NewsGuard, a company that provides a rating system for sites that can then facilitate flagging “misinformation,” is reported to have in the past been recommended to its members by the now disbanded Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) – as they allegedly banded together to demonetize social platforms and some news sites.
In November, member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Brendan Carr – who President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to head the agency – sent a letter to major tech companies, asking for information about their work with NewsGuard.
The company, set up in 2018, is now accusing Carr of potentially violating the First Amendment by posing these questions, and claims that its work “does not involve censorship.”
However, that can be seen as a technicality, given that its browser add-ons that rate sites for “credibility” provide a tool for those who do end up carrying out censorship, which was the focus of Carr’s interest in the role of NewsGuard in the broader “censorship cartel.”
NewsGuard responded to Carr’s letter with its own in early December, stating the company was “surprised” to learn about the commissioner’s inquiries from the media.
Hellbound and Down 