Texas billionaire John Arnold joined Meta’s board of directors, concerning some given his philanthropic organization Arnold Ventures’ donations over $13 million to groups dedicated to combating “disinformation,” which often involves censoring conservative free speech.
Arnold Ventures has funded numerous left-leaning organizations and projects around issues like elections, vaccines, and journalism under the guise of fighting misinformation.
This includes donations to groups that have published partisan articles promoting left-wing narratives and called for increased censorship of so-called “hate speech” and “conspiracy theories.”
The American Journalism Project (AJP) reportedly received $9.7 million from Arnold Ventures.
The AJP website boasts, “In the absence of trusted news sources, we see targeted disinformation campaigns, including efforts to spread misinformation through social networks and websites masquerading as news brands,”
Scott Walter, the president of the Capital Research Center (CRC), said, “It’s especially sad to see them backing the left-wing scam of cancel culture camouflaged under the label of fighting misinformation and disinformation.”
Arnold Ventures reportedly granted The Social Science Research Council $1.5 million.
The Washington Examiner reported, “The Social Science Research Council operates a project called Mediawell that ‘curates research and news on digital disinformation and misinformation’, according to its website. Mediawell, for instance, promotes an article on its website that is titled ‘Fighting an indestructible monster: Journalism’s legitimacy narratives during the Trump Era.'”
Critics argue this network of non-profits is actually working to stifle opposing viewpoints and impact elections rather than address legitimate misinformation.
Arnold’s position on Meta’s board raises questions about whether he will advocate for policies restricting conservative content.
