{"id":2418764,"date":"2025-04-02T05:56:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T09:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-trumps-election-nsf-funded-censorship-tools-go-missing\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T06:10:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T10:10:04","slug":"after-trumps-election-nsf-funded-censorship-tools-go-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-trumps-election-nsf-funded-censorship-tools-go-missing\/","title":{"rendered":"After Trump&#8217;s Election, NSF-Funded Censorship Tools Go Missing"},"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%2Fafter-trumps-election-nsf-funded-censorship-tools-go-missing%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=2418764&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 National Science Foundation (NSF), known for funding various research initiatives, has also been implicated in promoting programs that possibly stifle free speech. A recent inquiry by *The Federalist* revealed that the NSF has funded numerous projects aimed at combating &#8220;misinformation,&#8221; many of which are connected to big tech companies like Google and Facebook.In 2021, the NSF launched its &#8220;Convergence Accelerator,&#8221; which allocated millions to projects specifically targeting politically sensitive misinformation about topics like COVID-19 and election integrity.<\/p>\n<p>Despite its claims of supporting basic research and innovation, the NSF&#8217;s financial backing for these initiatives has been criticized for creating censorship tools. As a notable example, programs such as Course Correct, TrustFinder, and the Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust (ARTT) have been designed to monitor and control online discourse deemed to carry misinformation. Collaboration with organizations like the World economic Forum and the World Health Institution further highlights the intersection of government funding and censorship initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>several NSF-funded projects, including some that have since been discontinued, suggest a trend towards curtailing public discourse under the guise of promoting accurate facts\u2014leading critics to question the ethical implications of government involvement in content moderation. Concerns have been raised about how taxpayer money has been utilized to support these controversial programs, which primarily seem to sustain jobs rather than yield concrete results in combating misinformation.  <\/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>\n<p>The National Science Foundation (NSF) claims to be the place &ldquo;where discoveries begin&rdquo; &mdash; but it funded programs where free speech ends.&nbsp;When The Federalist asked if it still funds anti-&ldquo;misinformation&rdquo; tools, a representative simply pointed to its public grants database, which lists censorship projects funded during the Biden administration. <\/p>\n<p>The public-interest law firm Alliance Defending Freedom sent NSF records requests in February to uncover any coordination between the federal agency and internet communications monopolies such as Google and Facebook. <\/p>\n<p>NSF funds one-quarter of all federally funded academic fundamental research projects at U.S. higher education institutions, and funds technology development at approximately 400 &ldquo;small businesses&rdquo; each year. It has an annual budget of $8.5 billion. It also funds programs that exclude recipients based on race, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov\/files\/Factsheet_ByTheNumbers.pdf\">an NSF factsheet<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The NSF&rsquo;s &ldquo;Convergence Accelerator,&rdquo; which funds <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/funding\/initiatives\/convergence-accelerator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">special research<\/a> projects, launched a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov\/2022-08\/NSF%20Convergence%20Accelerator%202022%20Portfolio%20Guide_Final_lowres_508_0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cohort track<\/a>&rdquo; in 2021 for &ldquo;Trust &amp; Authenticity in Communication Systems.&rdquo; Recipients developed software to control online speech labeled &ldquo;misinformation&rdquo; about politically sensitive topics including Covid-19 treatments and election integrity.<\/p>\n<p>Twelve &ldquo;teams&rdquo; were <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/NSF-Staff-Report_Appendix.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">selected<\/a> for &ldquo;phase 1&rdquo; of the project, according to the House Judiciary Committee, and six were selected for &ldquo;phase 2&rdquo; funding at $5 million each. In total, the NSF awarded <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/NSF-Staff-Report_Appendix.pdf\">$39 million total<\/a> to projects in this &ldquo;track&rdquo; of the program. <\/p>\n<p>The NSF-funded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/events\/nsf-convergence-accelerator-expo-2022\">projects<\/a> include the Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust (ARTT), Co-Designing for Trust, Co:Cast, Co-Insights, CommuniTies, CourseCorrect, Expert Voices Together, Search Lit, TrustFinder, and WiseDex.&nbsp;Projects had ties to infamous pro-censorship organizations including Google, Meta, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/snopes\/\">Snopes<\/a>, Wikimedia, the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/world-economic-forum\/\">World Economic Forum<\/a>, and the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist asked NSF how much total funding each project received from the agency, and if there have been any &ldquo;cohorts dedicated to developing anti-misinformation projects since &lsquo;track F.