Republicans Attacking Disinformation Researchers

 

Knowing that spreading lies and conspiracies is their best too for electoral success, Republicans have launched an effort to suppress research into political and cultural disinformation that would expose their lies. The effort is led by sex abuse enabler, far-right Rep. Jim "Gym" Jordan (Sedition-OH) and the slimy former White House aide and white supremacist Stephen Miller, with the "America First Legal" organization. Excerpts from the New York Times' report:

"On Capitol Hill and in the courts, Republican lawmakers and activists are mounting a sweeping legal campaign against universities, think tanks and private companies that study the spread of disinformation, accusing them of colluding with the government to suppress conservative speech online.

The effort has encumbered its targets with expansive requests for information and, in some cases, subpoenas — demanding notes, emails and other information related to social media companies and the government dating back to 2015. Complying has consumed time and resources and already affected the groups’ ability to do research and raise money, according to several people involved.

They and others warned that the campaign undermined the fight against disinformation in American society when the problem is, by most accounts, on the rise — and when another presidential election is around the corner. Many of those behind the Republican effort had also joined former President Donald J. Trump in falsely challenging the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. [snip]

The House Judiciary Committee, which in January came under Republican majority control, has sent scores of letters and subpoenas to the researchers — only some of which have been made public. It has threatened legal action against those who have not responded quickly or fully enough.

A conservative advocacy group led by Stephen Miller, the former adviser to Mr. Trump, filed a class-action lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court in Louisiana that echoes many of the committee’s accusations and focuses on some of the same defendants.

Targets include Stanford, Clemson and New York Universities and the University of Washington; the Atlantic Council, the German Marshall Fund and the National Conference on Citizenship, all nonpartisan, nongovernmental organizations in Washington; the Wikimedia Foundation in San Francisco; and Graphika, a company that researches disinformation online."  (our emphasis)

Coupled with their cultural war against books that discuss racism, intolerance, misogyny and other conservative values, this new move to intimidate and suppress fact checkers demonstrates the essential fascism at the heart of the Republican / New Confederate / Shooters party. As with their cult leader who wants to get away with crimes he's committed, they want to get away with lying and disinformation to advance their rotted out agenda. The courts should knock down this sinister move, although it appears in the case of Miller's class action suit that there was some conservative court shopping involved. Stay tuned.