{"id":1814,"asset_id":"2123","title":"How the Government Used \u2018Track F\u2019 to Fund Censorship Tools: Report  Mark Tapscott - Epoch Times","alias":"how-the-government-used-track-f-to-fund-censorship-tools-report-mark-tapscott-epoch-times","introtext":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598936-NSF-Censorship-1.jpg&amp;w=3840&amp;q=75\" alt=\"How the Government Used \u2018Track F\u2019 to Fund Censorship Tools: Report\" width=\"222\" height=\"\" hspace=\"10\/\" \/><\/p>\r\n<h1 class=\"title60 title-bold tracking-[-0.03em] max-sm:text-[40px] max-sm:leading-[44px]\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">How the Government Used \u2018Track F\u2019 to Fund Censorship Tools: Report<\/h1>\r\n<h3 class=\"title-normal font-source hidden text-[20px] leading-[28px] text-[#495255] sm:block sm:text-[23px] sm:leading-[30px]\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The National Science Foundation spent $39 million on Track F, a program related to censoring, suppressing Americans\u2019 speech, says a new report.<\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mark Tapscott<\/p>\r\n<p>Officials from the National Science Foundation tried to conceal the spending of millions of taxpayer dollars on research and development for artificial intelligence tools used to censor political speech and influence the outcome of elections, according to a new congressional <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/NSF-Staff-Report_Appendix.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"article-hover-class\">report<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p>The report looking into the National Science Foundation (NSF) is the latest addition to a growing body of evidence that critics claim shows federal officials\u2014especially at the FBI and the CIA\u2014are creating a \u201ccensorship-industrial complex\u201d to monitor American public expression and suppress speech disfavored by the government.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cIn the name of combatting alleged misinformation regarding COVID-19 and the 2020 election, NSF has been issuing multimillion-dollar grants to university and nonprofit research teams,\u201d states the report by the House Judiciary Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cThe purpose of these taxpayer-funded projects is to develop AI-powered censorship and propaganda tools that can be used by governments and Big Tech to shape public opinion by restricting certain viewpoints or promoting others.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>The report also described, based on previously unknown documents, elaborate efforts by NSF officials to cover up the true purposes of the research.<\/p>\r\n<p>The efforts included tracking public criticism of the foundation\u2019s work by conservative journalists and legal scholars.<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"my-5\">The NSF also developed a media strategy \u201cthat considered blacklisting certain American media outlets because they were scrutinizing NSF\u2019s funding of censorship and propaganda tools,\u201d the report said.\r\n<h2>NSF Responds<\/h2>\r\nIn a statement to The Epoch Times, an NSF spokesman categorically rejected the report\u2019s allegations.<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\r\n<div id=\"in_article_related_stories\" class=\"mx-auto mb-4 w-full max-w-[500px&lt;a href=\" license-to-play-god-physician-group-files-brief-against-biden-in-covid-19-censorship-lawsuit-5587343=\"\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598930-1.jpg&amp;w=1200&amp;q=75%20alt=\" alt=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5598930\" \/><\/div>\r\n","fulltext":"\r\n<p>During NSF\u2019s solicitation and sifting of dozens of bids it received in response to its request for proposals, a University of Michigan team, with its \u201cWiseDex\u201d tool, pitched federal officials on enabling the government \u201cto externalize the difficult responsibility of censorship.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>The Michigan team was one of four Track F funding recipients spotlighted by the congressional report. A total of 12 recipients were involved in Track F funding and activities.<\/p>\r\n<p>The second of the four spotlighted teams is from Meedan, a San Francisco-based group that describes itself as \u201ca global technology not-for-profit that builds software and programmatic initiatives to strengthen journalism, digital literacy, and accessibility of information online and off. We develop open-source tools for creating and sharing context on digital media through annotation, verification, archival, and translation.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>In fact, according to the congressional report, Meedan\u2019s Co-Insights Program uses AI to identify and counter \u201cmisinformation\u201d on a massive scale.<\/p>\r\n<p>In one illustration that the group provided to NSF in its funding pitch, was to \u201ccrawl\u201d more than 750,000 blogs and media articles on a daily basis for misinformation and fact-checking on themes such as \u201cundermining trust in mainstream media,\u201d \u201cfear-mongering and anti-Black narratives,\u201d and \u201cweakening political participation.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>The Co-Insights Program, according to the congressional report, was \u201cpart of a much larger, long-term goal by the nonprofit. As [Scott<img src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598931-2.jpg&amp;w=1200&amp;q=75%20alt=\" alt=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5598931\" \/><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Officials with NSF asked the MIT team \u201cto develop \u2018effective interventions\u2019 to educate Americans\u2014specifically, those that the MIT researchers alleged \u2019may be more vulnerable to misinformation campaigns\u2019\u2014on how to discern fact from fiction online.