(LibertySociety.com) – The Biden administration has continued its censorship aspirations, despite being sued all the way to the Supreme Court. America First Legal recently obtained internal documents from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that detailed an initiative to push censorship in multiple sectors to suppress perspectives and narratives that do not align with the government’s messaging.
One particularly alarming aspect is the agency’s “Advertiser Outreach” plan, which urges corporate advertisers to financially dial down media outlets and social media accounts that are disfavored by the government. In the report, USAID claims that the action would “obstruct disinformation actors from spreading messaging online.”
This censorship method is often used to financially destabilize independent voices and media outlets that refuse to repeat the prescribed narrative of the day. The report details concerns related to the mainstream media’s loss of influence and also suggests initiatives to promote so-called media literacy. This tactic is used to psychologically manipulate people into refusing to read or trust any media sources outside of mainstream outlets, leading to an establishment media monopoly. The report also details a plan to focus on gaming sites, arguing for the censorship of differing interpretations of the world that do not align with mainstream viewpoints.
USAID believes that populist beliefs formed by regular people who have conducted their own research as one of the main threats the establishment faces, making clear that the rights of citizens are of no concern. The report also details the agency’s support of censorship techniques that have faced heavy scrutiny, including Google’s method of redirecting users to authoritative and purportedly trustworthy media sources instead of populating the information initially sought out by the user. USAID also encourages the censoring of so-called “malinformation,” which is true speech that is supposedly presented incorrectly. The agency also argued that parody and satire discussions were considered to be disinformation, which is a direct attempt to stifle free expression.
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