State Department Admits First Amendment Violations

In this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth, Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione, Senior Litigation Counsel Peggy Little, and Of Counsel Margot Cleveland discuss a major settlement in The Daily Wire, The Federalist, and the State of Texas v. U.S. Department of State.

The case challenged a years-long effort in which State Department funds were routed through third-party organizations and technologies—such as the Global Disinformation Index and NewsGuard—to suppress and demonetize certain media outlets. According to the settlement, the government acknowledged that aspects of these activities violated the First Amendment and involved unlawful conduct.

The episode explains how the alleged “boomerang effect” allowed the government to work through foreign and private intermediaries to impact domestic speech, the investigative work that uncovered the scheme, and the discovery that revealed the scope of coordination across agencies, nonprofits, universities, and technology platforms.

Peggy and Margot walk through the key terms of the settlement, including restrictions on government coordination with censorship technologies, limits on grant funding tied to domestic speech, training and compliance requirements, and long-term oversight provisions designed to prevent similar conduct in the future.

The discussion also highlights the role of journalists, plaintiffs willing to challenge the government, and the court in bringing the case forward—and why the outcome may have significant implications for free speech, government accountability, and the limits of federal power.