&rsquo;&rdquo; An NSF spokesman replied that, &ldquo;in recent years,&rdquo; Congress asked NSF to &ldquo;identify and address issues of safety, ethics and adversarial influence online&rdquo; through funding bills and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/116th-congress\/senate-bill\/2904\">IOGAN Act<\/a>. So the Convergence Accelerator &ldquo;initiated Track F.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This program has not made an award since 2021 and will not be making any awards in the future,&rdquo; the representative said. &ldquo;NSF invests in research, innovation, and workforce development that accelerates the development, testing, and understanding of technology. NSF plays no role in content policies nor content regulations.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist again asked &ldquo;how much total NSF funding each project received&rdquo; and &ldquo;whether NSF helped develop other anti-misinformation projects aside from Track F.&rdquo; The spokesman simply pointed to the agency&rsquo;s &ldquo;award search page,&rdquo; and said, &ldquo;[o]ther than that, I don&rsquo;t have anything else to add.&rdquo; A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/simpleSearchResult?queryText=misinformation&amp;ActiveAwards=true\">search<\/a> for active NSF awards regarding &ldquo;misinformation&rdquo; yields more than 100 results.<\/p>\n<p>ADF also filed <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/04\/conservative-legal-group-launches-project-to-expose-censorship-industrial-complex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">public records requests<\/a> for documents regarding the NSF Convergence Accelerator, as The Federalist previously reported. Mathew Hoffman, legal counsel for ADF&rsquo;s Center for Free Speech, said at the time the group was investigating &ldquo;where our tax dollars are being spent to fund censorship&rdquo; &mdash; and &ldquo;if anyone&rsquo;s rights have been violated by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-trump-derangement-gave-birth-to-the-censorship-industrial-complex\/\" title=\"How Trump Derangement Gave Birth To The\u00a0...-Industrial\u00a0Complex\">censorship-industrial complex<\/a>, that litigation will certainly be an option.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Manipulating Public Discourse<\/h2>\n<div>\n<p>The University of Wisconsin-Madison developed Course Correct, a &ldquo;misinformation identification dashboard&rdquo; for journalists, according to the project <a href=\"https:\/\/vepimg.b8cdn.com\/uploads\/vjfnew\/\/content\/files\/1653027280phase-1-track-f-agenda-pdf1653027280.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">description<\/a>, to tamp down speech about &ldquo;vaccine hesitancy related to the COVID-19 pandemic&rdquo; and &ldquo;widespread skepticism about American election integrity.&rdquo; The NSF Convergence Accelerator awarded it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2230692&amp;HistoricalAwards=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$5 million<\/a> starting in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>John Lucas, a UW-Madison spokesman, told The Federalist Course Correct was renamed <a href=\"https:\/\/cccr.wisc.edu\/chime-in\/\">Chime In<\/a> &ldquo;more than a year ago.&rdquo; Spokesman Greg Bump told The Federalist Chime In is &ldquo;funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.&rdquo; He said it &ldquo;creates, tests, and promotes high-quality information on important public health issues &hellip; avoiding content moderation.&rdquo; But he admitted Chime In &ldquo;promotes independently verified facts into at-need networks using the sponsored content systems of social media. &hellip;&rdquo;<strong> <\/strong>This means the program could fill flagged social media channels with leftist content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust&rsquo;s (ARTT) &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/artt.discourselabs.org\/faq?ref=hackshackers.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">main tool<\/a>&rdquo; was created to be a &ldquo;Web-based software assistant that provides a framework of possible responses&rdquo; in controversial discussions. The NSF awarded ARTT nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=49100421C0037&amp;HistoricalAwards=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$750,000<\/a> in 2021. ARTT says it also received<strong> <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hackshackers.com\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$5 million<\/a> in startup funding. In a video <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;sca_esv=78416e3855461db3&amp;rls=en&amp;q=jim+chen+uw+ARTT&amp;udm=7&amp;fbs=ABzOT_BwhWbvgbq2-ldlJF_Xac4lwl4ZcQUKTNIEuq5aS_Zepj3qrSaXICRsYV5N74W3tzTisuiBtKCDKh-TT3j2P9Rx__zh2wSFrw-0G7qx4O2Ei603wmdDm4HHXNfJD2Wr4RyYezZ6yq7DYqwHhIadMeNH2k3wsoQd2TW7ITOFq2HlvSQea6sliJ3zmdpWzM117hLJr7PKKqhwR8wY6r91RkFpowG2O-AaAOTVll5Jel1aTkF9JdM&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwj5u5z-h4qMAxVV4skDHftiORQQtKgLegQIDBAB&amp;biw=1440&amp;bih=718&amp;dpr=2#fpstate=ive&amp;vld=cid:39fe2d0d,vid:Q2CYXMa5VQg,st:0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">online<\/a>, Jim Chen with the University of Washington (UW) showed how the chatbot responds differently as a Republican or Democrat.<\/p>\n<figure><video controls src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ARTT-demo.mov\"><\/video><\/figure>\n<p>This year, ARTT &ldquo;spun off&rdquo; as a nonprofit, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discourselabs.org\/?ref=hackshackers.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Discourse Labs<\/a>. Its &ldquo;Principals and Board&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discourselabs.org\/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">include<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/connieatwork\/details\/experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Connie Moon Sehat<\/a>, a former senior fellow for the World Economic Forum. