NewsGuard & Censorship Update
July 2026 Report
Inside This Edition:
- Florida Doubles Down Against Media Blacklists
- NewsGuard Takes Media Blacklisting into the AI Era
- Bipartisan Senate Bill Targets Government-Driven Censorship
- NewsGuard & Censorship Media Roundup
OVERVIEW
Momentum continues to build in the fight against media blacklisting.
This month’s newsletter highlights several major victories, including Florida’s decision to renew its anti-media blacklist protections for a second consecutive year and bipartisan legislation in Congress aimed at preventing government officials from coercing private companies into censoring lawful speech.
At the same time, new challenges are emerging. NewsGuard has entered the AI space with a chatbot and is licensing its ratings to AI companies. This raises new concerns that media blacklisting is evolving beyond advertising into the information Americans receive through artificial intelligence.
As policymakers increasingly recognize the dangers of government-backed censorship and viewpoint discrimination, IMC remains committed to ensuring that independent and conservative media have a voice in these critical debates. Thank you for your continued partnership as we work together to protect free speech and a free press.
GOVERNMENT
Florida Doubles Down Against Media Blacklists
Florida has once again reaffirmed its leadership in the fight against media blacklisting.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed the state’s 2026-27 budget, preserving a provision that prohibits state agencies from contracting with advertising firms that use politically biased media monitors such as NewsGuard, Ad Fontes Media, and the Global Disinformation Index (GDI). This marks the second consecutive year the provision has been included in the state budget.
“Gov. DeSantis has once again demonstrated Florida’s leadership in defending free speech and viewpoint diversity,” said IMC spokesperson Christine Czernejewski. “By signing this provision for a second year, Florida is sending a clear message that taxpayer-funded advertising should be focused on reaching the broadest possible audience, not filtered through politically motivated media blacklist systems.”
Florida initially adopted the provision in 2025, becoming one of the first states in the nation to address the growing influence of biased media-monitoring organizations on advertising markets. By extending the policy for a second consecutive year, Florida is demonstrating that protecting taxpayer dollars from politically motivated media blacklists is an ongoing priority.
The state’s action comes as momentum continues to build nationwide. West Virginia recently enacted the First Amendment Preservation Act, Congress included anti-censorship protections in the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act, and the Federal Trade Commission has increased scrutiny of viewpoint discrimination within the advertising industry.
Florida’s leadership provides another model for policymakers seeking to ensure taxpayer-funded advertising is guided by effectiveness, not ideological ratings.
See the IMC’s press release here.
NewsGuard Takes Media Blacklisting Into the AI Era
NewsGuard has announced the launch of NewsGuard AI, a chatbot that promises to answer users’ questions using only news sources NewsGuard has deemed “reliable.”
Given NewsGuard’s long record of assigning poor ratings to conservative outlets, IMC members should be alarmed, especially based on an early analysis of the chatbot.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, NewsGuard AI relied heavily on left-leaning sources when answering politically sensitive questions, omitted many conservative perspectives, and even suggested there may be as many as 72—or an “infinite” number of—genders.
Further, NewsGuard is licensing its data to AI companies to train their chatbots against “misinformation.” In other words, NewsGuard is training AI to only use its preferred sources and steer it away from those that are not aligned with progressive ideology.
Media Research Center – an IMC member – recently conducted an analysis of how major AI platforms assess news outlets. They found that every AI they tested – except Grok – treated notoriously leftist outlet The Guardian as reliable. Yet the other AI chatbots almost universally condemned right-of-center sources.
This represents a new frontier in media blacklisting. Instead of simply influencing advertisers or government agencies, NewsGuard is now positioning itself to influence what AI tells millions of users is a “credible” news source.
As AI rapidly becomes a primary gateway to news and information, the stakes are only getting higher. The IMC will continue to provide updates on this evolving issue. In the meantime, we encourage IMC members to cover this development.
See NewsGuard’s announcement here.
