{"id":2381409,"date":"2024-12-18T12:44:02","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T17:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-omnibus-resuscitates-censorship-group-set-to-shut-down\/"},"modified":"2024-12-18T12:46:17","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T17:46:17","slug":"gop-omnibus-resuscitates-censorship-group-set-to-shut-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-omnibus-resuscitates-censorship-group-set-to-shut-down\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Omnibus Resuscitates Censorship Group Set To Shut Down"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/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%2Fgop-omnibus-resuscitates-censorship-group-set-to-shut-down%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=2381409&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>The article discusses the recent continuation of the State Department&#8217;s Global Engagement Center (GEC), a controversial office originally designed to combat terrorism but which has been accused of facilitating censorship against conservative voices online. \u200dHouse Republicans, contrary to their previous stance against\u200b such censorship,\u2062 extended GEC&#8217;s authorization \u200bby adding a paragraph in a large spending bill, thereby allowing the office to operate for another year.\u200c This extension comes just as the GEC faced potential closure due to \u2062scrutiny and a lack\u2062 of support in the 2025 National defense Authorization Act. \u200bThe article notes that several organizations funded\u200b by the GEC\u2063 have been involved in \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-to-probe-media-rating-firm-newsguard-for-possible-taxpayer-funded-censorship\/\" title=\"Congress to Investigate NewsGuard Over Potential Taxpayer-Funded Censorship\">censoring conservative media outlets<\/a>, prompting a lawsuit that \u2062claims the GEC&#8217;s actions\u200d infringe on First Amendment rights. The GEC is described as a mechanism\u2063 that covertly suppresses dissenting speech, \u200cthereby shaping the news and data landscape in a way that favors government-approved narratives.  <\/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<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/22007612@N05\/53944105283\">Gage Skidmore \/ Flickr<\/a>\/<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/?ref=openverse\">CC By 2.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/18\/mike-johnsons-omnibus-resuscitates-state-department-group-that-censored-the-federalist\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Mike%20Johnson%E2%80%99s%20Omnibus%20Resuscitates%20State%20Department%20Group%20That%20Censored%20The%20Federalist&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/18\/mike-johnsons-omnibus-resuscitates-state-department-group-that-censored-the-federalist\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Mike%20Johnson%E2%80%99s%20Omnibus%20Resuscitates%20State%20Department%20Group%20That%20Censored%20The%20Federalist&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/18\/mike-johnsons-omnibus-resuscitates-state-department-group-that-censored-the-federalist\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/18\/mike-johnsons-omnibus-resuscitates-state-department-group-that-censored-the-federalist\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Mike%20Johnson%E2%80%99s%20Omnibus%20Resuscitates%20State%20Department%20Group%20That%20Censored%20The%20Federalist&amp;body=The%20group%20has%20helped%20Big%20Tech%20engage%20in%20industrial-scale%20censorship%20against%20conservatives.%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/18\/mike-johnsons-omnibus-resuscitates-state-department-group-that-censored-the-federalist\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>A State Department group engaged in censoring conservatives online was set to be shut down in only a few days, but House Republicans wrested defeat from the jaws of victory by extending the office&rsquo;s authorization for another year in an omnibus spending package disguised as a &ldquo;continuing resolution.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Hidden in a one-paragraph item on the 139th page of the gargantuan <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.house.gov\/billsthisweek\/20241216\/CR.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1,547-page pork-barrel bill<\/a> is a one-year extension of the State Department&rsquo;s Global Engagement Center (GEC), originally a counterterrorism tool that has been used to help Big Tech companies engage in industrial-scale censorship.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1194228334\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The move comes almost immediately after the censorship office was snubbed in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and the State Department informed Congress its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3255734\/state-department-congress-close-global-engagement-center\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">intention to shutter the office<\/a> by Dec. 24 after intense scrutiny. That means House Republicans, many of whom have claimed to be up-in-arms about the federal censorship, actively found a work-around to keep the office alive for one more year by amending the 2017 NDAA&rsquo;s language.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to the Washington Examiner earlier this month, the State Department said of the GEC that is &ldquo;remains hopeful that Congress extends this important mandate through other means before the Dec. 24th termination date.&rdquo; It appears House Republicans bent over backwards to ensure that happened.<\/p>\n<p>The subagency is named as a defendant in a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/12\/06\/state-of-texas-joins-the-federalist-daily-wire-in-suing-the-federal-censorship-industrial-complex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lawsuit<\/a> brought by The Federalist, The Daily Wire, and the state of Texas which describes the GEC as &ldquo;one of the most audacious, manipulative, secretive, and gravest abuses of power and infringements of First Amendment rights by the federal government in American history.