Freshly unearthed records show that the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a UK-based organization long-funded by US government-linked entities, highlighted its success in suppressing American media outlets, despite repeated denials from its funders that any of its activities were aimed at domestic targets.
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which receives taxpayer support and was one of GDI’s financial backers, has publicly maintained that it “never funded, supported, or authorized” GDI efforts “involved [with] the United States or was directed at U.S. media outlets.” Yet internal reports obtained by the watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust and published by Just the News suggest the opposite.
Contained within these documents are quarterly reports submitted by GDI to NED, as well as a full grant agreement detailing the group’s activities. Far from focusing exclusively on foreign disinformation, the reports reveal a sustained campaign targeting US news organizations and audiences.
In one update, GDI touted a blog post it published titled “How Disinformation Fueled the Siege of the U.S. Capitol” and pointed to media coverage of its co-founder, Dr. Danny Rogers, by prominent American outlets. GDI also praised its partnership with Infolinks Media, a US-based advertising tech company connected with major brands like Nike and Netflix.
Another section described a co-authored report with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, “Bankrolling Bigotry,” which focused on what it labeled the financial lifelines of American hate groups. GDI also referenced its “US (Dis)information Ecosystem” primer, reinforcing that its work extended far beyond international borders.
The group’s progress reports further reveal that its recommendations had a measurable financial impact on media platforms it deemed “disinformation sites.” By placing these sites on its “Dynamic Exclusion List” (DEL), a blacklist shared with advertisers and tech companies like Microsoft and Oracle, GDI estimated it helped strip approximately 1,200 sites of $100 million in advertising revenue over just 15 months.
These internal assessments contradict the narrative pushed by the NED, which stated it severed ties with GDI in early 2023 only after learning the organization was engaged in work targeting US outlets. However, the GDI’s own progress updates make it clear that such efforts were ongoing well before that decision.
The GDI’s censorship tactics relied heavily on ad revenue throttling. “This period, we turned our minds to evaluation of GDI’s impact; specifically, to how we might measure the demonetization achieved through uptake of our risk ratings by brands and/or ad tech platforms,” the group noted.
Even more revealing was the organization’s celebration of Donald Trump’s diminished social media presence. GDI highlighted a New York Times article citing its research into the “dramatic drop in reach” of Trump’s messaging following his deplatforming from major social networks. It pointed to this media coverage as evidence of the broader success of its censorship campaign.
The organizations on GDI’s radar were overwhelmingly right-leaning. The index included The Federalist, Newsmax, The Daily Wire, The New York Post, and The Blaze among those flagged as high-risk. Meanwhile, GDI elevated left-leaning outlets such as NPR, The New York Times, and ProPublica as “minimum-risk,” according to an archived version of its rankings.
The reach of the censorship web extended beyond GDI. The now-defunct Global Engagement Center (GEC), a US State Department initiative that funded GDI, also played a key role in policing online discourse.
