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US State Department Funding Secret 'Disinformation' Crusade To Blacklist Conservative Media

FRIDAY, FEB 10, 2023 - 08:40 PM
The US Department of State has been funding a "disinformation" tracking group through its Global Engagement Center (GEC), which reportedly works at demonetizing sites it accuses of disseminating "disinformation," - which are overwhelmingly conservative news outlets, the Washington Examiner reports.

Graphic via the Washington Examiner
The Global Disinformation Index, a British organization with two affiliated U.S. nonprofit groups, is feeding blacklists to ad companies with the intent of defunding and shutting down websites peddling alleged "disinformation," the Washington Examiner reported. This same "disinformation" group has received $330,000 from two State Department-backed entities linked to the highest levels of government, raising concerns from First Amendment lawyers and members of Congress.




Gabe Kaminsky
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Feb 9, 2023

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Replying to @gekaminsky$100,000 came from the Global Engagement Center, which steered the money to a private investment firm called Park Advisors that managed a defunct group called Disinfo Cloud, the @StateDept told the @dcexaminer



Gabe Kaminsky
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The Global Engagement Center notably appeared in the Twitter Files reported by @mtaibbi

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Matt Taibbi
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Jan 3

11.The GEC report appeared based on DHS data circulated earlier that week, and included accounts that followed “two or more” Chinese diplomatic accounts. They reportedly ended up with a list “nearly 250,000” names long, and included Canadian officials and a CNN account:
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7:18 PM · Feb 9, 2023·8,521

Meanwhile in September 2021, the GEC hosted the US-Paris Tech Challenge - an event which sought to "advance the development of promising and innovative technologies against disinformation and propaganda" in Europe and the UK. The event was a "collaboration with U.S. Embassy Paris, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)" and several other organizations.
Civil rights experts are appalled.
"Any outfit like that engaged in censorship shouldn't have any contact with the government because they're tainted by association with a group that is doing something fundamentally against American values," said Jeffrey Clark, former acting head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division in a statement to the Examiner. "The government or any private entity shouldn't be involved with this entity that's engaged in conduct that is either legally questionable or at least morally questionable."



Gabe Kaminsky
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Feb 9, 2023

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Replying to @gekaminskyIn September 2021, the GEC/Disinfo Cloud announced that GDI + 2 groups would split a $250K grant as part of the U.S-Paris Tech Challenge, which aimed "to advance the development of promising and innovative technologies against disinformation and propaganda" overseas.





Gabe Kaminsky
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In addition to Park Advisers and Disinfo Cloud, partners for the Paris challenge included the Atlantic Council, a major think tank, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and others, according to the State Department.

7:21 PM · Feb 9, 2023

Meanwhile, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said: "Last year, under tremendous bipartisan pressure, I refused to reauthorize the Global Engagement Center because such a step seemed premature," adding "The most recent allegations, if verified, confirm the need for a strict accounting of all U.S. taxpayer funds going to the GEC."
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) says that the Biden administration is "knee deep" in left-leaning efforts to "crack down" on speech - telling the Examiner: "House Republicans will be hauling these bad actors before Congress, and I absolutely support legislation to ban federal funding of anti-free speech groups."

US State Department Funding Secret 'Disinformation' Crusade To Blacklist Conservative Media | ZeroHedge