August 2025 Newsletter

August 2025 Report

Inside This Edition:

Proposed FY 2026 NDAA Advances with Anti-Media Censorship Provision
IMC, CPAC File Comment with FTC Opposing Omnicom-IPG Merger
FCC Reviews Broadcasting Cap; Lifting it Would Quash Diversity of Voices on TV
Model Bill to Prevent Biased Media Monitors in Schools Presses On
DHS Spent $7 Million to Indoctrinate Students Through ‘Media Literacy’
Justice Department Files Statement of Interest on Suppression of Ideas
NewsGuard Attempts to Rebrand, Drops ‘Misinfo’ ‘Disinfo Labels
NewsGuard & Censorship Media Roundup

OVERVIEW

This summer is showing more evidence that pressure against biased media monitors is working — and the censorship-industrial complex is beginning to show cracks.

At the federal level, Congress took another step toward banning taxpayer-funded viewpoint discrimination, with the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act advancing a key provision to prohibit the Pentagon from using media monitors to place recruitment ads. Meanwhile, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest in a landmark free speech case, taking aim at coordinated deplatforming of dissenting voices.

Just last week, IMC and the CPAC Foundation filed a formal comment with the FTC, challenging the Omnicom-IPG advertising merger as a direct threat to free speech. The filing exposes how “brand safety” tools—used by both companies—routinely blacklist conservative outlets under the guise of combating “misinformation.” It urges the FTC to suspend the merger and investigate how these tools, often built by partisan actors, are weaponized to silence dissent.

The FCC has also acknowledged a busy summer, including their review of the cap on national TV ownership. The cap is a vital protection against monopolization by liberal broadcast conglomerates. Lifting or eliminating it would threaten local journalism and limit viewpoint diversity, reshaping the media landscape for years to come.

In education, IMC allies continued their push to keep biased media monitors out of schools. This is particularly timely heading into the new school year. Meanwhile, a new report revealed that DHS funneled $7 million into “media literacy” programs — many of which were built by far-left groups like NewsGuard and SPLC.

The IMC and its partners will continue to expose bias, advocate for reform, and defend the First Amendment — from Congress to the classroom.

FEDERAL

Proposed FY 2026 NDAA Advances with Anti-Media Censorship Provision

The FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was reported out of the Senate Armed Services Committee and House Armed Services Committee in July, with the Senate version strengthening an existing provision preventing the Defense Department from using media monitors in the placement of military recruitment ads. The House draft makes this provision permanent, but language to strengthen enforcement outcomes is expected to be inserted when the bill reaches the House floor this Fall.

US Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) highlighted the inclusion of this section in a statement touting key wins in NDAA, noting that it would prohibit DoD recruiting funds from being used to censor and disadvantage conservative media sources. See the statement here.

The Senate language builds on a similar measure included in the FY 2024 NDAA. Both the Senate and House will consider their bills this Fall on the floor, after which they must be reconciled in Conference Committee for final passage and enactment.

IMC, CPAC File Comment with FTC Opposing Omnicom-IPG Merger

The IMC has joined forces with the CPAC Foundation Center for Regulatory Freedom (CRF) to file a formal comment with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) opposing the proposed merger between Omnicom Group Inc. and The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG).

The comment—submitted on July 28, 2025—urges the FTC to suspend or nullify its recent Consent Order approving the merger and calls for a full investigation into the merger’s implications for free speech, viewpoint discrimination, and ideological suppression through third-party “brand safety” and “misinformation” tools.

To protect the integrity of free speech and restore public confidence in regulatory oversight, the IMC and CPAC are demanding:

Immediate suspension of the merger approval until a thorough public investigation is completed.
A full audit of both companies’ use of third-party media monitors and DEI frameworks that may violate federal law.
Formal acknowledgment by Omnicom and IPG of any improper censorship or discrimination practices.
Creation of a corporate reform plan to eliminate DEI-based exclusion and ideological gatekeeping.
Appointment of a long-term FTC monitor to oversee compliance.
Establishment of a $300 million restitution fund for harmed media outlets suppressed by biased brand safety tools.

The IMC and CPAC assert that media freedom and advertising equity are at stake in this merger. In an increasingly digital world where advertising access determines visibility and viability, the partisan control over advertising tools must be eliminated to preserve democracy and ensure all voices can be heard.

See Newsmax story on the Filing

FCC Reviews Broadcasting Cap; Lifting it Would Quash Diversity of Voices on TV

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reopened its 39% national television ownership cap rule, formally seeking public comment this summer. With Chair Brendan Carr signaling a “very busy” period ahead, the agency is weighing whether to retain, tweak, or scrap the cap.

