A charity arm of the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., is set to host a controversial "misinformation" researcher reportedly under fire for helping lead a group that targeted certain conservative content on social media ahead of the 2020 election.
The Washington Examiner on Monday reported University of Washington professor Kate Starbird — who testified to Congress that she advised social media companies on content moderation policies — will take part in an April 24 webinar hosted by the National Press Club Journalism Institute on "successful efforts by organizations to grow news and information literacy and to help the public fact-check the information it interacts with."
The outlet noted Starbird played a "sizable role" in the Election Integrity Partnership, which collaborated with the FBI, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and others as it flagged "misinformation" reports on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms in 2020 — including posts from former President Donald Trump and conservatives websites like Newsmax.
"Everything Starbird did flies in the face of the First Amendment and a free press," Newsmax host Rob Carson told the Washington Examiner.
"You're allowed to have an opinion on anything, even if it's wrong, but the government decided they would decide what is wrong and destroy ‘misinformation.'"
"Kate Starbird is a government apparatchik," he added.
Institute Executive Director Beth Francesco declined to comment to the Examiner on whether Starbird will be asked about her role with the EIP — or a since-dissolved committee under the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which GOP lawmakers have alleged facilitated censorship.
"As an expert in online rumors and disinformation campaigns, groups often invite Dr. Starbird to share her insights with them," Michael Grass, a spokesman for the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public, which Starbird leads, told the outlet.
Republicans are frustrated with Starbird and researchers who assert the truth of their analyses of social media content — and allegedly target conservatives and Democrats who go against the grain, the outlet reported.
Mike Howell of the Heritage Foundation blasted efforts by "the Censorship Industrial Complex … made up of not only governments but prestige granting institutions such as think tanks, media, and academia that all trade fake legitimacy back and forth," the outlet reported.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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