OVERVIEW
In last month’s update, we predicted that a new year, new Administration and new Congress would offer tremendous opportunities to strike blows to the censorship industrial complex.
In only the first month of 2025, that prediction turned out to be true. Bigly.
One of President Trump’s first executive orders prevents the federal government from using organizations such as NewsGuard and GDI, severely hampering their censorship capabilities. We anticipate seeing more efforts such as this, both from the president and Congress.
The states are also ripe with opportunities to stamp out media censorship. We will work to push legislation that has an effect similar to the President’s EO at the state level. Our Statement of Principles on News Censorship, which recently was approved by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), provides a foundation for state legislators to pass anti-media censorship bills.
The IMC’s members and allies are continuing to impress upon the importance of this issue, publishing numerous stories across their platforms, many of which are listed in this update.
2025 is already living up to our expectations that we can beat back censorship – and we’re just getting started.
GOVERNMENT
Federal
One of President Trump’s first actions was to issue an Executive Order ending federal efforts to engage in censorship.
The EO specifically cites the use of organizations that operate under the guise of combatting “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “malinformation,” and states that no federal agency can use public resources that support such an organization.
Groups like NewsGuard, GDI, GARM and others are the specific target of these orders, a powerful blow to them. The full EO is below. Our next effort is to get Congress to codify this executive order into law.
RESTORING FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND ENDING FEDERAL CENSORSHIP
EXECUTIVE ORDER
January 20, 2025
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, an amendment essential to the success of our Republic, enshrines the right of the American people to speak freely in the public square without Government interference. Over the last 4 years, the previous administration trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve. Under the guise of combatting “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “malinformation,” the Federal Government infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advanced the Government’s preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate. Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to: (a) secure the right of the American people to engage in constitutionally protected speech;
(b) ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen;
(c) ensure that no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen; and
(d) identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to censorship of protected speech.
Sec. 3. Ending Censorship of Protected Speech. (a) No Federal department, agency, entity, officer, employee, or agent may act or use any Federal resources in a manner contrary to section 2 of this order.
(b) The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of executive departments and agencies, shall investigate the activities of the Federal Government over the last 4 years that are inconsistent with the purposes and policies of this order and prepare a report to be submitted to the President, through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, with recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken based on the findings of the report.
Sec. 4. General Provisions.
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 20, 2025.
State
The American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) voted to approve a Statement of Principles on News Censorship. The statement advises state governments not to engage in or support organizations engaged in media censorship activities. The IMC is pleased to help secure this statement, which is below.
ALEC Statement of Principles on News Censorship
- Determinations of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation are inherently political and subjective criteria. Any organization claiming to engage in “fact-checking” or identifying misinformation, disinformation or malinformation is using subjective criteria to censor speech. What constitutes misinformation, disinformation or malinformation is an inherently political determination that chills free speech and Freedom of the Press. Government has a First Amendment obligation not to engage in such censorship or otherwise support organizations engaged in such activities.
- Government should not pick winners and losers based on ideology or alleged bias. When state agencies develop constituent outreach campaigns (such as a public service announcement raising awareness), or work with professional marketers or advertisers, they should base ad placement decisions on an outlet’s objective, quantitative metrics, such as audience size, viewership, and demographic information. They should not discriminate against outlets based on subjective, content-based criteria, adherence to perceived journalistic standards or determinations of misinformation, disinformation or malinformation.
- Government should not be in the business of “fact-checking” news outlets or “protecting the public” from outlets that spread alleged misinformation, or provide material support to entities that do the same. Government should prioritize contracting decisions with advertising and marketing agencies that do not place advertisements using political criteria, and eschew relationships with third party services that engage in fact checking or determinations of subjective, content-based criteria, adherence to perceived journalistic standards or determinations of misinformation, disinformation or malinformation.
- The antidote to misinformation, disinformation or malinformation is more speech, not censorship. The U.S. Supreme Court has long abided by the Counterspeech Doctrine – a principle that the solution to bad speech is more speech, not censorship or “enforced silence.” The private sector is already leading on this issue. Many social media platforms in the private sector have already integrated “Community Notes” features that allow other users to add additional context or critique posts, voted on by the platform’s users.
MEDIA
RealClear Investigations, 1/28/24 Trump’s Fight Against Online Censorship Quickly Goes Global, by Ben Weingarten
Reason, 1/23/25 Disinformation Experts Hate Trump’s Free Speech Executive Order, by Robby Soave
Reuters, 1/23/25 Trump Accuses Bank of America, JPM of not Doing Business with Conservatives by Lananh Nguyen
NY Post, Trump’s Day 1 Order to Outlaw State-Sponsored Censorship Reveals how Tyrannical Federal Government Got, by Ben Weingarten
Breitbart, 1/21/25 Trump Strips Security Clearance from NewsGuard Adviser Michael Hayden , by Sean Moran
WSJ, 1/16/25 ‘Fact Checkers’ Become Rent Seekers, by James Taranto
Racket News, 1/14/25 Head of Infamous “Information Disorder” Commission Promoted at NPR, by Matt Taibbi
Washington Times, 1/9/25 Disney Under Pressure from Conservative Shareholders to Disavow Ad Censorship, by Valerie Richardson
RealClear Investigations, 1/9/25 How Trump Plans to Take on Censors – and They Plan to Take on Trump, by Ben Weingarten
The Federalist, 1/9/25 Supreme Court Chief Roberts Just Defended the Censorship Industrial Complex, by Ben Weingarten
The Federalist, 1/08/25 Facebook has Admitted its Error, but its ‘Fact Checkers’ are Still Complicit in Censorship, by Mark Hemingway
NY Post, 1/07/5 Mark Zuckerberg Promises not to Censor Anymore – Will He Make Up for Punishing Truth Tellers Before? By Ben Weingarten
Newsmax, 1/07/25 Meta, Facebook End Fact-Checking Program, by Charlie McCarthy
The Federalist, 1/06/25 Court Filings Reveal More Government Lies About Censorship, Seek Deeper Investigation, by Joy Pullman