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit argues that the State Department is using a counterterrorism tool, ostensibly intended to fight foreign &ldquo;disinformation,&rdquo; to instead censor Americans from speech that is not politically expedient to the regime and the know-it-all bureaucrats in permanent D.C.<\/p>\n<p>GEC-funded grants gave organizations like the Global Disinformation Index (GDI) and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/13\/newsguard-claims-not-to-be-government-funded-but-a-750k-grant-suggests-otherwise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NewsGuard<\/a> (both of which have specifically targeted The Federalist and The Daily Wire) the ability to alter the news and information landscape in the United States, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/04\/19\/meet-the-shadowy-group-that-ran-the-federal-governments-censorship-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">working against<\/a> almost exclusively conservative outlets to ensure the American people could not hear perspectives different from the state-approved stenography conducted by corporate media outlets.<\/p>\n<p>As the lawsuit states, the State Department &ldquo;is actively intervening in the news-media market to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/spotify-gears-up-to-silence-political-opponents-under-guise-of-election-integrity\/\" title=\"Spotify Prepares to Mute Political Rivals Citing &#039;Election Integrity\">render disfavored press outlets unprofitable<\/a> by funding the infrastructure, development, and marketing and promotion of censorship technology and private censorship enterprises to covertly suppress speech of a segment of the American press.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist&rsquo;s Joy Pullmann wrote, despite the fact that federal censorship of Americans is both illegal and unconstitutional, the GEC funded the development of hundreds of &ldquo;disinformation&rdquo; tools designed to scrub the internet for information deemed politically inexpedient by the regime. It awards money based on the effectiveness of the censorship.<\/p>\n<p>The State Department then turns around and provides the tools to Big Tech companies with the intention of having them downgrade or blacklist certain information and outlets, or actively fight against it using subjective &ldquo;fact-checking technologies, media literacy tools, media intelligence platforms, social network mapping, and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">machine learning\/artificial intelligence technology<\/a>,&rdquo; as the lawsuit states.<\/p>\n<p>The tools then rate outlets based on how much they comply with regime messaging, and use that ratings system to pressure major companies from advertising on their websites, effectively starving them of the revenue needed to function and compete with regime-approved outlets.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Breccan F. Thies<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreccanFThies\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@BreccanFThies<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/breccan-thies\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/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\/censorship\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">censorship<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/continuing-resolution\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">continuing resolution<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/global-disinformation-index\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Global Disinformation Index<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/global-engagement-center\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Global Engagement Center<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/house-republican\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">House Republican<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mike-johnson\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Mike Johnson<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/newsguard\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">NewsGuard<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/omnibus-bills\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">omnibus bills<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/state-departement\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">State Departement<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A State Department group censoring conservatives was about to close, but House Republicans extended its authorization for another year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2381410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/53944105283_b8afe0f2d7_k-e1734541057147.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[6371,6203,4133,7991,5894],"class_list":["post-2381409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-censorship","tag-gop","tag-news","tag-omnibus","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/53944105283_b8afe0f2d7_k-e1734541057147.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2381409","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\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2381409"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2381409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2381417,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2381409\/revisions\/2381417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2381410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2381409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2381409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2381409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}