The State Department is attempting to discredit the validity of reports that it was funding the formation of a blacklist of conservative papers due to its alleged spread of disinformation for top company advertisers

Matt Taibbi, author behind the Twitter Files, and Washington Examiner investigative journalist Gabe Kaminsky, both brought to light examples of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center being linked to apparent censorship. Taibbi reported that the GEC was pressuring social media platforms, such as X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook, to suppress posts and information related to COVID-19, while the Washington Examiner reported on the GEC funding a group blacklisting Republican media outlets.