TX AG Ken Paxton V US State Dep

AUSTIN – The State of Texas and media companies The Daily Wire and The Federalist have sued the U.S. Department of State, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other government officials for engaging in a conspiracy to censor, deplatform, and demonetize American media outlets disfavored by the federal government.

Through its Global Engagement Center, the State Department actively intervened in the news-media market to limit the reach and business viability of domestic news organizations by funding censorship technology and private censorship enterprises. Congress authorized creation of the Global Engagement Center expressly to counter foreign propaganda and misinformation. Instead, the agency weaponized this authority to violate the First Amendment and suppress Americans’ constitutionally-protected speech. The complaint describes the State Department’s project as “one of the most egregious government operations to censor the American press in the history of the nation.”