The National Science Foundation ( NSF ) claims to be the “place where discoveries begin” but it also provided funding for initiatives where free speech ends. A representative from The Federalist, who was asked if it still funds anti-“misinformation” tools, merely pointed to its people grants database, which contains censorship projects that were funded under the Biden administration.
In February, the public-interest legislation firm Alliance Defending Freedom requested information from the NSF to find out if there was any collaboration between the government and internet connections cartels like Google and Facebook.
NSF provides funding for approximately 400″ small businesses” in the form of technology development annually and provides funding for one-quarter of all federally funded academic fundamental research projects at U.S. higher education institutions. It has a$ 8.5 billion budget each year. According to an NSF brief, it also provides funding for programs that discriminate against recipients.
For” Trust &, Authenticity in Communication Systems,” a” batch track” was launched by the NSF’s” Convergence Accelerator,” which provides funding for specific research projects. Winners created software to manage net speech that has been labeled “misinformation” about politically sensitive subjects like Covid-19 remedies and election integrity, among others.
The House Judiciary Committee recommended that six “teams” be selected for “phase 2″ funding, each with a$ 5 million selection fee. The NSF awarded$ 39 million total to initiatives on this” record” of the system.
The Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust ( ARTT), Co-Designing for Trust, Co-Casting for Trust, CommuniTies, CourseCorrect, Expert Voices Together, Search Lit, TrustFinder, and WiseDex are among the NSF-funded projects. Jobs had ties to renowned pro-censorship companies like Google, Meta, Snopes, Wikimedia, the World Economic Forum, and the World Health Organization.
The Federalist inquired about the total money that each project received from the organization, and whether there have been any” groups dedicated to developing anti-misinformation jobs since” track F.” A spokesman for the NSF responded that, “in recent times,” Congress has asked NSF to “identify and address issues of safety, morals, and adversarial control online” through money expenses and the IOGAN Act. Thus, Track F was “initiated by the Convergence Accelerator”.
The member stated that this program hasn’t won an award since 2021 and won’t be making any other prizes in the future. NSF invests in workforce development, creativity, and research to advance the development, testing, and knowing of technologies. NSF does not participate in any material laws or policies.
The Federalist repeatedly inquired “how far complete Foundation funding each task received” and “whether NSF contributed to the creation of any other anti-misinformation projects besides Track F.” The official then just pointed to the company’s “award research page” and said,” O ther than that, I don’t have anything to add.” More than 100 benefits can be found when searching for “misinformation” in lively NSF prizes.
According to The Federalist, ADF even submitted public records requests for documents related to the NSF Convergence Accelerator. When ADF’s Center for Free Speech’s legal counsel stated that “where our duty dollars are being spent to finance censorship” and that “anyone’s rights have been violated by the censorship-industrial complex, litigation will undoubtedly be an choice” at the time the organization was looking into the situation.
manipulating the public conversation
According to the job description, the University of Wisconsin-Madison created Course Correct, a “misinformation identifying dashboard” for journalists to stifle speech about “vaccine reluctance related to the COVID-19 epidemic” and “widespread suspicion about American election integrity. Starting in 2022, the NSF Convergence Accelerator will award it$ 5 million.
The Federalist Course Correct was renamed href=”https://cccr.wisc.edu/chime-in/”>Chime In “more than a year ago,” according to John Lucas, a UW-Madison official. The Federalist href=”https://cccr.wisc.edu/chime-in/”>Chime In is” supported by a offer from the National Science Foundation,” according to official Greg Bump. He claimed that content moderation is avoided because it” creates, testing, and promotes high-quality data on significant public health issues.” However, he acknowledged that href=”https://cccr.wisc.edu/chime-in/”>Chime In “promotes individually verified information into at-need systems using the sponsored information systems of social media. This implies that the software has the ability to add communist content to flogged social media channels.
The “ href=”https://artt.discourselabs.org/faq?ref=hackshackers.com” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>main tool“ of the Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust ( ARTT ) was created as a” Web-based software assistant that provides a framework of possible responses” to contentious discussions. The NSF awarded ARTT almost$ 750, 000 in 2021. Additionally, according to ARTT, it was given$ 5 million in startup funding. Jim Chen from the University of Washington ( UW) demonstrated in a video online how the chatbot responds differently as a Republican or Democrat.
