Thomas Catenacci
- A leading conservative group wrote a scathing letter to the Aspen Institute, criticizing the organization’s commission on disinformation for being far-left and hyper-partisan.
- The Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder is expected to soon issue a report that will likely castigate conservatives for being more susceptible to and willing to share disinformation, according to the American Principles Project (APP) letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
- “For any study on disinformation to be credible, it must take a non-partisan approach which reviews the spread of disinformation from all political stripes and causes,” said the letter that was sent to Aspen Institute President and CEO Daniel Porterfield on Tuesday. “Early indications leave us skeptical that the Commission can meet this test.”
A leading conservative group wrote a scathing letter to the Aspen Institute, criticizing the organization’s commission on disinformation for being far-left and hyper-partisan.
The Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder is expected to soon issue a report that will likely castigate conservatives for being more susceptible to and willing to share disinformation, according to the American Principles Project (APP) letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
However, the institute’s commission is comprised of progressives who not only have a history of partisanship, but have participated in disinformation campaigns themselves.
“For any study on disinformation to be credible, it must take a non-partisan approach which reviews the spread of disinformation from all political stripes and causes,” said the letter sent to Aspen Institute President and CEO Daniel Porterfield on Tuesday. “Early indications leave us skeptical that the Commission can meet this test.”
The Commission on Information Disorder was launched in January to examine the U.S. “public information crisis” and to recommend remedies for curbing widespread disinformation. Prince Harry, journalist Katie Couric, Human Rights Foundation Chairman Garry Kasparov and former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs are members of the commission.
“We have a major problem with these elitists telling the American people what the truth is and what the truth isn’t and and then making themselves the final arbiter of what disinformation is,” APP President Terry Schilling told the DCNF in an interview. “From our standpoint, not only is this report from the Aspen Institute biased, it’s self-serving, it’s arrogant, and it’s anti-American.”
Schilling noted that Prince Harry recently said the First Amendment is “bonkers” on an Aspen Institute podcast. He questioned why Prince Harry, a member of the British Royal Family, is on an important commission with the power to potentially shape future U.S. policy.
Kathryn Murdoch, another member of the commission, and her husband James Murdoch have funneled tens of millions of dollars into progressive and Democratic political groups. The couple also donated $100 million to the foundation they co-founded seven years ago, which mainly gives to progressive causes.
In 2020, Kathryn Murdoch notably donated $500,000 to PACRONYM, Federal Election Commission (FEC) data showed, a political action committee that ran a massive digital campaign against former President Donald Trump last year. The organization said its effort was started to “get Trump the f*ck out of office.”
But PACRONYM was subject to an FEC complaint last year for creating a faux news outlet called Courier Newsroom, according to The Washington Times. Courier Newsroom published local newspapers that disguised Democratic and anti-Trump talking points as legitimate news in swing states.
The Cardinal & Pine in North Carolina, The Copper Courier in Arizona, UpNorthNews in Wisconsin, The Gander in Michigan and The Keystone in Pennsylvania were some of the fake newspapers PACRONYM created last year, The Washington Times reported. The PAC also created The Americano, which targeted Hispanic voters nationally.
“[PACRONYM] created an elaborate disinformation network that deceived hundreds of millions of Americans with fake news stories in an attempt to influence the outcome of elections across the country,” the APP letter said Tuesday.
James Murdoch resigned in 2020 from News Corporation, the media conglomerate that owns Fox News and was founded by his father Rupert Murdoch. James Murdoch left his family’s company citing “disagreements over certain editorial content.”
In addition, the 15-member disinformation commission can only be considered bipartisan because of its sole Republican, former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, who is more left-leaning than many conservatives, according to Schilling.
“What it looks like is the typical progressive playbook of ‘Let’s pretend we aren’t on bias, let’s pretend we’re non-partisan, we’ll include a token republican who’s not really conservative to say that it’s bipartisan,’” Schilling told the DCNF.
“This should be rejected on its face,” he continued.
The Aspen Institute and a spokesperson for James and Kathryn Murdoch didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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