{"id":2426278,"date":"2025-04-22T15:28:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T19:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-checking-was-always-just-censorship\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T15:29:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T19:29:56","slug":"fact-checking-was-always-just-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-checking-was-always-just-censorship\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Fact-Checking&#8217; Was Always Just Censorship"},"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\">10<\/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%2Ffact-checking-was-always-just-censorship%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=2426278&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 increasing collaboration between legacy media, Big tech, and &#8220;fact-checkers&#8221; in censoring speech related to various topics including Covid-19, the Hunter Biden laptop story, and the 2020 election. It claims that these entities have lost credibility as the public becomes more aware of their biases and manipulations. According to Axios, mentions of &#8220;misinformation&#8221; and &#8220;disinformation&#8221; in major news outlets have decreased considerably since 2020, reflecting growing public skepticism towards mainstream media.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">piece criticizes specific fact-checking organizations<\/a> like Politifact and Snopes for their alleged political bias, highlighting instances where they sidelined contrary opinions or information. It points out that in the past, platforms like Twitter and Facebook have censored content based on goverment collusion, particularly concerning COVID-19 vaccine discussions and revelations about Hunter Biden. The article concludes that public trust in the media has eroded over time, with many Americans recognizing the role of fact-checking as a tool for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/politico-reporter-disguises-pr-for-left-wing-group-as-journalism\/\" title=\"Politico Reporter Disguises PR For Left-Wing Group As Journalism\">promoting left-wing narratives<\/a> rather than objective truth.<\/p>\n<p>This changing landscape includes recent moves by government officials like Marco Rubio to dismantle entities that contribute to censorship, indicating a potential shift toward greater acceptance of free speech in the U.S.  <\/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>Legacy media and Big Tech colluded with so-called &ldquo;fact-checkers&rdquo; to censor Americans&rsquo; speech for years &mdash; from Covid-19 to the Hunter Biden laptop story to the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden&rsquo;s mental decline. Now, these self-appointed arbiters of speech are losing power because the public can see through their lies.<\/p>\n<p>Mentions of &ldquo;misinformation&rdquo; and &ldquo;disinformation&rdquo; &mdash; the left&rsquo;s favorite terms for disapproved speech &mdash; on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News have apparently dropped to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/04\/22\/fact-checking-misinformation-disinformation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lowest levels<\/a> since 2020, according to Axios. &ldquo;Professional fact-checking went mainstream during the first Trump administration, but it&rsquo;s since become politicized,&rdquo; Sara Fischer wrote for Axios.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The outlet should know, as it has engaged in repeated propaganda operations under the guise of &ldquo;fact-checking.&rdquo; After reporting former Vice President Kamala Harris was &ldquo;appointed by Biden as border czar,&rdquo; Axios tried to<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/24\/after-years-of-regaling-vp-as-border-czar-media-claim-harris-was-never-in-charge-of-the-invasion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> fact-check<\/a> Republicans, claiming &ldquo;she never actually had&rdquo; the title. As The Federalist previously reported, this is the same outlet whose co-founders demanded now-President Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/15\/axios-founders-demand-trump-apologize-for-being-shot-during-assassination-attempt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">apologize<\/a> for getting shot in the head.<\/p>\n<p>So Axios&rsquo; admission that fact-checking has &ldquo;become politicized&rdquo; is telling. It speaks to the fact that Americans are no longer willing to fall for media hoaxes. After all, Pew Research found that this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2025\/04\/14\/support-dips-for-us-government-tech-companies-restricting-false-or-violent-online-content\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">public support<\/a> for censorship fell for the first time since 2018. And as Axios <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2024\/10\/01\/news-fact-checking-sources-decline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, the number of so-called &ldquo;fact-checking&rdquo; sites had been growing since before 2016 &mdash; but in recent years, it began falling.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Manipulating the Public<\/h2>\n<p>&ldquo;Fact-checkers&rdquo; like <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/politifact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Politifact<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/snopes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Snopes<\/a>, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/14\/poynter-enlists-fbi-censorship-lackey-yoel-roth-for-fact-checking-summit-keynote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Poynter Institute<\/a> claim to be nonpartisan, but often silenced dissent.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, Big Tech colluded with such services to censor speech about the Covid-19 vaccine. For example, Twitter (now X) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/news\/twitter-deletes-post-from-the-federalist-proposing-chickenpox-parties-to-deliberately-spread-coronavirus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censored<\/a> a post from The Federalist suggesting Americans should build natural immunity. The same year, USA Today tried to &ldquo;fact-check&rdquo; The Federalist for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/factcheck\/2020\/11\/25\/fact-check-article-misconstrues-biden-covid-advisers-vaccine-stance\/6424401002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">criticizing<\/a> a Biden adviser&rsquo;s vaccine research.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Also in 2020, as shown in the &ldquo;Twitter Files,&rdquo; the platform <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/12\/10\/third-batch-of-twitter-files-shows-twitters-lead-censor-joking-about-fbi-collusion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">colluded<\/a> with the FBI to suppress The New York Post&rsquo;s accurate <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2020\/10\/14\/email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-biz-man-to-dad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reporting<\/a> on the Hunter Biden laptop. The laptop revealed <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/hunter-biden-laptop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">incriminating evidence<\/a> about Hunter Biden, the family&rsquo;s corruption, and the presidential candidate, less than a month ahead of November&rsquo;s race for office. A later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/118\/meeting\/house\/116258\/documents\/HHRG-118-FD00-20230720-SD011.