Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is pressing for clarification following revelations that Democrat President Joe Biden and his administration directed $66 million in taxpayer funds toward initiatives aiming to “censor” the American public.
Cruz contends that the Biden administration channeled taxpayer dollars to nonprofits and academic institutions under the guise of “misinformation research.” This research, as per Cruz, effectively targeted dissenting voices expressing opinions not aligned with the Democratic narrative.
According to the senator, the Biden administration supported non-governmental organizations in an effort to shield itself from liability for potential violations of Americans’ First Amendment rights.
Cruz is now calling on the State Department, FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the National Science Foundation to disclose information to the Senate. He seeks comprehensive details regarding the agencies’ involvement in “facilitating the censorship of Americans’ constitutionally protected speech online.”
This move is part of Cruz’s ongoing investigation into content moderation and alleged censorship practices by Big Tech. Cruz’s office asserts that the investigation has brought to light the extent to which the suppression of free speech on social media is influenced by government agencies and non-governmental entities funded by taxpayers.
In letters addressed to the State Department, FBI, CISA, and NSF, Cruz alleges that the Biden administration directly identified content for social media companies to censor.
He said the Biden admin also “funneled money to private-sector third parties, including nonprofits and academic institutions that then pressured social media companies to remove content and accounts.”
“By laundering taxpayer dollars through third parties, government agencies tried to absolve themselves of liability for infringement of Americans’ First Amendment rights,” Cruz wrote.
Cruz provided examples, including one in which the State Department made an effort to “counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts” and sent social media companies lists of individuals that they identified as “inauthentic.”
Nonetheless, Cruz’s inquiry exposed that these lists encompassed not solely foreign entities but also “everyday Americans.”
The National Science Foundation, as per Cruz, allocated millions of dollars to support “Election Integrity Partnerships” at Stanford University and the University of Washington. According to the senator, these initiatives effectively persuaded social media companies to “moderate” millions of tweets flagged by CISA and the FBI.
Cruz highlighted a 2021 interview with the head of the Stanford University program.
He then revealed that the lead researcher concluded that taxpayer dollars were “intentionally channeled through a third party so that the government could evade First Amendment liability.”
“Just because the government hires a hitman to kill speech does not absolve the government of guilt,” Cruz wrote in the letters.
“Regrettably, the examples described above appear to be just a handful of numerous instances of third parties being awarded taxpayer dollars and other government support to suppress speech.”
Cruz added: “It has also become apparent that our nation’s higher education institutions were often used as conduits through which the government could police speech online.”
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also endorsed Cruz’s letter to the FBI.
Cruz is requesting detailed information from the agencies about their processes for taxpayer-funded grant-making and partnerships with non-governmental entities.
The deadline for the agencies to provide a response is December 19, 2023.
Since the beginning of Cruz’s extensive investigation, the Republican staff of the Senate Commerce Committee has identified over 100 National Science Foundation grants from 2021 to 2023. These taxpayer-funded grants amounted to over $66 million, allocated for “misinformation” research.
