The Senate Monday approved a key procedural vote that means the massive $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act will pass later this week and be sent to the president for signing.
The final NDAA bill, approved by the House last Wednesday, includes a strong prohibition on the Department of War from using any advertising agency that deploys so-called “media monitors” – groups that rate news outlets for factual accuracy, “misinformation” or other criteria.
Major ad agencies have been using these monitors – including the left-wing NewsGuard – to censor and blacklist conservative news organizations.
The new restriction, found in Section 1541, builds on a similar prohibition made in the 2025 NDAA.
"Major advertising agencies have been effectively censoring conservative media by blocking ads and their revenues using left-wing media monitors,” Christine Czernejewski, spokesperson for the Independent Media Council, told Newsmax. The IMC represents more than a dozen major conservative and independent media organizations.
“We applaud Congress for taking the stand to oppose such censorship when it comes to military recruitment advertising.
"The Congress acted to make sure all Americans see these recruiting ads – and stopping left-wing ratings groups like NewsGuard from targeting conservative media.”
The new NDAA provision requires that any advertising or marketing agency receiving Pentagon funds certify it “does not (1) rate or rank news or information sources for the factual accuracy of their content; (2) provide ratings or opinions on news or information sources regarding misinformation, bias, adherence to journalistic standards, or ethics; or (3) acquire or use any service that provides any ratings, rankings, or opinions described in paragraph (1) or (2).”
One of the most notorious media rating firms is NewsGuard, a for-profit company that scores news outlets and labels them for “credibility,” a practice conservatives say advertisers and Big Tech use to punish right-leaning sources.
Lawmakers inserted the language after revelations that the Pentagon had previously contracted with NewsGuard.
According to USASpending.gov, the Department of Defense — now the Department of War — awarded NewsGuard roughly $749,000 for its “Misinformation Fingerprints” project, a database used to track narratives the company classifies as misleading.
NewsGuard has defended its work, previously telling Breitbart News that it is not “government-funded,” but acknowledges that government agencies pay for subscriptions to its data.
The company claims its mission is to promote trustworthy journalism and fight misinformation.
NewsGuard was founded in 2018 after left-wing advocacy groups claimed President Donald Trump won the 2016 election using “misinformation” messaging to voters.
The co-founder of NewsGuard is Steven Brill, a major Democratic donor and activist. Brill has helped fund the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and became an informal spokesperson for both the Bill Clinton and Obama administrations.
Gordon Crovitz, the other co-founder of NewsGuard, is the former publisher of The Wall Street Journal. His wife, Mindy Worden, is the media director at the far-left Human Rights Watch, an organization that has led international efforts to have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested for alleged war crimes.
Several studies by the Media Research Center have found that NewsGuard’s scoring system overwhelmingly penalizes conservative news organizations.
Major advertising agencies have, in turn, used NewsGuard’s ratings to block conservative media from receiving advertising funds, claiming they are “high risk.”
Supporters of the ban say the NDAA closes the door on taxpayer dollars flowing to any entity that rates and censors political or viewpoint speech.
Famed legal professor and scholar Jonathan Turley has described NewsGuard’s program as part of “a massive censorship system” created by the left to squelch conservative voices.
Turley noted that NewsGuard uses “subjective” evaluations to determine “nutrition labels” for news outlets.
“Of course, what Brill considers nutritious may not be the preferred diet of many in this country,” Turley said.
The IMC praised Congress for the action in support of free speech, and noted especially the efforts of Sens. Tommy Tuberville, Eric Schmitt, Roger Wicker, and Reps. Rich McCormick and Mike Rogers.
The new contracting prohibition extends through Dec. 31, 2030, effectively barring any Pentagon office from sourcing media-credibility judgments from NewsGuard or similar entities for the next five years.
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