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Discourse Labs is a nonprofit with the mission of developing tools and resources for productive public dialogue, which includes the Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust (ARTT),&rdquo; a representative for the group told The Federalist. &ldquo;ARTT received funding from the National Science Foundation from 2021 to 2024.&rdquo; The nonprofit has not yet posted any public tax documents revealing new funding sources.<\/p>\n<p>Faculty from multiple universities spearheaded Expert Voices Together, a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/vepimg.b8cdn.com\/uploads\/vjfnew\/\/content\/files\/1653027280phase-1-track-f-agenda-pdf1653027280.pdf\">rapid-response<\/a> system&rdquo; for &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/expertvoicestogether.org\/journalist\/about\">journalists and researchers<\/a>.&rdquo; The NSF Convergence Accelerator awarded EVT <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2137448&amp;HistoricalAwards=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nearly $750,000<\/a> in 2021 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2230683&amp;HistoricalAwards=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$5 million<\/a> in 2022, and the group became &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/expertvoicestogether.org\/journalist\/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">housed<\/a>&rdquo; at the leftist group <a href=\"https:\/\/righttobe.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Right To Be<\/a> this year. A representative for Right To Be told The Federalist EVT &ldquo;remains under the direction of George Washington University,&rdquo; and to &ldquo;direct inquiries there.&rdquo; GWU did not respond to repeated requests to comment.<\/p>\n<p>While those federally funded tools may still be active, others claim they&rsquo;ve been discontinued. The University of Michigan (UM) helped develop WiseDex for &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov\/2022-08\/NSF%20Convergence%20Accelerator%202022%20Portfolio%20Guide_Final_lowres_508_0.pdf\">Fast, Comprehensive Misinformation Enforcement<\/a>,&rdquo; helping online platforms push &ldquo;difficult judgments to someone outside the company &hellip; by <em>externalizing the difficult responsibility of censorship<\/em>,&rdquo; per notes from UM&rsquo;s first pitch to the NSF, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/NSF-Staff-Report_Appendix.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">House Judiciary Committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>WiseDex planned to work with online speech control groups <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/meedan-inc\/\">Meedan<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/23\/exclusive-schmitt-probes-federal-censors-efforts-to-trample-americans-speech\/\">infamous<\/a> Election Integrity Partnership. The NSF Convergence Accelerator awarded WiseDex <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2137469&amp;HistoricalAwards=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$750,000<\/a> in 2021, but its phase two proposal was &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisedex.info\/\">not funded<\/a>.&rdquo; Paul Resnick, director of UM&rsquo;s Center for Social Media Responsibility, told The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisedex.info\/\">WiseDex<\/a> &ldquo;is not currently active.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The University of Washington helped develop Co-Designing for Trust, which claims to quell speech deemed &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/codesigningfortrust.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">misinformation<\/a>&rdquo; in &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov\/2022-08\/NSF%20Convergence%20Accelerator%202022%20Portfolio%20Guide_Final_lowres_508_0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(BIPOC) and rural communities<\/a>.&rdquo;&nbsp;Jason Young, a UW employee, called it a &ldquo;Black Snopes&rdquo; in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AiGwf7TO8g8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">video<\/a>. Spokesman Victor Balta told The Federalist it &ldquo;improve[s] educational resources related to information literacy,&rdquo; like a project to help rural library patrons &ldquo;avoid being scammed on Craigslist.&rdquo; He said the project is &ldquo;winding down as the grant-funding period approaches its conclusion.&rdquo; The NSF awarded Co-Designing for Trust <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2137519&amp;HistoricalAwards=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$750,000<\/a> in 2021 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2230616&amp;HistoricalAwards=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$5 million<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>UW also developed TrustFinder, which was supposed to help &ldquo;researchers to <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20230531193155\/https:\/\/www.trustfinder.net\/about\/\">reduce<\/a> the negative impacts on their work of misinformation.&rdquo; Balta said the project &ldquo;did not advance beyond the initial planning phase in 2021 and is no longer active.&rdquo; The NSF Convergence Accelerator awarded TrustFinder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2230616&amp;HistoricalAwards=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$5 million<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Meedan developed Co-Insights &mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/meedan.com\/post\/fact-champ-launch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">initially named<\/a> Fact Champ &mdash; to &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bEAdvXRJ9mU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scan millions of posts<\/a>&rdquo; and fight &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov\/2022-08\/NSF%20Convergence%20Accelerator%202022%20Portfolio%20Guide_Final_lowres_508_0.pdf\">misinformation<\/a> targeting Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.