Discourse Labs, ARTT’s volunteer,” spun off” this time. Connie Moon Sehat, a former senior fellow for the World Economic Forum, is one of the members of” Leaders and Board.”
A representative for Discourse Labs told The Federalist that the organization’s “nonprofit with the mission of developing tools and resources for productive public dialogue, including the Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust ( ARTT ) is a nonprofit. The National Science Foundation provided funding to ARTT between 2021 and 2024. The volunteer has not yet released any common tax returns revealing new funding options.
Expert Voices Up, a “rapid-response program” for” journalists and experts,” was spearheaded by faculty from a number of universities. EVT received nearly$ 750, 000 in 2021 and$ 5 million in 2022 as a result of the NSF Convergence Accelerator’s “housed” status with Right To Be this year. A Right To Be representative told The Federalist EVT that” George Washington University” still operates there and that inquiries there should be directed it. GWU refused to respond to numerous requests for comment.
Some people claim that those federally funded devices have been discontinued, but some also claim they are still in use. According to the House Judiciary Committee, the University of Michigan ( UM) contributed to the creation of WiseDex for” Fast, Comprehensive Misinformation Enforcement,” which aids online platforms that push “difficult judgments to someone outside the company… by externalizing the difficult responsibility of censorship,” according to notes from UM’s first pitch to the NSF.
WiseDex intended to collaborate with Meedan and the renowned Election Integrity Partnership in online discourse power. WiseDex received$ 750, 000 from the NSF Convergence Accelerator in 2021, but its step two plan was” no sponsored.” The Center for Social Media Obligation at UM, Paul Resnick, stated to The Federalist WiseDex, “is not presently energetic.”
Co-Designing for Trust, a project funded by the University of Washington, claims to stop “misinformation” in” ( BIPOC ) and rural communities.” In a video, Jason Young, a UW employee, refers to it as” Black Snopes.” According to official Victor Balta, The Federalist “improves ] educational resources related to information literacy,” similar to a job that aims to prevent rural library guests from being conned on Craigslist. He claimed that the task is “winding down as the grant-funding time comes to an end.” The NSF awarded Co-Designing for Trust$ 750, 000 in 2021 and$ 5 million in 2022.
TrustFinder, a program created by UW, was intended to assist “researchers in reducing the negative effects of their labor of misconceptions.” According to Balta, the job is no longer engaged and did not “pass the preliminary planning phase in 2021.” TrustFinder received$ 5 million from the NSF Convergence Accelerator in 2022.
Co-Insights, which Meedan created in the initial name Fact Champ, was created to “scan millions of posts” and combat “misinformation aimed at Asian-American and Pacific Islander ( AAPI ) communities. NSF awarded it nearly$ 750, 000 in 2021 and an additional$ 5 million in 2022. The job” studied and published peer-reviewed study on content targeting communities digitally,” according to a Meedan consultant. The representative claimed Meedan” strongly supports ] [s ] free speech,” so the project “ran from 2021 to 2024 and has now concluded” and its” tools were opt-in and only provided additional information”.
An” AI-based system” that” separates reputable from less reputable information” was created by Ohio State University as well. The NSF awarded it practically$ 750, 000 in 2021. According to Benjamin Johnson, the chief spokeswoman for OSU, it was “disaster reaction research to support first responders,” and researchers looked at ways AI could help them and “other decision makers” could analyze large amounts of information in a fast changing emergency situation like a natural disaster or public health crisis.
A” journalist-in-the-loop system” called CommuniTies was created at Temple University to prevent “uncivil, polarizing discourse, audience misinterpretation, the production of misinformation, and the perpetuation of false narratives ( such as conspiracy theories ) from being developed. The USA Today Network intended to “allow journalists to have access to the CommuniTies platform.” The NSF Convergence Accelerator awarded it$ 750, 000 in 2021.
According to its project description, faculty at various institutions also created Search Lit, an online” suite” to” combat] ] misinformation. In 2021, the NSF Convergence Accelerator gave Search Lit$ 750,000 through MIT.
All the discontinued censorship tools mean taxpayers received tens of millions of dollars in nothing, aside from keeping numerous censorship jobs temporarily afloat.
The staff writer for election integrity is Logan Washburn. He is a The College Fix spring 2025 fellow. He received his degree from Hillsdale College, worked as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan grew up in rural Michigan and is from Central Oregon.
