For Fiscal Year 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives has successfully passed appropriations bills that defund censorship for the Departments of Homeland Security, State and Defense that have been domestically targeting what the government calls misinformation, disinformation and malinformation (MDM). Another defund for the Justice Department in the Commerce, Science and Justice appropriations bill remains stalled in the House.
But all of the bills remain stalled as far as the U.S. Senate is concerned, with funding deadlines now looming for March 1 for the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs, and March 8 for Commerce, Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, Labor, and State.
In the Defense appropriations bill that passed the House, in Sec. 8148 there is a defund of the censorship stating “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this Act may be used to… classify or facilitate the classification of any communications by a United States person as mis-, dis-, or mal-information; or … partner with or fund nonprofit or other organizations that pressure or recommend private companies to censor lawful and constitutionally protected speech of United States persons, including recommending the censoring or removal of content on social media platforms.”
The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which easily passed Congress, explicitly included a strategy to combat MDM on social media in Sec. 1239A. The defund presumably would stop the targeting of Americans’ social media postings by the Department of Defense.
Similarly, in the State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill that passed the House, in Sec. 7070(d) is another such defund stating “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be obligated or expended to … classify or facilitate the classification of any communications by a United States person as misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation; or … partner with or fund nonprofit or other organizations that pressure or recommend private companies to censor, filter, or otherwise suppress lawful and constitutionally protected speech of United States persons, including recommending the censoring or removal of content on social media platforms.”
Another such defund is included in the Homeland Security appropriations bill that passed the House, in Sec. 540 that is a bit more specific that states “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available to establish or support the activities of … a Disinformation Governance Board at the Department of Homeland Security, or any other entity carrying out similar activities relating to mis-, dis-, or mal-information in a similar manner or to a similar extent to such a Board; or … any entity responsible, directly or indirectly, under color of countering mis-, dis-, or mal-information or otherwise, for instructing, influencing, directing, or recommending that private companies censor, prohibit, or obstruct lawful and constitutionally protected speech of United States persons on social media platforms, including by … terminating speakers’ accounts; … temporarily suspending accounts; … imposing warnings or strikes against accounts to stop future speech; … ‘shadowbanning’ speakers; … demonetizing content or speakers; … adjusting algorithms to suppress or deemphasize speakers or messages; … deboosting speakers or content; … promoting or demoting content; … placing warning labels or explanatory notes on content; … suppressing content in other users’ feeds; … promoting negative comments on disfavored content; … requiring additional click-through(s) to access content; or … any other such methods.”
In 2018, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Act creating CISA passed unanimously as CISA spent years bragging on its website as the agency dmitted that it “rout[es] disinformation concerns” to “appropriate social media platforms”: “The [Mis, Dis, Malinformation] MDM team serves as a switchboard for routing disinformation concerns to appropriate social media platforms and law enforcement.”
It had been going on since at least 2018: “This activity began in 2018, supporting state and local election officials to mitigate disinformation about the time, place, and manner of voting.”
And it was expanded in 2020: “For the 2020 election, CISA expanded the breadth of reporting to include other state and local officials and more social media platforms.”
The agency was bragging about its “rapport” with Big Tech firms in censoring speech so they’re on the same page: “This activity leverages the rapport the MDM team has with the social media platforms to enable shared situational awareness.”
During the pandemic, CISA also targeted Covid “disinformation” too: “COVID-19…create[d] opportunities for adversaries to act maliciously. The MDM team supports…private sector partners’ COVID-19 response…via regular reporting and analysis of key pandemic-related MDM trends.”
The defund, if it could get through Congress, would stop it and make it illegal for the Department of Homeland Security to spend money targeting Americans’ communications as MDM.
And in the Commerce, Science, Justice appropriations bill still stuck in limbo in the House, in Sec. 597 is another defund that states “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made used to … classify or facilitate the classification of any communications by a United States person as misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation; or … partner with or fund nonprofit or other organizations that pressure or recommend private companies to censor lawful and constitutionally protected speech of United States persons, including recommending the censoring or removal of content on social media platforms.”
To get the defunds on censorship through Congress and onto President Joe Biden’s desk would require the Senate to pass the House’s bills that have already passed, or perhaps go to conference after passing their own versions, or else consolidated into a single spending bill as usually happens on an annual basis via an omnibus spending bill.
Whereas, another continuing resolution without any policy riders would negate all these efforts, and technically allow the censorship regime to continue by the Departments of Defense, State, Justice (including the FBI’s foreign influence task force) and Homeland Security (including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) that have been ongoing for years.
As Congress appears no closer to coming to an agreement on appropriations, barring either a breakthrough or perhaps a partial government shutdown necessitating more negotiations, another continuing resolution appears to be the most likely outcome, leaving the government censors well-funded.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.