Bipartisan Senate Bill Targets Government-Driven Censorship
A bipartisan group of senators led by US Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has introduced S. 4749, the Justice Against Weaponized Bureaucratic Overreach to Networked Expression (JAWBONE) Act. The legislation is designed to prevent government agencies and officials from pressuring private companies to suppress lawful speech.
The proposal is particularly significant for Independent Media Council members, many of whom have experienced the effects of government-backed censorship efforts firsthand.
The JAWBONE Act would create new legal remedies for individuals and organizations harmed by such conduct and would increase transparency around government communications with social media platforms, advertisers, AI companies, and other intermediaries. The legislation follows a series of legal battles and congressional investigations examining whether federal agencies have improperly encouraged private actors to restrict speech that the government could not constitutionally suppress itself.
The IMC has sent a letter of support for the JAWBONE Act to Senators Cruz and Wyden, stating that there is “a growing consensus that government should not facilitate or incentivize censorship.”
Yet despite this progress, significant gaps remain.
“Government officials can still exert pressure behind the scenes, using informal communications, funding relationships, regulatory leverage, or public threats to induce private actors to suppress speech that government could not constitutionally prohibit on its own,” IMC’s letter stated.
The JAWBONE Act represents a potentially important step toward ensuring that government agencies cannot use third parties to silence disfavored viewpoints or manipulate the flow of information in the public square.
Read bill text of the legislation here.
Read the IMC’s letter in support of the legislation here.
MEDIA ROUNDUP
Florida Just Showed Us How to Fight Back Against Media Blacklists
The Daily Signal by Rob Bluey, 7/07/26 (Also appeared in RealClearPolitics)
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/07/07/florida-media-blacklists-newsguard/
DeSantis Signs Anti-Censorship Law for Second Straight Year
Newsmax by Newsmax Wires, 7/02/26 (Also appeared in RealClearPolitics)
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/ron-desantis-blacklisting-censorship/2026/07/02/id/1261581/
Victory: SCOTUS Ruling Protects Trump’s Power to Fire Gov Censors
MRC by Gabriel Pariseau, 7/2/26
https://mrcfreespeechamerica.org/blogs/free-speech/gabriela-pariseau-amanda-evans/2026/07/02/victory-scotus-ruling-protects-trumps
Gemini Staunchly Defends Foreign Leftist Outlet, Goes After Right Media
MRC by Tom Olohan, 6/29/26
https://mrcfreespeechamerica.org/blogs/free-speech/tom-olohan/2026/06/29/gemini-staunchly-defends-foreign-leftist-outlet-goes-after
Nebraska Joins FTC and Coalition of States in Promoting Competition in the Digital Advertising Ecosystem
Office of Mike Hilgers, Nebraska Attorney General, 6/30/26
https://ago.nebraska.gov/nebraska-joins-ftc-and-coalition-states-promoting-competition-digital-advertising-ecosystem
A Media Watchdog Released an AI ‘Fact-Checker.’ It Says There May be 72 Genders
Washington Free Beacon by Aaron Sibarium, 6/26/26
https://freebeacon.com/media/a-media-watchdog-released-an-ai-fact-checker-it-says-there-may-be-72-genders/
I Co-Founded Wikipedia. Now I’m Banned for Life
The Free Press by Larry Sanger, 6/26/26
https://www.thefp.com/p/larry-sanger-wikipedia-co-founder-banned
Back GOP AGs Kobach, Rokita, Sunday and Oppose Nexstar Merger
Newsmax by Dick Morris, 6/19/26
https://www.newsmax.com/morris/merger-nexstar-tegna/2026/06/19/id/1260246/
A Media Watchdog is Helping to Train AI Models. It Says Chinese Propaganda is more Reliable than Many American News Sources
Washington Free Beacon by Aaron Sibarium, 6/18/26
https://freebeacon.com/media/a-media-watchdog-is-helping-to-train-ai-models-it-says-chinese-propaganda-is-more-reliable-than-many-american-news-sources/
Two Senators Offer a Bipartisan Solution to Censorship by Proxy
Reason by Jacob Sullum, 6/11/26
https://reason.com/2026/06/11/two-senators-offer-a-bipartisan-solution-to-censorship-by-proxy/