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIn particular, the MIT team believed that conservatives, minorities, and veterans were uniquely incapable of assessing the veracity of content online,\u201d the congressional report noted.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIn order to build a \u2019more digitally discerning public,' the Search Lit team proposed developing tools that could support the government\u2019s viewpoint on COVID-19 public health measures and the 2020 election.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a study by one of the MIT team\u2019s members, people who hold as sacred certain texts and documents, most notably the Bible and the U.S. Constitution, were described as \u201c\u2018often focused on reading a wide array of primary sources, and performing their own synthesis,\u2019 further alleging that, \u2018unlike expert lateral readers,\u2019 the conservative respondents made \u2018no such effort\u2019 to \u201celiminate bias that might skew results from search terms.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"shortcode\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\r\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 mx-auto\"><br \/>\r\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px&lt;a href=\" id5598932-3=\"\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598932-3.jpg&amp;w=1200&amp;q=75%20alt=\" alt=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5598932\" \/><\/div>\r\n<p>The committee report criticized NSF for failing to provide \u201can appreciable volume of documents and information\u201d that had been requested in May 2023.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cTo date, NSF has produced a mere 294 pages to the committee in response to requests for documents and information relating to its Track F program, maintaining an iron grip on much of the substantially relevant information,\u201d the report detailed.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cTime and again, NSF engaged in efforts to hide its Track F censorship program from the American people, training the research teams on how to avoid media scrutiny and refusing to respond substantively to congressional requests itself.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cThe extent to which NSF has gone to shield its taxpayer-funded censorship research raises serious concerns that NSF knows its research activities violate the Constitution and fundamental civil liberties.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\r\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4\">\r\n<div class=\"flex gap-3\">\r\n<div class=\"flex-1\">\r\n<div class=\"cursor-pointer relative\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598925-GettyImages-612880998.jpg&amp;w=3840&amp;q=75\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598925-GettyImages-612880998.jpg&amp;w=640&amp;q=75 640w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598925-GettyImages-612880998.jpg&amp;w=750&amp;q=75 750w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598925-GettyImages-612880998.jpg&amp;w=828&amp;q=75 828w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598925-GettyImages-612880998.jpg&amp;w=1080&amp;q=75 1080w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598925-GettyImages-612880998.jpg&amp;w=1200&amp;q=75 1200w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598925-GettyImages-612880998.jpg&amp;w=1920&amp;q=75 1920w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598925-GettyImages-612880998.jpg&amp;w=2048&amp;q=75 2048w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598925-GettyImages-612880998.jpg&amp;w=3840&amp;q=75 3840w\" alt=\"image-5598925\" class=\"object-cover\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" \/><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px&lt;a href=\" infographic-key-revelations-of-the-twitter-files-4986669=\"\">Twitter Files revealed that the government side of the censorship-industrial complex includes most prominently the FBI and the CIA, as well independent agencies like the NSF. It also includes key offices and programs within the Department of Defense, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Homeland Security\u2019s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CSIA) and the Global Engagement Center (GEC) within the State Department.<\/div>\r\n<p>The private sector side of the censorship-industrial complex encompasses hundreds of technology firms such as Meedan that are funded in whole or in part by the federal government, as well as academic and nonprofit organizations such as the teams at MIT and the universities of Wisconsin and Michigan.<\/p>\r\ndescribes the censorship-industrial complex as \u201cfour categories of institutions in society all working together towards the common goal of censorship. You\u2019ve got government, the private sector, civil society, and then news media and fact-checking.\u201d<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p>Mr. Benz, a former State Department official, said that when disinformation conferences are held, representatives from all four institutions usually attend. \u201cThey will negotiate what their own preferences and needs are, they will talk with each other about doing favors for favors, they will work out common terminologies, common problems that they are having,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cThey will have revolving doors at the professional level. People who are in government roles in mis, dis, and mal-information, for example, at DHS [Department of Homeland Securitybill that would have defunded Track F and barred such programs anywhere in the federal government.