I will admit that I have never before heard of the Smith-Mundt Act (officially the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act)). This Act was passed in 1948 and allowed the U.S. government to conduct foreign propaganda campaigns, radio, film, exchanges, cultural outreach, aimed at influencing foreign populations during the Cold War.<\/p>\n
On Monday, The Gateway Pundit<\/a> posted an article about the Act, reporting the following:<\/p>\n But the law contained one critical safeguard: propaganda made for foreign audiences was forbidden from being used inside the United States. Washington could not psy-op its own people. This firewall stood for more than six decades.<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2012, tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2013<\/a>, Congress passed the Smith\u2013Mundt Modernization Act, introduced by Representative Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and\u00a0signed by Barack Obama on January 2, 2013.<\/strong><\/p>\n It shredded the firewall and legalized domestic distribution of State Department and U.S. Agency for Global Media (formerly Broadcasting Board of Governors) materials.<\/strong><\/p>\n By July 2, 2013, it was official: U.S. citizens could now be subjected to the same government-crafted propaganda once reserved for foreigners.<\/strong><\/p>\n Seven months ago, investigative watchdog Mike Benz revealed to Joe Rogan in an interview what really happened with the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012.<\/strong><\/p>\n Obama\u2019s \u201cmodernization\u201d wasn\u2019t modernization at all; it was the effective repeal of Smith\u2013Mundt, a deliberate move to unleash the State Department, CIA, and USAID\u2019s propaganda weapons on the American people.<\/strong><\/p>\n The article notes:<\/p>\n Utah Senator Mike Lee announced he will soon introduce groundbreaking legislation to restore the original protections of the Smith-Mundt Act\u2014and he\u2019s renaming it the \u201cCharlie Kirk Act\u201d in honor of\u00a0the conservative leader assassinated just days ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIn the coming days, I\u2019ll be filing my previously drafted legislation to restore Smith-Mundt, and renaming it the Charlie Kirk Act. Domestic, political, government-funded propaganda must end now,\u201d Lee wrote on X.<\/strong><\/p>\n We have seen the results of government propaganda in recent years. The Smith-Mundt existed from 1948 until 2013 without being used against American citizens. It’s time it was either repealed or brought back to its original form. The change in that law is one more example of the damage done to our Republic by both the Executive Branch of Government and the Legislative Branch of Government during the Obama administration. In a free republic, the government should not be allowed to spew propaganda at the voters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I will admit that I have never before heard of the Smith-Mundt Act (officially the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act)). This Act was passed in 1948 and allowed the U.S. government to conduct foreign propaganda campaigns, radio, film, … Continue reading