The government has significantly increased its spending on combating misinformation, especially in relation to COVID-19. Since 2021, the Biden-Harris administration has allocated $267 million for research related to misinformation, with $127 million focused specifically on COVID-related issues. This rise in funding coincided with claims from officials like Anthony Fauci that misinformation was undermining public health recommendations during the pandemic. Many of these recommendations, such as social distancing guidelines and vaccine mandates, have since been questioned regarding their scientific validity.
The government has teamed up with social media companies to address what it labeled as misinformation, which often included content that merely disagreed with official narratives. Although the Supreme Court deemed such collaborations legal, notable figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have criticized this approach. A report from the U. S. House Committee on the Judiciary detailed how the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other federal agencies have funded projects designed to develop censorship tools, which utilize artificial intelligence to shape public opinion by restricting certain viewpoints.
From 2017 to the present, grants related to misinformation have amounted to $273 million, driven primarily by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of this surge occurred from 2020 to 2021, with a significant allocation of $126 million in 2021 alone. Funding primarily came from the Department of Health and Human Services and the NSF.
The definition of misinformation provided by the Department of Health and Human Services leaves room for interpretation, raising concerns about who decides what constitutes “best available evidence. ” During the pandemic, directives like the six-foot social distancing guideline were later revealed to lack scientific support, which contributed to distrust in government and public health communications.
Historically, misinformation-related funding began during the Trump administration, but it skyrocketed under Biden. Most grants supported technological innovations to identify and mitigate misinformation on social media platforms. Notably, a $200,000 grant in the Biden era aimed to study the supposed effects of populist leaders, including Donald Trump, on public response to health information, suggesting that expert opinions should dominate public health discourse in future crises.
Grants were directed toward various projects including public health campaigns to encourage vaccination and academic studies to understand misinformation’s spread and impact. Part of this funding focused on community outreach to alter public perceptions regarding the safety of vaccines and other health measures.
On the contracting side, some funds were allocated for real-time surveillance of misinformation on social media, using various advanced technologies. While this was framed as a necessary response, it also raised questions about privacy and the potential for misuse of such surveillance.
Finally, despite the steep investment in combating misinformation, reports indicated that public trust in health authorities significantly diminished during the pandemic, largely due to perceived inconsistencies and ineffective communication strategies from the government. Consequently, the very measures taken to combat misinformation may have inadvertently contributed to it, leaving Americans skeptical of ongoing government efforts and funding in this area.
https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/taxpayer-funded-censorship-how-government
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