Thomas English
From almost $ 1 billion of the Pentagon contract to scenes in breeding language in the “fake news” breeding language, and Newly issued database Reveals multi-estate agencies of the Federal Government, $ 1.4 billion on extending “Mis-, Dis- and Madinformation”.
. Search Trove -Phered by the transparency Watchdog Liber-Net-catalogs over 850 subsidies and contracts issued since 2010 for universities, non-profit organizations, contractors and foreign groups, all under the banner of limiting harmful content. While many awards finance routine research on the public health campaign, several distinctive illustrates the comprehensive government budget in the information war.
“The Department of Defense awarded the Peratron order worth up to $ 979 million in five years [a defense contractor] To counteract misinformation from us opponents ”, notification of the contract of state.
Peatron Ordering a taskIssued in 2021 for the American Central Command, it itself constitutes about two -thirds of the expenses identified so far. The Pentagon said that the contractor will provide “planning, implementation and evaluation services”, but publicly available description offers several details beyond this scope.
At the other end of the spectrum, the American International Development Agency (USAID) Central Asia media program Financed journalist training, documentary film schools-and two original scene in the language in Uzbek shows entitled “False information victims” and “Facts against opinions”, thought as a musical dog to teach critical skills.
The state of the State Department also went to smaller cultural projects. $ 42,000 prize I sent Bosnian teens to a debate camp between the ethnic “knowledge against misinformation”, which mixed critical thinking workshops with sports and music activities aimed at building unity.
“To increase mutual understanding, fight hatred and support positive news about a common identity among young people in [Bosnia and Herzegovina] Through participation in the inter -ethnic camp, “we read in the description of the project.
One micro-grant -Dez $ 3,000-paid Slovenian children’s magazine for launching a “free internet newspaper for children to fight disinformation”, promising non-standard content of messages adapted to school-age readers. Another $ 1,500 check He took over the Slovenian translation of the Dutch browser game “Harmony Square“, Whose gameplay teaches players to send conspirators so that they can later recognize them in real life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq7gachh9ky
To sum up, these awards emphasize the width of Washington’s information control: giant defense agreements, media productions specific to the region, youth camps, and even video games locations have the same federal purpose of shaping the way the audience processes claims.
The Liber-Net data set suggests that the overall price exceeds $ 1.4 billion, and the State Department has spent the largest number of awards, and Pentagon writes the largest checks. Descriptions of the subsidy routinely quote Election securityIN Vaccine fluctuations AND Foreign propaganda As a justification, although agencies are very different in tactics – from tools to artificial intelligence supervision to social theater.
The database appears in connection with the intensification of the control of government-social coordination. Investigators of the Chamber Committee of the Chamber are called to many universities under contracts with disinformation research, arguing that projects financed by federal risk risk in the field of police activities.
“The realization of executive agencies, external organizations and technology companies for moderate content related to online speech raises questions about the scope in which these activities influenced the civic freedom of American citizens,” said Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the court committee, said in 2023. statement.
Liber-Net director Andrew Lowenthal he said The public spreadsheet will be updated as new prizes appears and with satisfaction accepts challenges related to each entrance. The group also published their methodology of scraping and direct links to federal expenditure registers so that readers can verify any element for themselves.
“I think there are several dozen stories for everyone,” he said. “And this would be an invitation to someone there … What was this project? Who are these people? What are they doing at that time? Each of them deserves a thousand words on this subject, or at least half of them, because there is really strange thinking around many actions that people took.”
In the case of taxpayers, the database offers a first-hand view on how the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) agencies after the American International Development Agency (USAID)-after quietly changed everything, from the singing camp to cyber security contracts as a battle in the information war. Regardless of whether the Congress calls in these efforts or continues to expand them, the book of their existence is now navigable.
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Thomas English is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
