House Republican Party launches investigation into impact of government-funded news ratings group on free speech

The House Oversight Committee announced this week that it had opened an investigation into a news ratings system that purports to rank the trustworthiness of news outlets. At the heart of the investigation is whether the ratings group’s contracts with federal agencies influence what news it tries to suppress.

Oversight Board Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said Thursday that his committee is investigating NewsGuard’s impact “on First Amendment-protected free speech and its potential to serve as an opaque agent of censorship campaigns.”

In a letter to Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz, NewsGuard’s executive directors, Comer requested documents on the group’s “business relationships with government agencies, its adherence to its own policies designed to prevent the appearance of bias, its practices in avoiding and managing potential conflicts of interest arising from its investors and other influences, and actions that could have the effect of delegitimizing factually accurate information.”

“A key concern of the committee is the Department of Defense contract that NewsGuard received in 2021, which raises questions about federal agency involvement in potential censorship campaigns,” Comer wrote in the letter. “One concerned journalist expressed concern that NewsGuard’s activities were an extension of the federal government’s efforts – now rejected by the courts – to coerce social media companies and ‘destroy the financial survival of disliked media outlets…'”

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Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, during a hearing in Washington, DC, on March 20, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Comer told the duo that his committee “wants to make an independent determination as to whether NewsGuard’s intervention in the free speech rights was in any way sponsored by any federal, state, local or foreign government.”

Comer also pointed out in his letter that NewsGuard is “touting” that its newsroom staff have signed a pledge to “refrain from any political activity, such as participating in or donating to political campaigns, opinionated social media postings, participating in protests, or other activities that could call my fairness into question or create the appearance of political bias.”

“The social media accounts of several individuals listed as ‘Editorial Staff’ on NewsGuard’s online staff list raise doubts about NewsGuard’s commitment to follow through on this promise and continue its anti-bias efforts,” Comer said.

NewsGuard has reportedly received nearly $1 million from the federal government, most of which came from the Department of Defense. NewsGuard was also awarded a prize after participating in a technical challenge co-sponsored by the State Department on COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation.

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Several advertisers use NewsGuard to find niche audiences for a product or service. Other advertisers reportedly use the service to avoid doing business with networks or media outlets that spread “misinformation.” (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

Some advertisers use the service to find niche audiences for a product or service, but other advertisers reportedly use the service to avoid doing business with networks or outlets that spread “misinformation.”

“The Committee has no objection to a company providing data-based analytics to other companies and clients to protect their brands. Rather, we are concerned about the potential involvement of government agencies in undermining free expression. Truthfulness and transparency regarding the purpose and origin of investigations, as well as the management of conflicts of interest that may impact the public good, are also relevant,” Comer added.

“This seems to be a very biased, very unfair service that receives federal funding. It may be another backdoor attempt to censor conservative media,” Comer said during a recent appearance on One America News. “What are their criteria that give channels like MSNBC and CNN excellent marks, but channels like OAN, Newsmax and Fox very poor marks?”

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., speaks during a press conference on April 30, 2024 in Washington, DC (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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NewsGuard is a web extension that “employs a team of journalists and experienced editors to create reliability ratings and scores for news and information websites based on nine journalistic criteria,” the group’s website states. News sources rated by NewsGuard receive scores from designated journalists and “experienced editors” who are tasked with rating publishers on a scale of 0 to 100 based on “a set of non-political criteria of journalistic practice.”

Comer requested a series of documents from NewsGuard – including full versions of “current and past contracts with government agencies” and “records of all disciplinary or corrective actions taken by NewsGuard over the past five years related to violations” of its editorial staff’s covenant – due no later than June 27, 2024.