The House Oversight Committee is questioning the State Department’s alleged use of taxpayer dollars to suppress speech by conservative news outlets under the guise of combating “disinformation.”
In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken Thursday, Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., wrote that the committee is investigating the agency’s actions after reports uncovered that there was an alleged “blacklist” of conservative news outlets, run by the British Global Disinformation Institute after the department paid it “$330,000.”
“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating reports that federal funds administered by the Department of State (Department) were used to suppress lawful speech and defund disfavored news outlets under the guise of combatting disinformation,” he wrote.
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“The Committee is disturbed by recent reporting that taxpayer money ended up in the hands of a foreign organization running an advertising blacklist of organizations accused of hosting disinformation on their websites, including several conservative-leaning news organizations. The Committee seeks documents and a staff-level briefing to understand the scope of the Department’s use of federal funds for a taxpayer-funded censorship campaign,” the letter said.
Comer said lawmakers are still worried about other Biden administration “misinformation” efforts, including the Department of Homeland Security’s previous creation of a “Disinformation Governance Board,” which was disbanded last year.
The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas first announced that DHS had created a disinformation board to combat online misinformation during a House Appropriations Committee hearing last spring.
“The goal is to bring the resources of (DHS) together to address this threat,” Mayorkas said during the April 28 hearing, adding that the department was focused on the spread of disinformation in minority communities ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
Lawmakers on the right and left criticized the board and its head Nina Jankowicz, who repeated statements dismissing the Hunter Biden laptop story as a “Trump campaign product” and a “Russian influence op.,” leading to the board’s eventual termination.
A handful of President Biden’s other top federal agencies have been stepping up efforts to monitor and counteract “disinformation” on social media platforms, even in the face of criticism that the administration is attempting to silence conservative or opposing viewpoints.
Biden’s agencies remain focused on countering disinformation from foreign adversaries attempting to influence U.S. elections and on certain topics, including COVID-19 origins, the deadly Afghanistan withdrawal and more.