Several online repression tools were funded by the U.S. state, some of which disappeared after Donald Trump took office. However, some website platforms are still in place today, probably restricting what users can see online, particularly in terms of health issues.
Through its Convergence Accelerator, the National Science Foundation incubated a number of initiatives to combat website statement that was deemed “misinformation,” many of which have recently disappeared from the radar, as The Federalist has previously reported. Some of these initiatives, which are being supported by left-leaning organizations and aimed at limiting website talk, still exist today.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison-hosted Chime In, the Kit for Analyzing and Responding to Confidence, housed in the communist volunteer Discourse Labs, and Expert Voices Up, which were both adopted by the left-wing organization Straight To Be, are among the repression projects still in operation.  ,
Chime In
Prior to now, the instrument was known as” Course Correct.” As The Federalist had recently reported, UW-Madison created Course Correct as a journalist’s “misinformation” platform. The NSF gave the task$ 5 million starting in 2022. It hoped to “scale Course Correct into local, regional, and global newspapers,” according to the offer information.
According to school spokesman John Lucas, the plan was given the name Chime In “more than a year ago.” The UW-Madison Center for Communication and Civic Renewal’s” counter vaccine hesitancy” is known as” Chime In.”
The system conducted “pilot testing… on issues including: fresh dairy, genetically modified foods, vaccine security, fluoride in water, Covid-19, and repellent safety,” according to The College Fix’s report from 2023. The job might also work with the internet to influence the public’s opinion.
According to the NSF description of the project,” After editors evaluate the size and reach of these misconceptions sites identified by the platform, they work with Course Correct team to create and quickly test messages that will stop the flow of misinformation,” reads the NSF information. ” Course Correct may use sponsored social media posts to plant the affected propaganda network.”
The Federalist obtained a screenshot of the Chime In program. The software assists customers in creating messaging “experiments,” creating their own goal organizations, such as “vaccine naysayers.” Consumers may obtain money for these efforts by posting their stories on social media sites like X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Eventually, the tool gives users the ability to review certain posts to be shared on social media.
University spokesman Greg Bump previously claimed to The Federalist that Chime In “avoids ] content moderation,” but he later admitted that the program “promotes independently verified facts into at-need networks using the sponsored content systems of social media. Chime In may be able to smear targeted social media with left-wing material.
Kit for Analyzing and Responding to Confidence
As The Federalist recently reported, the ARTT plan created the artificial knowledge” Web-based program assistant that provides a framework of probable responses” for political debate, with a particular emphasis on “questions around vaccinations.”
The National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator, which the NSF funded and supported, gave birth to ARTT, which was “established through funding and support” starting in 2021. Additionally, the project received$ 5 million to “develop practical interventions to build trust and address vaccine hesitancy.”
ARTT made arrangements to collaborate with Wikimedia DC, Social Science Research Council, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering. The hospital is infamous for treating minors with opposite-sex hormones and conducting transgender surgeries. Additionally, ARTT has taken “advising” from the” Vaccine Safety Net” of the World Health Organization.
href=”https://www.hackshackers.com/about/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Hacks/Hackers, a nonprofit “meetup for journalists and technologists,” was in charge of the project. The group collaborates with powerful organizations like the WEF, Wikimedia Foundation, Google, Mozilla, and Meta. According to InfluenceWatch, it is funded by the left-wing Google News Initiative, MacArthur Foundation, and Craig Newmark Philanthropies, which promotes “left-of-center journalism.”
The group recently “graduat]ed ] from” startup mode “in the NSF’s Convergence Accelerator,” according to the group’s website, launching its own nonprofit — Discourse Labs, which lists Hacks/Hackers among its” Partners/Funders.”
Discourse Labs “works with” researchers, computer scientists, educators, democracy and conflict resolution specialists, Wikimedians, health science communicators, and others” to sway” social conversations, according to the group’s website. Connie Moon Sehat, a former WEF fellow, Mark Coatney, former vice president of digital news for Forbes, Franziska Roesner, a professor at the University of Washington, and Amy Zhang, an assistant professor, are among the” Its” board’s members.
“Discourse Labs is a nonprofit with the mission of developing tools and resources for productive public dialogue, which includes the Kit for Analyzing and Responding to Confidence (ARTT),” a representative for Discourse Labs previously told The Federalist. The nonprofit has not yet posted tax documents online that disclose any new funding sources.
Expert Perspectives Bringing Together
Faculty from multiple universities developed Expert Perspectives Bringing Together, a “rapid-response system” for “journalists and researchers,” as The Federalist previously reported. The program could compromise press independence, as according to the EVT website, it arranges for “trained support coordinators” to “meet 1:1 with journalists and researchers.”
Starting in 2021, the NSF Convergence Accelerator awarded EVT nearly$ 750,000 and$ 5 million starting in 2022. According to its website, the project was led by faculty from George Washington University, Columbia University, Louisiana State University, the University of Georgia, and the University of South Carolina.  ,
This year, the leftist group Right To Be moved into EVT. The group provides training on controversial subjects like” Bystander Intervention To Support The LGBTQIA + Community,”” Conflict De-Escalation In Protest Spaces,” and” Bystander Intervention To Stop Police Sponsored Violence and Anti-Black Racism.” Right To Be collaborated with leftist Craig Newmark Philanthropies and the International Women’s Media Foundation, which presented an award to a terrorism supporter.  ,
A Right To Be representative previously stated that George Washington University continues to be in charge of The Federalist EVT, and that they will make inquiries there. ” At the time, GWU had not responded to requests for comment.
So the NSF established censorship organizations, which have since been used to control public discourse by left-leaning organizations and nonprofits. These are more instances of the federal government appropriating taxpayers ‘ money to develop programs under the control of private organizations that target public opinion.
Logan Washburn is a staff writer who writes about the integrity of elections. He is a The College Fix spring 2025 fellow. He has positions with The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller and previously worked as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant. Logan is originally from Central Oregon, but he now resides in rural Michigan.