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\r\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">provided that none of the funds covered by the bill could be used for NSF\u2019s Track F.\r\n<div class=\"my-5\">One of Mr. Steube\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/rules.house.gov\/bill\/118\/hr-5893\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"article-hover-class\">amendments<\/a> barred all federal employees from \u201cusing their official authority or influence to censor constitutionally protected speech.\u201d<\/div>\r\n<p>The appropriations bill became ensnared, however, in the inability of the House late in 2023 to complete all 12 major spending bills.<\/p>\r\n<p>Mr. Steube\u2019s amendment contained the same language as H.R. 140, which passed the House in February 2023, but remains stalled in the Senate.<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"my-5\">All 219 Republicans present voted for H.R. 140, the Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act, while the 206 Democrats present opposed it.\r\n<h2>Power of Intelligence Community<\/h2>\r\nJ. Michael Waller, senior strategy analyst at the Center for Security Policy and author of \u201cBig Intel: How the CIA and FBI went from Cold War heroes to Deep State villains,\u201d points to a 2017 warning by then-Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) during a media interview as an illustration of the power of the censorship-industrial complex.<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"my-5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2024\/03\/02\/id5598933-4.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"article-hover-class\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F03%2F02%2Fid5598933-4.jpg&amp;w=1200&amp;q=75%20alt=\" alt=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5598933\" \/><\/a><\/div>\r\n<p>\u201cLet me tell you; you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you. So even for a practical, supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he\u2019s being really dumb to do this,\u201d Mr. Schumer said on MSNBC, referring to President Donald Trump.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cHere you have the most powerful man in the Senate admitting flat out that Congress has no authority over the intelligence community,\u201d Mr. Waller said.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cIn fact he is saying the president of the United States also has no authority over the intelligence community. What Chuck Schumer was literally saying was that the intelligence community has become a state within a state and there is nothing constitutionally elected representatives of the people can do about it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>Asked what the growing censorship-industrial complex means for everyday Americans, Mr. Waller said that \u201cevery time we use an electronic communication device, someone, somewhere, stores every word, every keystroke and can use that to extrapolate precisely where we are at what time, precisely what we do, precisely what we want, who all of our relatives, friends, and acquaintances are.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cThey can psychologically profile us, they can run predictive analytics on our psychological profiles to anticipate what we\u2019re going to do. They have other applications far beyond what we can imagine, and they are developing more and more and more. And when we get to where we are obstructing their industry and their ideology, they can turn us into what George Orwell termed \u2018non-persons.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"meter_container\">&nbsp;<\/div>","state":1,"catid":"8","created":"2024-03-04 13:04:23","created_by":"873","created_by_alias":"","modified":"2024-03-04 13:10:18","modified_by":"873","checked_out":"873","checked_out_time":"2024-03-04 13:07:27","publish_up":"2024-03-04 13:04:23","publish_down":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","images":"{\"image_intro\":\"\",\"float_intro\":\"\",\"image_intro_alt\":\"\",\"image_intro_caption\":\"\",\"image_fulltext\":\"\",\"float_fulltext\":\"\",\"image_fulltext_alt\":\"\",\"image_fulltext_caption\":\"\"}","urls":"{\"urla\":false,\"urlatext\":\"\",\"targeta\":\"\",\"urlb\":false,\"urlbtext\":\"\",\"targetb\":\"\",\"urlc\":false,\"urlctext\":\"\",\"targetc\":\"\"}","attribs":"{\"article_layout\":\"\",\"show_title\":\"\",\"link_titles\":\"\",\"show_tags\":\"\",\"show_intro\":\"\",\"info_block_position\":\"\",\"info_block_show_title\":\"\",\"show_category\":\"\",\"link_category\":\"\",\"show_parent_category\":\"\",\"link_parent_category\":\"\",\"show_associations\":\"\",\"show_author\":\"\",\"link_author\":\"\",\"show_create_date\":\"\",\"show_modify_date\":\"\",\"show_publish_date\":\"\",\"show_item_navigation\":\"\",\"show_icons\":\"\",\"show_print_icon\":\"\",\"show_email_icon\":\"\",\"show_vote\":\"\",\"show_hits\":\"\",\"show_noauth\":\"\",\"urls_position\":\"\",\"alternative_readmore\":\"\",\"article_page_title\":\"\",\"show_publishing_options\":\"\",\"show_article_options\":\"\",\"show_urls_images_backend\":\"\",\"show_urls_images_frontend\":\"\"}","version":4,"ordering":"0","metakey":"","metadesc":"","access":"1","hits":"0","metadata":"{\"robots\":\"\",\"author\":\"\",\"rights\":\"\",\"xreference\":\"\"}","featured":"1","language":"*","xreference":"","note":""}