West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed into law last week the First Amendment Preservation Act (SB 531), a sweeping measure that bars state agencies from doing business with advertising firms that rely on media "blacklists" or ideological rating systems.
The move marks a significant escalation in a growing national push to curb federal and state agencies from working with advertising firms that use third-party organizations to engage in de facto censorship.
Just last week, The Federalist and Daily Wire announced a major legal settlement with the State Dept. ending the agency's coordination with and funding of so-called media misinformation monitors.
The West Virginia legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Mike Azinger and passed with overwhelming support by the state legislature, prohibits taxpayer-funded advertising from being routed through agencies that use so-called "media reliability" or "misinformation" monitors, a practice widely criticized by conservatives as a mechanism to target and financially starve conservative-leaning outlets from advertising.
While the law does not explicitly name specific organizations, it is widely believed to respond to left-wing entities such as NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), both of which have drawn scrutiny for compiling ratings that influence where advertisers place their dollars and which publications are deemed acceptable by Big Tech firms.
"Governor Morrisey deserves tremendous credit for standing up for free speech and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are never used to enforce ideological media blacklists," said Christine Czernejewski, spokesperson for the Independent Media Council (IMC).
The IMC represents over a dozen independent and conservative media outlets that reach more than 70 million Americans regularly.
Czernejewski added that the measure ensures "diverse voices should be heard and that public funds are used to ensure that all citizens are informed, not a narrow political group."
The IMC and other supporters argue that media monitoring organizations like NewsGuard and GDI operate as gatekeepers in the digital and television advertising ecosystem, using highly subjective criteria and decisions that disproportionately penalize conservative outlets while allowing left-leaning or even foreign state-backed media to receive more favorable treatment.
According to three separate studies conducted by the Media Research Center (MRC), NewsGuard consistently assigned lower credibility ratings to conservative publications compared to their liberal counterparts, and in some cases rated Chinese and Russian state-run media outlets more favorably than American conservative news organizations.
NewsGuard, founded in 2018 by Steven Brill, a longtime Democrat donor and activist, has faced sustained criticism from conservatives who argue that its methodology reflects political bias rather than neutral journalistic standards.
Brill has repeatedly denied that he engaged in censorship, but the impact is clear: he works to defund media that opposes his political viewpoint.
Legal scholars have also weighed in on the broader implications of rating systems like NewsGuard, with constitutional expert Jonathan Turley warning that government entanglement with private censorship mechanisms could raise serious First Amendment concerns, particularly when public funds are used in ways that indirectly suppress lawful speech.
Turley has stated NewsGuard has been the key player in a "massive censorship system."
Supporters of the West Virginia law say it ensures that state advertising campaigns — ranging from tourism promotion to public health messaging — are not filtered through systems that exclude large segments of the population based on political or editorial viewpoints.
In a largely rural state like West Virginia, officials and advocates note that restricting outreach through biased ad networks can prevent critical information from reaching key audiences such as outdoor enthusiasts, small-town residents, and other communities vital to the state's economy and civic life.
The move places West Virginia as part of a growing national trend, as policymakers at both the state and federal levels increasingly scrutinize the role of media blacklists in shaping the flow of advertising revenue and, by extension, the viability of news organizations.
Last year, Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a similar bill preventing state agencies from contracting with advertising firms that use media bias monitors.
At the federal level, Congress included a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prohibiting the Pentagon from working with advertising agencies that employ such systems for military recruitment campaigns.
Federal regulators have also signaled concern, with the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission emphasizing the need for safeguards against viewpoint discrimination in advertising markets, and President Donald Trump issuing an executive order aimed at preventing federal coordination to suppress lawful speech.
Czernejewski said West Virginia's action will serve as a blueprint for other states seeking to protect free expression, stating that "West Virginia has now established a model for other states" and predicting that additional legislatures will follow suit in the coming months.
The IMC maintains that the best response to misinformation is not suppression but greater openness, arguing that policies like SB 531 help restore a level playing field in an increasingly centralized digital advertising ecosystem.
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