America First Legal (AFL) has released new documents exposing a sweeping government-backed censorship operation involving the U.S. Department of State’s now-defunct Global Engagement Center (GEC), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the British government, and media censorship firms.
The documents, obtained through litigation and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, reveal coordinated efforts to suppress speech under the guise of combating “misinformation” and “disinformation.”
The GEC, which shut down in December 2024, was originally tasked with countering foreign disinformation but instead engaged in domestic propaganda, leveraging private media entities. USAID developed an internal “Disinformation Primer” that encouraged private-sector censorship tactics.
Key findings include:
- COVID-19 Censorship – The GEC and USAID coordinated to counter “COVID-19 misinformation” and monitored related narratives, including in foreign elections.
- Foreign Collaboration – The GEC worked with the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and shared alleged “malinformation” with UK Officials
- AI-Powered Media Control – The GEC partnered with NewsGuard and Poynter to develop AI-driven censorship tools like Misinformation Fingerprints, used to monitor and rate websites.
- Funding and Influence – The House Small Business Committee found that Park Advisors, a GEC-funded firm, funneled over $6 million to censorship groups such as NewsGuard, the Atlantic Council, and the Soros-backed Global Disinformation Index. These groups influenced ad blacklists targeting conservative media.
Emails reveal GEC collaboration with U.S. agencies, including the NSA, Cyber Command, and the Army, raising concerns about the use of federal resources for domestic censorship. AFL has vowed to continue exposing government efforts to suppress speech and defend First Amendment rights.
Read the documents here.
