Sputnik
Fri, 18 Mar 2016

In an Orwellian Twist of Fate, two US senators drop legislation calling for the creation of a propaganda agency tasked with "delegitimizing" Russian and Chinese media, and "strategically" presenting "facts" to support US interests. Critics slam the bill as "extreme," adding that it likely violates the US First Amendment.

On Thursday, US Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced bipartisan legislation titled "The Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act." The bill targets specifically the growing visibility of the popular RT (Russia Today) and CCTV (China Central Television) stations by calling for increased appropriations to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which already receives $768 million per year under the current budget, and developing a new agency under the command of the State Department.

Portman, the bill's lead sponsor, said in a speech Thursday before the Atlantic Council think tank that the purpose of the bill is to "delegitimize" alternative news sources such as RT and CCTV. In making the argument for the necessity of the measure, Portman claimed that RT spends $400 million on its Washington Bureau alone, a position that RT representatives adamantly deny and that is a direct contradiction with previous reports from Western media and analysts.

What Does "The Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act" Do?

SNIP