&rdquo; NSF awarded it nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=49100421C0035&amp;HistoricalAwards=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$750,000<\/a> in 2021 and an additional <a href=\"https:\/\/meedan.com\/post\/co-insights-wins-5m-from-the-national-science-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$5 million<\/a> in 2022. A Meedan representative told The Federalist the project &ldquo;studied and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/californias-new-unconstitutional-concealed-carry-ban-hurts-black-people-and-women-most\/\" title=\"California&#039;s new concealed-carry ban disproportionately affects black individuals and women, violating their constitutional rights\">published peer-reviewed research<\/a> on content targeting communities online. &hellip;&rdquo; The representative claimed Meedan &ldquo;strongly support[s] free speech&rdquo; so its &ldquo;tools were opt-in and only provided additional information,&rdquo; and the project &ldquo;ran from 2021&ndash;2024 and has now concluded.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Ohio State University also developed the <a href=\"https:\/\/nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov\/2022-08\/NSF%20Convergence%20Accelerator%202022%20Portfolio%20Guide_Final_lowres_508_0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Crisis Observatory: Credible Actionable Sensemaking Tools<\/a>, an &ldquo;AI-based system&rdquo; that &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/vepimg.b8cdn.com\/uploads\/vjfnew\/\/content\/files\/1653027280phase-1-track-f-agenda-pdf1653027280.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">separates<\/a> credible from less credible information.&rdquo; The NSF awarded it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2137806\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nearly $750,000<\/a> in 2021. Benjamin Johnson, chief spokesperson for OSU, said it was &ldquo;disaster response research to aid first responders,&rdquo; and researchers studied how AI could assist them and &ldquo;other decision makers analyze large amounts of information in a rapidly changing emergency situation like a natural disaster or public health crisis.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Temple University developed CommuniTies, a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2137846\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">journalist-in-the-loop<\/a> system&rdquo; to avoid &ldquo;uncivil, polarizing discourse, audience misinterpretation, the production of misinformation, and the perpetuation of false narratives (e.g., conspiracy theories).&rdquo; The USA Today Network was <a href=\"https:\/\/nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov\/2022-08\/NSF%20Convergence%20Accelerator%202022%20Portfolio%20Guide_Final_lowres_508_0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">set<\/a> to &ldquo;allow the CommuniTies platform to be in the hands of journalists.&rdquo; The NSF Convergence Accelerator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2137846\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">awarded<\/a> it $750,000 in 2021. <\/p>\n<p>Faculty at various institutions also developed Search Lit, an online &ldquo;suite&rdquo; to &ldquo;combat[] misinformation,&rdquo; according to its project <a href=\"https:\/\/vepimg.b8cdn.com\/uploads\/vjfnew\/\/content\/files\/1653027280phase-1-track-f-agenda-pdf1653027280.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">description<\/a>. The NSF Convergence Accelerator <a href=\"https:\/\/nsf.elsevierpure.com\/en\/projects\/nsf-convergence-accelerator-track-f-adapting-and-scaling-existing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">awarded<\/a> Search Lit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2137530\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$750,000<\/a> through MIT in 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>All the discontinued censorship tools mean taxpayers paid tens of millions of dollars for nothing at all &mdash; except <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">keeping numerous censorship jobs temporarily afloat<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-clark-county-keeps-commercial-addresses-on-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He is a spring 2025 fellow of The College Fix. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NSF claims to foster discoveries but funds censorship<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2418765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Keyboard-lock.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[6371,52675,5894,11458,3634],"class_list":["post-2418764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-censorship","tag-nsf","tag-politics","tag-technology","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Keyboard-lock.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2418764","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\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2418764"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2418764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2418768,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2418764\/revisions\/2418768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2418765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2418764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2418764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2418764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}