In a shocking move, the official page dedicated to Free Speech Week promoted an event devoted to a new and pernicious type of censorship: media literacy.
Free Speech Week was founded in 2005 by The Media Institute and the National Association of Broadcasters “to raise public awareness of the importance of free speech in our democracy – and to celebrate that freedom.” However, Free Speech Week’s official X account reposted an event at the University of Wisconsin La-Crosse dedicated to “Media Literacy.”
Free Speech Week reposted Wisconsin Watch Board Member Richard Brown’s post on X: “Had an amazing time at #FreeSpeechWeek at @UWLaCrosse discussing the importance of #MediaLiteracy! Grateful to the Center for Transformative Justice and the Joint Committee on Civil Discourse for hosting. Special thanks to Ashley Nowak, Caleb Colon-Rivera, and Taylor Cole Miller!”
Had an amazing time at #FreeSpeechWeek at @UWLaCrosse discussing the importance of #MediaLiteracy! Grateful to the Center for Transformative Justice and the Joint Committee on Civil Discourse for hosting. Special thanks to Ashley Nowak, Caleb Colon-Rivera, and Taylor Cole Miller! pic.twitter.com/zN0zo5q6km
— Richard E. Brown (@richardebrown17) October 24, 2024
MRC Free Speech Vice President Dan Schneider blasted Free Speech Week for highlighting the event. “The left has two terms that mean censorship, one is content moderation and the other is media literacy,” Schneider said. “It is shocking that the fakers who organize Free Speech Week would be promoting censorship. The left believes that to protect democracy, you have to first end it. They think that to protect free speech you have to censor speech.”
Organizations purporting to promote “media literacy” such as NewsGuard and Ad Fontes routinely work to demonize right-leaning media outlets.
MRC Free Speech America Associate Editor Joseph Vazquez has exposed NewsGuard’s rampant bias in three successive studies, showing that the media ratings firm has routinely granted highly favorable ratings to left-leaning news outlets. Most recently, Vazquez found that NewsGuard gave right-leaning media outlets an average score of 65% and left-leaning outlets an average score of 91%—a 26-point disparity. Prior studies found disparities of 25 in January 2023 and 27 points in December 2021.
An MRC investigation into Ad Fontes by MRC Assistant Editor Luis Cornelio and MRC Senior Counsel for Investigations Tim Kilcullen found an even worse disparity in ratings. Ad Fontes gave left-leaning outlets an average rating of 64% and right-leaning outlets an average rating of 32%—a 32-point difference.
Beyond mere bias, both media literacy firms have engaged in anti-free speech activity. Ad Fontes has partnered with schools to impose their media preferences on students, while their partnership with Microsoft and Meta may pose a threat to advertising on right-leaning media. NewsGuard disturbingly pitched its services to Twitter, offering to use its ratings system to assist censorship on the social media platform.
Conservatives are under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