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">poll<\/a> found the overwhelming majority of Americans believed the laptop cover-up changed the results of the election.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After the contentious 2020 election, Facebook (now Meta) slapped a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/07\/were-still-waiting-for-facebook-to-atone-for-the-11-times-we-know-of-it-censored-the-federalist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">warning label<\/a> on a post from The Federalist&rsquo;s Editor-In-Chief, Mollie Hemingway, when she expressed concerns over ballot meddling in Georgia. As recently as 2023, when The Federalist reported left-wing organizations were using funding to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/07\/were-still-waiting-for-facebook-to-atone-for-the-11-times-we-know-of-it-censored-the-federalist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">influence<\/a> local elections, Facebook &mdash; citing Politifact &mdash; claimed the article was &ldquo;Partly False.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>After Biden became president, the &ldquo;Facebook Files&rdquo; revealed the White House colluded with Facebook to censor inconvenient speech about the Covid-19 vaccine &mdash; even if it was &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/07\/31\/facebook-files-2-0-reveal-white-house-pressured-facebook-to-censor-true-content\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">true&rdquo; content<\/a>. In 2021, the platform continued to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/12\/15\/facebook-censors-article-about-dangers-of-covid-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censor<\/a> The Federalist for supporting free speech about the disease. Media, Big Tech, and so-called &ldquo;fact-checkers&rdquo; have collaborated to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/07\/were-still-waiting-for-facebook-to-atone-for-the-11-times-we-know-of-it-censored-the-federalist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censor<\/a> The Federalist various other times.<\/p>\n<p>During Joe Biden&rsquo;s presidency, media and &ldquo;fact-checkers&rdquo; ran cover for Biden, whose mind was already <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/02\/how-bidens-mental-decline-went-from-misinformation-to-fact-in-a-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unraveling<\/a>. When Brit Hume correctly observed on Fox News that &ldquo;Biden&rsquo;s senile,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/politifact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Politifact<\/a> rated the statement &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2020\/oct\/01\/brit-hume\/geriatrics-experts-say-brit-humes-claim-joe-biden-\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">false<\/a>,&rdquo; citing &ldquo;geriatric experts.&rdquo; Meanwhile, the American people saw the president unravel before their very eyes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WATCH: President Joe Biden stumbles and falls up the stairs while boarding Air Force One <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1m7tecpsxc\">pic.twitter.com\/1m7tecpsxc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TPostMillennial\/status\/1372938992430243841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 19, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>While on a campaign trip to Las Vegas last summer, Biden suffered a medical event that triggered an <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/12\/police-audio-reveals-urgent-response-to-bidens-medical-event-in-las-vegas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">emergency response<\/a>, as The Federalist reported at the time. Legacy media neglected to investigate this, while &ldquo;fact-checkers&rdquo; simply tried to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/2024\/07\/online-rumors-baselessly-claim-biden-experienced-medical-emergency-after-covid-19-diagnosis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">quell<\/a> concerns.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>A Changing Landscape<\/h2>\n<p>As Axios <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/04\/22\/fact-checking-misinformation-disinformation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, in 2017, 43 percent of Americans trusted the Trump administration, while 38 percent trusted media. That gap has since widened. As of February, 44 percent trusted the Trump administration, while just 28 percent trusted media. Apparently, Americans understand the goal of &ldquo;fact-checking&rdquo; &mdash; not objective truth, but spreading left-wing propaganda and silencing dissent.<\/p>\n<p>Almost immediately after taking office, Trump moved to correct years of abuse with an executive order <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/01\/restoring-freedom-of-speech-and-ending-federal-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship<\/a>. The federal government had been <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/global-engagement-center\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censoring<\/a> conservative media like The Federalist and The Daily Wire through the now-defunct Global Engagement Center. And as The Federalist reported earlier this month, the National Science Foundation had <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/04\/02\/after-trumps-election-several-nsf-funded-censorship-tools-go-missing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">incubated<\/a> a host of online <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/04\/08\/how-taxpayer-funded-censorship-tools-could-manipulate-what-americans-see-about-vaccines-raw-milk-and-more\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censorship tools<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently announced in The Federalist that he is <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/04\/16\/rubio-to-protect-free-speech-the-censorship-industrial-complex-must-be-dismantled\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">terminating the GEC<\/a>, and its successor, forever. And just days ago, the NSF <a href=\"https:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2025\/04\/national-science-foundation-cancels-research-grants-related-to-misinformation-and-disinformation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">terminated<\/a> grants for projects focused on &ldquo;misinformation&rdquo; and &ldquo;disinformation.&rdquo; These moves, along with Americans&rsquo; clarity on censorship, could signal a nation more open to free speech.<\/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>Legacy media and Big Tech teamed up with &#8220;fact-checkers&#8221; to censor speech, but their influence is waning as the public recognizes their deceit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2426279,"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\/04\/Lock.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[6371,51854,32311,4188,50738],"class_list":["post-2426278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-censorship","tag-fact-checking-2","tag-free-speech","tag-media","tag-misinformation-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Lock.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426278","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=2426278"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2426283,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426278\/revisions\/2426283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2426279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2426278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2426278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2426278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}