In a bold 33‑page filing submitted to the FCC, Newsmax Media, strongly urged the agency to retain the 39 percent national TV ownership cap and eliminate the outdated UHF discount. Weakening the cap would further destabilize local journalism, concentrate political influence among liberal‑leaning broadcast giants like ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, and harm nationwide viewpoint diversity.

Citing Congress’s 2004 decision enshrining the cap and the Supreme Court’s Major Questions Doctrine, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said any change would overstep the FCC’s legal authority. In the Newsmax view.

“The FCC must reject any proposal to raise or remove the cap — not just to honor congressional law, but to defend America’s media landscape from monopolization and political manipulation,” he said.

See Newsmax’s story on the filing here:

Newsmax Files With FCC to Oppose Lifting TV Cap

Newsmax by Jonathan Haymeier, 7/24/25

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/newsmax-fcc-horizontal-ownership-cap/2025/07/23/id/1219777/

See Newsmax’s filing here:

Comments of Newsmax Media Inc. Final for Filing.pdf

Justice Department Files Statement of Interest on Suppression of Competition in the Marketplace of Ideas Through Deplatforming of Rival Viewpoints

The Justice Department filed a statement of interest in a case being heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia: Children’s Health Defense et al. v. Washington Post et al. The lawsuit, brought by plaintiffs who say they were deplatformed for sharing independent news and opinions about the COVID-19 pandemic, accuses major media outlets—including the Washington Post, BBC, AP, and Reuters—of working together and with large tech platforms to stifle competition from alternative viewpoints.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-statement-interest-suppression-competition-marketplace-ideas

Model Bill to Prevent Biased Media Monitors in Schools Presses On

The Foundation for Freedom Online presented model legislation at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s annual meeting that would ensure K-12 schools and public libraries are not subject to partisan teaching materials, digital tools or curricula. Called the “Against Blacklisting in Education or A.B.E Act,” the legislation seeks to prevent schools and libraries from working with entities that unnecessarily restrict political viewpoints or information sources.

The IMC issued a letter of support for efforts to prevent the indoctrination of political ideology into students at their public schools and libraries.

The IMC argued that “Schools should be places where young minds can develop critical thinking skills to formulate their own opinions and make important decisions. Further, parents should be able to send their kids to school or the library with the confidence that they will be free from political agendas.”

Foundation for Freedom Online report: DHS Spent $7 Million to Indoctrinate Students Through ‘Media Literacy’

The Foundation for Freedom Online has issued a new report showing that Under the previous administration, DHS spent $7 million, funneled through FEMA, to push “media literacy” lessons into schools. Among the report’s key findings:

Ideologically biased, pro-censorship organizations including the Southern Poverty Law Center and NewsGuard have led the way in building media literacy curricula.
Numerous states including California, Rhode Island, Texas and Florida have passed new laws to ensure media literacy lessons in schools.
New disclosures from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reveal the Biden Administration tapped a cross-government coalition to push media literacy, including the State Department, the Department of Education, DHS, and USAID.

See the report here.

NewsGuard Attempts to Rebrand, Drops ‘Misinfo’ ‘Disinfo Labels

NewsGuard has officially dropped the labels “misinformation” and “disinformation” from its public ratings, saying that these terms have become politicized and are no longer effective descriptors. Instead, they will use terms like “provably false” when describing inaccurate content.

MRC Free Speech America’s Dan Schneider called out NewsGuard for their spin, sayingthe shift as just another example in a pattern of rebranding tactics, saying that this is the same crowd that rebranded global warming as “climate change,” sex change operations as “gender-affirming care,” and abortion as a “reproductive right.”

MRC’s Dan Schneider on X:

MEDIA

Newsmax Files With FCC to Oppose Lifting TV Cap

Newsmax by Jonathan Haymeier, 7/24/25

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/newsmax-fcc-horizontal-ownership-cap/2025/07/23/id/1219777/

DHS Used $7 Million ‘Media Literacy’ Budget to Push Indoctrination in Schools

Foundation for Freedom Online, 7/23/25

https://foundationforfreedomonline.com/dhs-used-7million-media-literacy-budget-to-push-indoctrination-in-schools/

‘Media Literacy’: The New Partisan Threat in Education

American Spectator by Allum Bokharu, 7/21/25

https://spectator.org/media-literacy-the-new-partisan-threat-in-education/

Happy Independence Day, NPR