Texas joins Daily Wire, the Federalist in massive lawsuit against Biden administration over censorship, suppression of conservative outlets
The state of Texas has joined the Daily Wire and the Federalist in their legal battle against the Biden administration. The media companies' lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, accuses the administration of illicitly employing censorship technology and tactics to suppress conservative news sources.
Central to the lawsuit is the allegation that the Global Engagement Center (GEC), an agency under the State Department, is manipulating the news media market. The complaint claims that the GEC is covertly funding and promoting censorship technology and private censorship enterprises to silence speech unfavorable to the government.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is named as a defendant, accused of employing shadowbanning and other suppression methods, particularly concerning COVID-19 pandemic coverage.
The GEC is “actively intervening in the news-media market to render disfavored press outlets unprofitable by funding the infrastructure, development, and marketing and promotion of censorship technology and private censorship enterprises to covertly suppress speech," the complaint reads.
BREAKING: The State of Texas, The Daily Wire and The Federalist have sued the U.S. Department of State, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other government officials for engaging in a conspiracy to censor, deplatform, and demonetize American media outlets disfavored by the… pic.twitter.com/c51DKwkide
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) December 6, 2023
The GEC, according to the State Department, aims to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation that threatens U.S. policies, security, or stability and that of its allies and partners. However, the plaintiffs, the Daily Wire and the Federalist, argue that the GEC has overstepped its mandate, using organizations like NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index to target conservative media. They assert that these organizations are linked to the GEC through grants and funding initiatives.
Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of the Federalist, expressed her enthusiasm for the lawsuit in a social media post, emphasizing their challenge against the government's alleged unconstitutional efforts to demonetize and suppress her publication.
"Thrilled to announce we are suing the federal government for its work funding the infrastructure, development, and marketing and promotion of censorship technology and private censorship enterprises in order to unconstitutionally demonetize and suppress The Federalist," Hemingway wrote.
Thrilled to announce we are suing the federal government for its work funding the infrastructure, development, and marketing and promotion of censorship technology and private censorship enterprises in order to unconstitutionally demonetize and suppress The Federalist. pic.twitter.com/C2qrp5MdmT
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 6, 2023
Ian Miles Cheong
Contributor
Ian Miles Cheong is a freelance writer, graphic designer, journalist and videographer. He’s kind of a big deal on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/stillgray