Senate Republican advances bill aiming to halt government-backed 'propaganda' campaigns, named after conservative commentator Charlie Kirk
The US Senate is considering a new bill aimed at restricting the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) from disseminating media within the country. The bill, known as the Charlie Kirk Act, was introduced by Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah.
The USAGM, an apparatus of the State Department, has been barred from distributing media within the US since the end of World War II, a restriction that remained in place until former President Barack Obama's second term. However, in 2013, the protections against disseminating propaganda within the US were taken away.
The Charlie Kirk Act aims to reinstate these safeguards, preventing the USAGM from using the media it produces to influence Americans. The bill is named after the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in Orem, Utah, last week. Sen. Mike Lee's resolution condemning Kirk's assassination passed unanimously in the Senate.
The Charlie Kirk Act also seeks to prevent propaganda from being disseminated to Americans. It intends to prevent media produced by the USAGM from being shown in the US for 12 years, reviving Cold War-era restrictions. Sen. Mike Lee views his bill as a "flag planted on a hill," implying it is a starting point for further action.
The organization affected by Senator Mike Lee's Charlie Kirk Act is the U.S. government in terms of its dissemination of media within the country. The bill aims to restore the Smith–Mundt Act that limits government propaganda intended for foreign audiences from spreading domestically. If passed, the embargo on the dissemination of such media by this organization would be reinstated as law under the proposed act.
It's worth noting that this is not the first bill Senator Mike Lee has introduced to honor Kirk. His latest legislation, the Charlie Kirk Act, seeks to add stronger guardrails to the Smith–Mundt Act. The bill also aims to denounce political extremism, a sentiment echoed by many in the wake of Kirk's tragic death.
Alex Miller, a writer for our website Digital, is covering the U.S. Senate's deliberations on the Charlie Kirk Act. As the bill makes its way through the Senate, we will continue to provide updates on its progress and potential implications.
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