Specifically singling out “fact” checker groups that rate or judge the credibility of a news source or website based on biased data and subjective interpretations of truths — basically serving as a censorship tool — a House act passed June 22, 2023, bans the Pentagon from funding such groups or actions.
The rule was included in the House Armed Services Committee’s 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. Global Disinformation Index, Graphika and NewsGuard are three groups that have self-assigned themselves as arbiters of truths. NewsGuard goes so far as to assign warning flags to entire websites, essentially censoring everything on a site that features content NewsGuard doesn’t agree with.
According to the Daily Caller, “Advertising and marketing agencies the Department of Defense (DOD) employs to reach new recruits would have to certify they do not use any services from organizations, according to the text of the amendment.”
“We MUST prevent taxpayer dollars from going to contracts with entities that advise the censorship of news sources based on political biases under the guise of ‘‘fact checking,’’ Republican Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia, who sponsored the amendment, said in a statement … “While these media monitors claim to be nonpartisan, the reality is they are not.”
SOURCES:
Daily Caller June 22, 2023
Twitter Rep. Rich McCormick June 21, 2023