Gov. Greg Abbott Does Not Seem Concerned That He’s Funding A Texas University Lab That Worked To Censor Conservatives
- April 26, 2023
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott declined to answer repeated questions from the Daily Caller News Foundation on whether he believes it is appropriate for taxpayer funds to support a Texas university’s project that worked to censor conservatives.
The University of Texas at Austin houses the Global Disinformation Lab, established in 2020 to research a “broad spectrum of information, misinformation, and disinformation via digital media.” The lab recently partnered with the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), which works to blacklist conservative news sites from ad exchanges, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner, for a research report released in December 2022.
Researchers from the UT Austin lab analyzed 69 news websites between June and October, finding conservative websites — including the New York Post, Reason, RealClearPolitics, The Daily Wire, The Blaze, OANN, The American Conservative, The Federalist, Newsmax and The American Spectator — most at risk for disinformation, according to the review. Meanwhile, liberal-leaning websites like The Washington Post, BuzzFeed News and The New York Times were rated “low” risk.
“Hardly anyone familiar with the state of higher education today would be surprised at a prestigious university participating in the censorship of American citizens,” Michael Chamberlain, director of ethics watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust, told the DCNF. “But that fact does not make it any less disturbing with each revelation of exactly that happening. The vast tentacles of the Censorship Industrial Complex have wound their way into universities, private-sector business, and nonprofits in nearly every nook and cranny of this country.”