State Department Censorship—Daily Wire, Disinfo Files, and the Fight for Free Speech

In this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA’s Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione are joined by attorney Margot Cleveland to expose the State Department’s role in funding and promoting censorship technologies. They discuss NCLA’s case The Daily Wire v. State Department, including how federal dollars helped target and suppress domestic speech through outfits like NewsGuard and the now-defunct Global Engagement Center. The conversation unpacks bombshell revelations from Senator Marco Rubio—who disclosed that the State Department kept files labeling Americans as “vectors of disinformation.” Margot also explains how so-called “media literacy” grants are being misused to discredit U.S. voices and why a consent decree is needed to ensure bureaucrats don’t reboot this censorship agenda under a new name.