Latest GOP Presidential Candidate Was Commissioner For Pro-Censorship Group With Left-Leaning Ties
Jason Cohen on June 22, 2023
Former Republican Texas Rep. Will Hurd, who announced his run for president on Thursday, was previously involved with a group that advocated for censorship and is connected to prominent left-leaning individuals.
Hurd was a commissioner on the Aspen Institute’s “Commission on Information Disorder,” a group whose final report in 2021 pushed social media platforms to censor “misinformation.” The 80-page report recommends suppression tactics such as labels, downranking, warnings, strikes, suspensions, removal and more for users that spread “mis- and disinformation.”
“Harmful misinformation posted by influential accounts should be prioritized for moderation and addressed (e.g., through labels, downranking, or removal),” the commission’s final report states. “Platforms should continue to implement transparent policies for escalating action based on repetitive spreading behaviors—from first warning to temporary suspensions to permanent suspensions. There should be a clear appeals process and platforms should consider offering pathways for reform.”
The report also discusses giving “strikes” to a category of users called “savvy spreaders.”
“Savvy spreaders of misinformation know how to navigate existing policies by couching misinformation in uncertainty (‘just asking questions’) or using attribution shields (‘people are saying’), thus avoiding responsibility for the content while helping it spread.”
Additionally, it recommends censoring links, not just accounts. “Platforms should also develop policies for addressing superspreading domains— domains that repeatedly host content with harmful misinformation that is mobilized and spreads widely in-platform. These domains should be subject to the same kinds of strikes policies, with escalating enforcement from interstitial labeling, to downranking, to suspensions (disallowing links to that domain) of varying lengths.”
The commission consisted of largely progressive commissioners including University of Washington professor and misinformation researcher Kate Starbird, Prince Harry and Katie Couric, a Daily Caller News Foundation review found.
Hurd was one of the Republicans on the commission, and he also served on a Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) subcommittee dubbed the Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Misinformation and Disinformation Subcommittee. The subcommittee recommended to CISA in June 2022 that it should detect “informational threats,” collaborate with “non-governmental” entities to debunk “misinformation,” and expand research on it.
The DCNF previously reported that the subcommittee sought to enlist left-wing research groups and pro-censorship organizations in its attempts to clamp down on misinformation.
Additionally, the commission was completely financed with $3.2 million from Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the giving organization of the founder of Craigslist, according to the Aspen Institute’s website. Newmark endorsed Democratic candidates such as then-Sen. Kamala Harris of California and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as donated thousands of dollars to Democrats in the 2020 election, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Further, the DCNF previously reported that Newmark’s organization funded a study accusing conservatives of spreading “disinformation” by alleging that Big Tech companies have an anti-conservative bias. The study also justified the social media censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Hurd and the Aspen Institute did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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