{"id":2339260,"date":"2024-09-10T15:26:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T19:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-department-skirted-mandate-funding-censorship-groups-gop\/"},"modified":"2024-09-10T15:35:51","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T19:35:51","slug":"state-department-skirted-mandate-funding-censorship-groups-gop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-department-skirted-mandate-funding-censorship-groups-gop\/","title":{"rendered":"State Department skirted mandate funding &#8216;censorship&#8217; groups: GOP"},"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-department-skirted-mandate-funding-censorship-groups-gop%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=2339260&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--><p>A recent congressional report has criticized the Global Engagement Center (GEC), a division within the U.S. \u2064State Department, for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fani-willis-axed-employee-who-blew-whistle-on-misuse-of-federal-funds\/\" title=\"Fani Willis fired whistleblower exposing federal fund misuse\">allegedly misusing taxpayer funds<\/a> to support groups deemed as engaging in &#8220;censorship&#8221; against small businesses in the United States. According to the report, \u200bprepared by \u2063the Republican-led House Small Business Committee,\u2062 the GEC has \u2063been working with the private sector in ways that undermine fair competition online. This follows a series of investigations by\u200c the\u200d House committee concerning the GEC&#8217;s funding of the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a British organization accused of pressuring advertisers to withdraw support from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/is-anyone-more-annoying-or-treacherous-than-barack-obama\/\" title=\"Is Anyone More Annoying or Treacherous than Barack Obama?\">conservative media outlets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The report, \u2063titled &#8220;Instruments and Casualties of the Censorship-Industrial Complex,&#8221; suggests that the GEC&#8217;s actions\u2062 violate its mandate of combating \u2062foreign disinformation and instead promote initiatives that restrict domestic press freedoms. Among these initiatives was internal communication involving a group that targeted conservative media under the pretext of addressing &#8220;fake\u2062 news.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the report raises concerns about the lack of transparency and oversight in \u200dhow the\u2062 GEC manages its budget, which amounts to approximately \u200d$61 million. It points to \u200bsubstantial issues in record-keeping \u200band insufficient auditing processes to track the usage of taxpayer money effectively. The findings\u2063 have \u200ctriggered calls from GOP lawmakers to prohibit future funding to the GEC, as it faces potential lawsuits from conservative media centers over its alleged funding practices.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Embattled State Department office skirted mandate in funding &lsquo;censorship&rsquo; groups: House GOP<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1757170\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE &mdash;<\/strong> An office housed within the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/state-department\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>State Department<\/a> is faulted in a new congressional report with flouting its mandate to thwart foreign <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/disinformation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>disinformation<\/a> through its funding of groups engaged in &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"censorship\">censorship<\/a>&rdquo; against small businesses in the United States.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;This interim report outlines how government agencies are working with the private sector to ensure that certain businesses do not have a fair chance to compete online,&rdquo; said Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX), who chairs the House Small Business Committee. &ldquo;Even worse, this report uncovers how taxpayer dollars contributed to the censorship that picks winners and losers in the online marketplace.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The 66-page <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/House-Small-Business-Committee-Interim-Report-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>report<\/a> was prepared by investigators on the Republican-led House Small Business Committee. For over a year, the panel has sought sprawling<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3045324\/state-department-subpoena-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title> funding records<\/a> from the State Department&rsquo;s Global Engagement Center on its programs fighting alleged disinformation and misinformation. That investigation began due to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/technology\/2801668\/disinformation-inc-meet-the-groups-hauling-in-cash-to-secretly-blacklist-conservative-news-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>series<\/a> of <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance\/2773271\/disinformation-inc-state-department-bankrolls-group-secretly-blacklisting-conservative-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reports<\/a> on the office bankrolling the Global Disinformation Index &mdash; a British group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/technology\/2204408\/how-we-uncovered-a-modern-censorship-regime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>pressuring