Rep. Dunn to Newsmax: Pentagon Funding NewsGuard ‘Appalling’

Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., told Newsmax that the Department of Defense’s nearly $750,000 grant to fact-checker NewsGuard was “appalling.”

Joining “Prime News” on Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee member also said the funding was clearly “a violation of the First Amendment.”

“We actually have a government grant funding a fact-checker to censor American citizens,” Dunn said. “That’s pretty appalling, and it certainly is a violation of the First Amendment.”

He said the government can neither censor free speech nor support companies like NewsGuard that do, calling it “axiomatic.”

Dunn’s comments arrive two days after he called out the fact-checker, which claims to be independent, for partnering with “Big Tech, Big Pharma, the National Teachers Union, and even government agencies.”

“Why is the Biden Admin using YOUR taxpayer dollars to pay for liberal-leaning NewsGuard to ‘fact-check’ & change your news?” the congressman asked on Twitter after the hearing.

The Media Research Center found in December 2021 that “liberal outlets were rated 27 points higher on average than news organizations on the right” by NewsGuard’s rating system.

Highlighting permanent solutions to stopping Big Tech from censoring conservative voices, Dunn said that altering Section 230 protections could relax social media platforms from taking unnecessary actions.

“Like many, I have some higher hopes for Twitter under its new ownership; but it’s a big ship to turn around. And I don’t think Mr. [Elon] Musk spends 24 hours a day watching after Twitter,” Dunn said.

“And honestly, even if he did and it was perfect overnight, you’d still have all these different social media instruments that are wide open to abuse,” he added.

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