The State Department is refusing to say whether it is communicating with Big Tech platforms to censor free speech online leading up to the 2024 election.
When pressed by The Federalist on whether the UCG or its participating members - including the State Department and GEC - will be collaborating with Big Tech and social media companies to censor what they deem to be "Russian disinformation," a State Department spokesman claimed the working group "Is a coordination mechanism between governments and will not involve collaboration with private technology companies or social media companies."
When subsequently pressed on whether the State Department or GEC are collaborating or plan to collaborate with Big Tech and social media companies outside of their work with the UCG to counter so-called "Disinformation," the spokesman did not respond to The Federalist's request for comment.
Through GEC, the State Department funded the U.K.-based Global Disinformation Index, a so-called "Disinformation" tracking organization "Working to blacklist and defund conservative news sites," including The Federalist.
Created "At the request" of CISA, EIP allowed federal officials to "Launder [their] censorship activities in hopes of bypassing both the First Amendment and public scrutiny." As documented in the interim report, this operation attempted to censor "True information, jokes and satire, and political opinions" and submitted flagged posts from prominent conservative figures to Big Tech companies for censorship.
Federal agencies' ability to continue coordination with Big Tech to censor posts they deem unfavorable was made possible due to an October ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case known as Murthy v. Missouri.
U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty agreed and issued a preliminary injunction on July 4, 2023, barring federal agencies from colluding with Big Tech to censor posts they don't like.
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