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">GDI<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\" rnrn\n\n<h2>Explore These Tags on The Federalist<\/h2>\n<div>\n<p>Looking for more content on a specific topic? Check out these tags:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/global-disinformation-index\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Global Disinformation Index<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/global-disinformation-lab\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Global Disinformation Lab<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/nina-jankowicz\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Nina Jankowicz<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/texas\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Texas<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/university-of-texas\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">University of Texas<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/washington-examiner\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Washington Examiner<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Find Your Next Read<\/h3>\n<p>Discover more articles and opinions on the topics that matter to you. Our tags make it easy to navigate and find the content you&#8217;re looking for. From disinformation to politics, we&#8217;ve got you covered.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t miss out on the latest news and analysis. Stay informed and engaged with The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Start exploring now!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Global Disinformation Index&#8217;s report, which labeled conservative outlets like The Federalist and New York Post as &#8220;riskiest&#8221; disinformation media companies, was authored by students at the University of Texas at Austin&#8217;s Global Disinformation Lab. The lab&#8217;s academics supervised the research, as per documents obtained by The Federalist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":499,"featured_media":1937737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[6041,4914,6513,4188,3694,4861],"class_list":["post-1937736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-censors","tag-conservative","tag-funding","tag-media","tag-texas","tag-university"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1937736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/499"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1937736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1937736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1937737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1937736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1937736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1937736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}