advertisers<\/a> to defund right-of-center media outlets in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>The release of the report comes as the Global Engagement Center, which has an estimated budget of $61 million and a staff of 125, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3045324\/state-department-subpoena-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>faces the potential to lose funding<\/a> over GOP-led frustrations about its involvement with apparent domestic censorship groups. A provision through the annual State Department appropriations <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/house-bill\/8771\/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>bill<\/a>, which passed the House this summer and will be negotiated in the Senate, aims to ban future checks to the GEC. The office is also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2640919\/state-department-faces-lawsuit-from-conservative-media-over-funding-censorship-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>facing a lawsuit<\/a> from conservative media outlets over the $100,000 the GEC sent to GDI and its support of a company called NewsGuard that rates the &ldquo;misinformation&rdquo; levels of news outlets.<\/p>\n<p>Titled &ldquo;Instruments and Casualties of the Censorship-Industrial Complex,&rdquo; the House report argues the GEC promoted &ldquo;tech start-ups and other small businesses in the disinformation detection space to private sector entities with domestic censorship capabilities.&rdquo; Moreover, the report argues the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/technology\/1877093\/disinformation-inc-state-department-backed-group-cuts-ties-with-group-blacklisting-conservative-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>National Endowment for Democracy<\/a>, a State Department-funded nonprofit group that awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars to GDI, &ldquo;violated its international restrictions by collaborating with fact-checking entities in assessing domestic press businesses&rsquo; admission to a credibility organization.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Formed in 2016 by then-President Barack Obama, the GEC works closely with the Defense Department, Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies. Since 2019, the GEC&rsquo;s Technology Engagement Division has regularly met with social media platforms, while the office awarded many direct and subaward grants to entities pushing U.S. fact-checking initiatives, the House report found.<\/p>\n<p>These initiatives, the report said, demonstrated the ways in which the GEC skirted its international mandate. One such initiative was a secret group chat targeting conservatives over alleged &ldquo;fake news,&rdquo; the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> confirmed.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&lsquo;#FakeNewsSci&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>The GEC, according to documents cited in the report, recently awarded taxpayer dollars to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, a London-based entity that delivered a subaward to the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. But the subaward &ldquo;was used to convince international news outlets to join Poynter&rsquo;s International Fact-Checking Network&rsquo;s (IFCN) Code of Principles, which is a group of news and information organizations that abide by a certain set of qualities denoting journalistic standards,&rdquo; the report found.<\/p>\n<p>To implement this award, the GEC was apparently added to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-smeared-clarence-thomass-wife-for-agitating-on-a-listserv-heres-the-sweet-thing-she-actually-said\/\" title=\"Media Smeared Clarence Thomas\u2019s Wife For \u2018Agitating\u2019 On A Listserv. Here\u2019s The Sweet Thing She Actually Said\">private email list<\/a> in which apparent censorship activists &ldquo;critiqued applicants, including domestic businesses such as the <em>Daily Caller<\/em> and its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/politifact-is-ticked-that-we-fact-checked-their-false-fact-check\/\" title=\"PolitiFact Is Ticked That We Fact-Checked Their False Fact-Check\">fact-checking organization<\/a>,&rdquo; according to the House report and documents obtained by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> through public records requests.<\/p>\n<p>Internal documents show that in the email list titled &ldquo;#FakeNewsSci,&rdquo; participants were also affiliated with the National Endowment for Democracy, Snopes, Poynter, Clemson University, and other entities. Kate Starbird, a professor at the University of Washington, has also participated in the listserv, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pwarren_5.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>documents obtained by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em><\/a>  through a public records request.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I have no role with the email list Fake News SCI and I have only messaged it a few times, primarily to share our job postings,&rdquo; Starbird told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>In one February 2021 email in the listserv, then-National Endowment for Democracy official Dean Jackson slammed the <em>Daily Caller<\/em>, noting, &ldquo;I personally wouldn&rsquo;t lend them the credibility.&rdquo; He cited a link to an analysis <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/02\/19\/public-schools-woke-liberal-activism-critical-race-theory-teachers-unions-enrollment-private-schools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>article<\/a> by writer Marlo Slayback titled &ldquo;Public Schools Are Becoming Cesspools Of Woke Liberal Activism. What Happened?