A U.S. federal judge has set a deadline of Thursday for the U.S. Government and NewsGuard to respond to an executive order banning government involvement in censorship.
Consortium News sued Cyber Command at the Pentagon. (Joe Lauria)
By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News
An executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day has figured in Consortium News‘ lawsuit against the U.S. federal government and NewsGuard Technologies, Inc. that alleges defamation and a violation of the First Amendment.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York has ordered the government and the defendant to respond in writing by Thursday “addressing the impact of the January 20, 2025 Executive Order titled ‘Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship’ on the pending motion to dismiss the second amended complaint.”
Both the government and NewsGuard have moved to have the case against them dismissed. Consortium News filed suit against both in August 2023, with an amended complaint in October 2023, charging the Pentagon’s Cyber Command, an element of the Intelligence Community, with contracting with NewsGuard to identify, report and abridge the speech of American media organizations that dissent from U.S. official positions on foreign policy.
In the course of its contract with the Pentagon, NewsGuard is “acting jointly or in concert with the United States to coerce news organizations to alter viewpoints” as to Ukraine, Russia, and Syria, imposing a form of “censorship and repression of views” that differ or dissent from policies of the United States and its allies, the complaint says. [Read the entire complaint and the exhibits.]
The Executive Order
On Jan. 20 Trump signed executive order, “Restoring Free Speech and Ending Federal Censorship,” which reads:
“The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, an amendment essential to the success of our Republic, enshrines the right of the American people to speak freely in the public square without Government interference.
Over the last 4 years, the previous administration trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve.
Under the guise of combatting ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ and ‘malinformation,’ the Federal Government infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advanced the Government’s preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate. Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society. ”
The executive order sets out to:
(a) secure the right of the American people to engage in constitutionally protected speech;
(b) ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen;
(c) ensure that no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen; and
(d) identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to censorship of protected speech.
Significantly, the EO says the “Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of executive departments and agencies, shall investigate the activities of the Federal Government over the last 4 years that are inconsistent with the purposes and policies of this order.” The period covered in Consortium News‘ lawsuit fails within these four years.
In a letter to Judge Polk Failla regarding the executive order, Bruce Afran, Consortium News‘s attorney, wrote:
Afran went on:
Background to Case
On the background of Consortium News‘ case, Afran said previously: “The First Amendment rights of all American media are threatened by this arrangement with the Defense Department to stigmatize and abridge the speech of U.S. media groups.
“When media groups are condemned by the government as ‘anti-U.S.’ and are accused of publishing ‘false content’ because they disagree with U.S. policies, the result is self-censorship and a destruction of the public debate intended by the First Amendment,” Afran said.
NewsGuard uses its software to tag targeted news sites, including all 20,000+ Consortium News articles and videos published since 1995, with warnings to “proceed with caution,” telling NewsGuard subscribers that Consortium News produces “disinformation,” “false content” and is an “anti-U.S.” media organization, even though NewsGuard only took issue with a total of six CN articles and none of its videos.
NewsGuard’s labeling of Consortium News as publishing “false content” is challenged in detail in the substantial complaint.
Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and other newspapers, including The Montreal Gazette, the London Daily Mail and The Star of Johannesburg. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London, a financial reporter for Bloomberg News and began his professional work as a 19-year old stringer for The New York Times. He is the author of two books, A Political Odyssey, with Sen. Mike Gravel, foreword by Daniel Ellsberg; and How I Lost By Hillary Clinton, foreword by Julian Assange.
There is a saying. “It takes breaking some eggs to make mayonnaise!”
The Dumpster Fire Dude and his buddy are doing that. Now, I guess, we can see what we get mayonnaise, scrambled eggs or a couple of cooked geese.
Or maybe in this case, as Beau says, Humpty Dumpty didn’t fall off the wall and he wasn’t pushed. He jumped!
I do not see this spectacle ending real well for many of us. I say lock his and the elf up, and confiscate their combined assets and split it between medicare and veterans organizations.
You just have to get really serious at some point!
For the sake of Dog, gimme strength.
Thanks CN Here is hoping this legal thing. works out in the favor of truth and freedom of speech!
caption: image in article
“Consortium News sued Cyber Command at the Pentagon. (Joe Lauria)”
The spiders web in the center , traffic flows , veiny , with lava’s pulsing oarnge glow .
The night sky glitters with “LED” fireflies and drones airbornre , or aperch nesting on every light pole while some still clinging , hidden , in the blades of grass .
The mummies arm and hand shaped effigy mound displayed as it is still wrapped in its cloth .
Maybe its just a parking lot ? cyberhuts ?, a colony of hives of bees ?
I hope CN prevails , it should in a sane world .
what an excellent description joe Ell the 3rd.
thankyou for that.
“every picture tells a story”
Keep up the good work. I’m sure CN will win in all respects.
Here is a thought. It appears we, the West particularly the US and UK are in the midst of a ‘low grade’ war (Ukraine, Gaza, Syria and parts of Africa). In times of war the media are expected to support their country. Can you imagine if during WW2 the media wanted to be neutral or said let’s get the view of the other side! Heaven forbid that would be regarded as sedition, aiding and a betting the other side!
Except that the United States is not formally at war with any nation at the moment.
Assange, I expect might say telling the truth is siding with your country/men so that wars may be averted just like the effect it had on ending the Ukraine war.
He should be in line for a pardon along with Snowden and all the others…
All wars are predicated on lies, even World Wars I and II. My first allegiance is to the Truth.
Keep up the good fight.
It looks like CN’s timing is good on this.
Some good news as last!
Keep fighting Joe, we’re all behind you
This change in policy from the White House gets more interesting as Trump has just threatened to arrest and possibly give jail time to US citizens and students who protest the genocide of Palestinians. Trump is violating his own executive order. Most likely not the last time this will occur.
Good news for CN though. The evidence is clear cut in this case. I look forward to NewsGuard being outed as the opposite of what they advertise themselves to be.
McDuff: I subscribe to a fairly expensive Direct TV news service, and from MSNBC to FOX I haven’t turned it on more than 5 minutes over the last week. Those corporate owned services have long become irrelevant along with the President and Congress. It is disturbing but “the times they are a-changing”.
Bravo CN! Keep fighting for the honest journalism, for your right to speak up the truth!
52 pages Mr. Lauria. i tried to wade through it but gave up after 10. however, the pages i read made me proud to be a commenter on such a newsworthy outlet and to promote CN’s esteemed writers, journalists, editors, film/video makers and staff.
“well, i mean, the real attack on truth is tabloid journalism in the United States.”
Julian Assange
“free speech is my right to say what you don’t want to hear.”
George Orwell
Wonderful news!
“Since the Attorney General is now obligated to investigate …” how can they argue for dismissal? Very good.
If you want to know what Mickey Mouse News (aka ABCNews, a subsidiary of Disney) thinks is really important for you to know today ….. “Gene Hackman’s Two Dogs Are Safe, Friends Say”.
Ok, I’m happy to hear his dogs aren’t going to the animal shelter to beg for someone to save them. But, if you count on a news organization to tell you what is important in the world, that doesn’t make my top 1000 list. And Mickey puts that in the top stories at the top of the page? Most of the ‘news’ in America is stuff that is not important. Links to viral videos between ‘news’ about what’s a good buy on Amazon today. And yet, when a site like CN tries to tell us stuff that does seem to be rather important, they get accused of disinformation and subjected to censorship.
Now, if only you restricted yourself to updates about the dogs of celebrities, you wouldn’t have such a problem.
I assume the dismissal was requested by the Biden Regime.
Would be nice to know (even if counter to the narrative).