Though not touched by mainstream media outlets for obvious reasons, a decades old domestic anti-propaganda law protecting the public from direct manipulation is now in the dust bin of history. On July 2nd, the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, that for decades has prevented government-made new stories intended for foreign audiences from being broadcast within the U.S., came to an end via an amendment tacked onto the National Defense Authorization Act. Now, news stories meant for nations abroad can be broadcast (or used as source material for original programming) to American audiences. While it is common for government and a complicit media to lie to the American public, deception and misinformation has now been codified into law.
According to a document from the Office of the Federal Register:
The new rule “functions to relieve the prohibition that prevented the Agency from responding to requests for program materials from the US public, US media entities or other US organizations.”
“This rule benefits the public, media, and other organizations by allowing them to request and access BBG [Broadcasting Board of Governors] program materials, which previously could not be disseminated within the US.”
The new rule is said to only apply to news stories published by the State Department, though we find it difficult to fathom that such a powerful capability will not be utilized by other arms of the government via alternate legislation, information sharing, etc…
AlertsUSA Threat Journal STRONGLY advises readers to think long and hard about this development. Where you get your news, particularly concerning threats to your safety and security, is now crtically important.
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