&rdquo; Jackson also cited a link to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2018\/09\/06\/many-daily-caller-writers-expressed-white-supremacist-views\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>report<\/a> in Snopes titled &ldquo;Why Have So Many Daily Caller Writers Expressed White Supremacist Views?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Dean Jackson email, Feb. 22, 2021\/Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jackson&rsquo;s email, according to other records obtained by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, came two days after a professor in the chat named Harith Alani said the <em>Daily Caller<\/em> &ldquo;published several misinforming articles themselves.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, in a February 2021 email in the private chat, Snopes founder David Mikkelson asked about the outlet&rsquo;s funding for its fact-checking arm and foundation. An email signature for the Google group said, &ldquo;All exchanges are to be treated as &lsquo;off the record&rsquo; unless the member(s) in question explicitly agree otherwise.&rdquo; Members, according to the email signature, &ldquo;must be recommended by two other group members to be added to the group.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Check Your Fact is funded from the <em>Daily Caller<\/em>&lsquo;s newsroom budget, and the <em>Daily Caller<\/em> is funded by the <em>Daily Caller News Foundation<\/em> (DCNF),&rdquo; Mikkelson said. &ldquo;So where does the DCNF get its money from? Providing tax forms that merely document how much revenue the DCNF takes in does nothing to answer that question.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(<em>Snopes<\/em> founder David Mikkelson, Feb. 22, 2021\/Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;One of the key requirements of IFCN certification is supposed to be transparency of funding,&rdquo; Mikkelson wrote to the chat on Feb. 23, 2021, linking to an &ldquo;About Us&rdquo; page for the <em>Daily Caller&rsquo;s<\/em> fact-checking arm. &ldquo;If anyone can parse through this word salad and figure out who or what funds the <em>Daily Caller&rsquo;s<\/em> fact-checking arm, I&rsquo;d like to know.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In the congressional report, the House Small Business Committee said it&rsquo;s &ldquo;not appropriate&rdquo; for the GEC or the NED to &ldquo;belong to a cohort that gatekeeps domestic press companies from belonging to a private credibility organization.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Snopes founder David Mikkelson, Feb. 23, 2023\/Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The panel&rsquo;s report, which cites various stories by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> last year along with separate funding records to &ldquo;disinformation&rdquo; groups, includes an audit of the GEC. The audit section notes that the GEC &ldquo;has several issues in its recordkeeping and that there are not sufficient audit procedures in place to efficiently track its use of taxpayer dollars.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Despite State&rsquo;s claims that it conducts rigorous oversight of subawardees, the GEC&rsquo;s records indicate that there are numerous subawardees for which State has little or no information,&rdquo; the report said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No Federal funds should be used to grow companies whose operations are designed to demonetize and interfere with the domestic press,&rdquo; the report continued. &ldquo;Though the government is no longer in a relationship with NewsGuard or the GDI, the damage has already been done &mdash; they have already received the backing of the Federal government in hosting their products on the GEC&rsquo;s Testbed and recommending them to its partners, using their services, and helping to grow their products.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The full <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/House-Small-Business-Committee-Interim-Report-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>report<\/a> can be viewed below:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-scribd wp-block-embed-scribd wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"House Small Business Committee Interim Report 2024\" class=\"scribd_iframe_embed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/767802270\/content\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.7729220222793488\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"767802270\" width=\"696\" height=\"1000\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\">          (function() { var scribd=document.createElement(\"script\"); scribd.type=\"text\/javascript\"; scribd.async=true; scribd.src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/javascripts\/embed_code\/inject.js\"; var s=document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })()        <\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1757170\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1757170\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A troubled office within the State Department has been criticized in a recent congressional report for violating its mandate to combat foreign disinformation by financially supporting organizations that engage in &#8220;censorship&#8221; of small businesses in the U.S. Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX), chair of the House Small Business Committee, stated, \u201cThis interim report reveals how government agencies collaborate with private entities to prevent certain businesses from competing fairly online. Even more troubling is that taxpayer money has been used to support censorship that favors some companies over others in the digital marketplace.\u201d The 66-page report was compiled by investigators from the Republican-led House Small Business Committee, which has spent over a year requesting extensive funding records from the State Department\u2019s Global Engagement Center (GEC) regarding its initiatives against alleged disinformation and misinformation. This investigation was prompted by previous reports highlighting GEC&#8217;s financial backing of the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a British organization urging advertisers to withdraw support from right-leaning media outlets in America.<\/p>\n<p>The release of this report coincides with growing GOP concerns about GEC&#8217;s involvement with groups perceived as engaging in domestic censorship, potentially jeopardizing its estimated $61 million budget and 125 staff positions. A provision included in an annual appropriations bill for the State Department aims to prohibit future funding for GEC as it moves through Senate negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, GEC faces legal action from conservative media organizations regarding $100,000 it allocated to GDI and its partnership with NewsGuard, which evaluates news outlets&#8217; levels of &#8220;misinformation.&#8221; Titled \u201cInstruments and Casualties of the Censorship-Industrial Complex,\u201d this House report claims that GEC facilitated connections between tech startups focused on disinformation detection and private sector entities involved in domestic censorship efforts.<\/p>\n<p>The report also alleges that National Endowment for Democracy (NED), another State Department-funded nonprofit group providing substantial funds to GDI, breached international guidelines by collaborating with fact-checking organizations on evaluating domestic press credibility. Established by President Obama in 2016, GEC collaborates closely with various federal agencies including Defense and Homeland Security departments.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2019, it has frequently engaged social media platforms while distributing numerous grants aimed at promoting U.S.-based fact-checking initiatives\u2014actions deemed outside its international mandate according to this congressional investigation. One such initiative reportedly involved a secret chat group targeting conservatives accused of spreading &#8220;fake news.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Documents referenced indicate that taxpayer funds were recently allocated by GEC to an organization based in London called Institute for War and Peace Reporting; this entity subsequently provided funds to Poynter Institute for Media Studies aimed at persuading global news outlets to adhere to Poynter\u2019s International Fact-Checking Network Code of Principles\u2014a set standard denoting journalistic integrity.<\/p>\n<p>Internal communications revealed participation among members linked not only with NED but also Snopes and Clemson University within an email list titled &#8220;#FakeNewsSci,&#8221; where discussions included critiques directed at applicants like Daily Caller concerning their credibility.<\/p>\n<p>In one instance during February 2021 correspondence within this group chat, Dean Jackson\u2014then associated with NED\u2014expressed skepticism about Daily Caller\u2019s credibility while referencing articles questioning their journalistic integrity. Similarly, Snopes founder David Mikkelson raised inquiries regarding funding sources behind Daily Caller\u2019s fact-checking operations during these exchanges.<\/p>\n<p>The congressional committee concluded it is inappropriate for both GEC or NED members participating actively within such groups responsible for gatekeeping access among domestic press entities seeking membership into private credibility organizations.<br \/>\nFurthermore, they highlighted significant deficiencies related specifically towards recordkeeping practices at GEC along audit procedures necessary ensuring proper tracking usage involving taxpayer dollars spent on these initiatives.<br \/>\nUltimately asserting no federal resources should be utilized fostering companies whose activities aim undermining or disrupting local journalism efforts already established across various platforms nationwide despite current cessation relationships held previously between government bodies alongside mentioned organizations like NewsGuard or Global Disinformation Index having occurred priorly resulting damages incurred remain irreversible moving forward henceforth outlined findings presented throughout comprehensive documentation available below:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2339261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Antony-Blinken-censorship-House-scaled-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[6371,6513,6203,32895],"class_list":["post-2339260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-censorship","tag-funding","tag-gop","tag-state-department"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Antony-Blinken-censorship-House-scaled-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339260","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\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2339260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2339261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2339260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2339260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2339260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}