“USAID Bankrolled Secretive Nonprofit Global News Network With Alleged Ties to Censorship”

The USAID gave roughly $473 million to the “Internews Network,” a secretive global non-governmental organization that allegedly supported online censorship efforts, according to documents released by WikiLeaks.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) gave roughly $473 million to a “secretive” nonprofit organization that supported efforts to censor social media users, according to documents released by WikiLeaks.

This news comes less than a week after President Donald Trump cut major funding to USAID amid revelations the organization financed groups, including some media outlets, that engaged in smear campaigns and censorship against dissident voices.

WikiLeaks is a multinational organization founded by Julian Assange that specializes “in the analysis and publication of large datasets of censored or otherwise restricted official materials involving war, spying and corruption.”

In a Feb. 7 X post, WikiLeaks revealed:

“USAID has pushed nearly half a billion dollars ($472.6m) through a secretive US government financed NGO, ‘Internews Network’ (IN), which has ‘worked with’ 4,291 media outlets, producing in one year 4,799 hours of broadcasts reaching up to 778 million people and ‘training’ over 9000 journalists (2023 figures).

“IN has also supported social media censorship initiatives.”

Internews Network has 30 international offices, including headquarters in Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Kyiv, Bangkok and Nairobi.

According to its website, the organization is a nonprofit that supports “independent media” in over 100 countries. “We train journalists and digital rights activists, advance internet freedom, and offer business expertise to help media outlets become financially sustainable.”

However, WikiLeaks suggested that some Internews Network activities may be linked to efforts to influence media narratives and regulate information flow on social media.

During the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Annual Meeting, Internews President Jeanne Bourgault called on the global advertising industry to back what she called the “good news and information” to deal with “disinformation.”

“Disinformation makes money,” she said, “We need to follow that money. … You can work really hard on inclusion lists or exclusion lists to sort of really try to focus ad dollars and challenge the global advertising industry all around the world to focus our ad dollars towards the good news and information.”

According to documents released by WikiLeaks, Bourgault receives roughly $451,000 annually. She formerly worked for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and directed USAID’s Office of Democratic Initiatives, according to her LinkedIn profile.

WikiLeaks also cited documents showing that since 2008, when electronic records began, the U.S. government supplied more than 95% of Internews’ budget. Documents also showed that the network’s budget has doubled over the past decade.

Since 2005, Internews also received $985,126 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

On Feb. 8 as a follow-up to its disclosure, WikiLeaks highlighted a post by X user KanekoaTheGreat of Internews Network’s annual reports.

The post said, “Here’s how this nonprofit played a crucial role in regime change across Eastern Europe in service of NATO expansion — then turned its tactics inward, calling for censorship in the West.”

Internews Network ‘lost its way’

Internews Network was founded in 1982 in San Franciso to support independent media, but the organization “lost its way,” WikiLeaks said, citing a 2005 John Hopkins Magazine article that detailed the experiences of the network’s founder David Hoffman and the network’s evolution since its start.

When asked to comment on WikiLeaks’ disclosure, journalist Paul D. Thacker told The Defender he wanted to wait until he’s been able to “look more deeply at the details, but it fits with a disturbing narrative we are seeing in the media.”

The U.S. government shouldn’t be training and funding journalists who then shape news narratives according to the government’s political interests, he said.

“As evidence comes to light that the U.S. government is funding ‘independent’ media, we see journalists screaming when this funding is yanked, instead of being appalled that the funding exists,” Thacker said.

For example, the Global Investigative Journalism Network on Feb. 7 called upon U.S. elected officials to reverse Trump’s withholding of USAID funds for independent news organizations, Thacker said.

Although it’s clear that Internews Network was used to shape news narratives, the scope of its direct censorship activities is unclear.

WikiLeaks did not respond by the deadline when asked to provide detailed documents supporting its allegation that the network has “supported social media censorship initiatives.”

Journalist Matt Taibbi commented on WikiLeaks’ disclosure by writing on Substack that he intends to delve into the network’s activities, but the analysis will take some time.

Taibbi explained to his readers:

“Have you ever come across a big piece of plywood lying flat in a field, or a junkyard? Sometimes you pick it up and it’s just dirt, and sometimes it’s a mass of snakes and maggots and wriggling things.

“Please bear with me on Internews. This one’s going to take a minute.”

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