This story reports two different improprieties. One is federal efforts to violate freedom of speech. The other is federal employment of private, non-profit companies to perform tasks that government cannot or should not perform on its own.
I don’t know which is worse.
Apart from that, some people say that disinformation is dangerous and — because of the danger — it is good to prevent it. There are a number of problems with this way of thinking.
For example, there are problems of definition: How can we know which information is good and which is bad? Who decides, and how can we know their motives are honorable? There are also problems of performance: How should we organize to prevent disinformation? What should the rules of operation be? How will disputes be settled?
I subscribe to the theory that open debate and social tolerance for dissenting views is the best approach, but I think my subscription is in the minority today, as the story indicates.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
Another typical whine. People who spread lies hate to suffer the consequences of spreading lies. As a matter of fact, it is mainly “conservative news outlets” that disseminate disinformation. That is how they get on such lists.
Disinformation IS bad. Opinions, policies, attitudes, and votes should be based on truths not on “alternative facts.”
Dissenting views are fine and productive, but as Senator Moynihan famously stated it – “You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” That is the elementary lesson you people need to learn. There exists an objective reality that is the measure of what is true and what is false. A photo showing a modest inauguration crowd trumps a claim that many people believe the crowd was the biggest ever. Dozens of failed attempts to find serious voter fraud trumps the claim that the 2020 election was stolen. etc. etc. etc.
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RE: “Another typical whine.”
Based on your complaint, you appear to approve of federal efforts to violate freedom of speech and the employment of private, non-profit companies to perform tasks that government cannot or should not perform on its own. Also, you have no response to the problems of definition and performance I noted.
Given the lack of substance in your commentary, who really is doing the whining here?
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Lying liars are the enemies of democracy. In this country and all over the world. It is part of the mission of the State Department to promote democracy and democratic values all over the world. It makes perfect sense for the National Endowment for Democracy – a NGO established by President Ronald Reagan – to support international efforts to identify and shame the liars and propagandists working on behalf of subversive groups and enemy nations to subvert democracy.
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RE: “It makes perfect sense for the National Endowment for Democracy – a NGO established by President Ronald Reagan – to support international efforts to identify and shame the liars and propagandists working on behalf of subversive groups and enemy nations to subvert democracy.”
NED was not established by Ronald Reagan, nor does it have a charter to promote democracy within the U.S. In fact, as the source story documents, NED is corrupting democracy in the U.S. by funding the unconstitutional blacklisting of American media companies.
You literally don’t know what you are talking about.
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“NED was not established by Ronald Reagan”
“You literally don’t know what you are talking about.”
One of us doesn’t. And he shows it again and again. To be clear, that is you.
In this case, I will believe Ronald Reagan and ignore your willful ignorance. Reagan proposed it in a speech in Westminster in 1982 and pushed for Congress to create it which did so in 1983. If you had watched the video I linked to AND understood it, you would not make such a fool of yourself. Again.
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If you had read Wikipedia’s account of NED’s origins you would not have been so sloppy in your reasoning.
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“If you had read Wikipedia’s account of NED’s origins you would not have been so sloppy in your reasoning.”
There is no reasoning involved. Duh.
The NED website traces itself to the legacy of Ronald Reagan.
The NED website links to a video of RR proposing it at Westminster.
The NED website links to a video of RR touting his accomplishment after it was created.
Your silly and pointless quibbling about its origins is – well – silly and pointless.
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Your inner totalitarian is showing.
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“Your inner totalitarian is showing.”
Says the self-declared democracy hater and totalitarian who cannot get enough of either Trump or Putin. Your repetition of this charge again and again has zero sting. I think respect for the truth is an important value. You obviously don’t.
You want to spin this tiny spending on a private rating agency to be a problem with government when it is actually a problem with the kind of media that you people rely on for your alternative facts. Sure, a lot more “conservative” sites will end up on the naughty list because “conservative” sites are constantly spreading “alternative facts”, divisiveness, and enemy propaganda.
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Yeah, I’m another one of those nefarious Libertarians plotting to take over the world and leave you alone.
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“Yeah, I’m another one of those nefarious Libertarians plotting to take over the world and leave you alone.”
Nice try, but your hatred of democracy, your threats of violence against democratic government, your minimizing the attempted authoritarian coup, and your cheerleading for actual totalitarians is a matter of record. Look it up.
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