Microsoft Still Promotes Censorship Group NewsGuard

Microsoft is still promoting the online censorship group NewsGuard — even after the corporation told Texas Sen. Ted Cruz it would “disavow” its affiliation with the group.

Microsoft had “disavow[ed] its affiliation with NewsGuard” following inquiries by Cruz, according to a Feb. 6 statement from the senator’s office. But according to Microsoft’s website, the company is still promoting the censorship software. 

NewsGuard is an online tool that helps censor and suppress unapproved speech deemed “disinformation.” As The Federalist previously reported, the State Department’s now-defunct Global Engagement Center backed both NewsGuard and the similar group Global Disinformation Index. The groups sought to defund conservative outlets including The Federalist, redirecting advertiser money toward favored publications. So The Federalist, The Daily Wire, and the State of Texas sued the State Department for First Amendment violations through these groups. 

Despite its claims to Cruz, Microsoft has continued promoting NewsGuard’s censorship services. Microsoft’s “Educator Center” recommended NewsGuard as recently as Feb. 12. 

In an article on “COVID and mental health,” Microsoft recommends using Search Coach — a filtered search engine for students —  in conjunction with NewsGuard. “Before selecting any results, observe any NewsGuard ratings that come up from your search.”

“Notice that some of the top links don’t have 100/100 scores. Select the NewsGuard rating. What did they lose points for? How might this impact whether the site is credible?” the webpage reads. “Why are the different components of a NewsGuard rating important?”

NewsGuard gives poor credibility ratings to conservative sites — labeling The Federalist with a meager 12.5 percent score in the past. Under “Teacher resources,” Microsoft’s webpage points to another article called “Learn to use NewsGuard in Search Coach.” The page was no longer available online as of March 4.

After The Federalist reached out to Microsoft for comment, the corporation removed a similar page under its description of Search Coach. “NewsGuard is a tool that shows trust ratings for over 7,500 news and information websites. It is embedded in Search Coach to provide ratings right on the students’ results page. Created by journalists, NewsGuard is a tool for assessing website credibility and transparency,” the webpage stated. It said students using Search Coach can “[s]elect the NewsGuard rating to open up a checklist that shows how NewsGuard decided on that website’s rating.”

The Federalist did not hear back from Microsoft in time for publication.

Filtering Speech for Students

Cruz wrote to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in December, expressing concern about the company’s funding and promotion of NewsGuard’s “media literacy tool” in schools. NewsGuard boasts that “media literacy resources” like its browser extension “guide learners of all ages through the overwhelming landscape of online news and information.” 

“Given growing concerns about NewsGuard’s ideological bias and its efforts to manipulate young minds, I ask for transparency regarding Microsoft’s involvement in and financing of this Orwellian censorship project,” Cruz wrote. “NewsGuard, which touts itself as an ‘apolitical’ ‘news rating’ organization, has been under increasing scrutiny for its bias against conservative viewpoints.”

Cruz called out NewsGuard for targeting The Federalist, The Daily Wire, and Newsmax — labeling them “‘unreliable’ based on a subjective, opaque, and inconsistent rating system, while flagging their accurate reporting as misinformation.” He said the “media literacy” program is “actively marketed to schools” and “has faced criticism for pushing a left-wing ideological agenda while censoring conservative perspectives and news outlets.”

Cruz presented Microsoft with a list of questions, asking Microsoft to list agreements between itself and NewsGuard, detail “funding” for NewsGuard “media literacy,” and indicate whether Microsoft is aware of NewsGuard’s bias.

In response, Cruz’s office said in the Feb. 6 release, Microsoft agreed to “disavow” its affiliation with NewsGuard. “Microsoft claimed their support of NewsGuard was limited to a one-time donation in 2018 and asked NewsGuard to remove the claim on its website that ‘NewsGuard’s Media Literacy Programs are made possible thanks to generous support from Microsoft.’” 

But it seems Microsoft has continued promoting the NewsGuard censorship machine. And its relationship with NewsGuard is deeper than it apparently indicated to Cruz’s office.

Collusion With Online Censors

Microsoft’s working relationship with NewsGuard goes back years. Microsoft announced it would be “Defending against disinformation in partnership with NewsGuard” in 2018. “Disinformation,” of course, is the term used by members of the censorship-industrial complex to refer to inconvenient or unapproved speech. Microsoft touted NewsGuard’s “‘Nutrition Label’ and corresponding Red/Green Reliability Rating” for media.

“Disinformation can distort democracy,” wrote Tom Burt, then-corporate VP of Customer Security and Trust. “Defending against disinformation efforts, therefore, is a critical challenge we are addressing in our Defending Democracy Program.”

Burt said that Microsoft did “not have any oversight or editorial control over the NewsGuard ratings,” but it “applaud[ed] the approach NewsGuard is taking” and was “proud to sponsor NewsGuard’s new browser extension.” NewsGuard is currently available as a free “Featured” add-on to Microsoft Edge. The company said its Defending Democracy Program would work with “leading organizations around the world to combat disinformation efforts.”

Microsoft launched its “Defending Democracy Program” earlier in 2018 to focus on four main goals, one of which was to “[d]efend against disinformation campaigns.” It would partner with “leading academic institutions and think tanks” to target speech deemed “state-sponsored computational propaganda and junk news.” The company planned on “piloting new cross-industry protections” in the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 presidential election.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said in September 2019 that the company was “so enthusiastic” about NewsGuard’s work. He made the remarks in an interview with Reuters. 

“Let people know with, you know, a green or a yellow or a red icon whether they are getting something when they see their search results from a reliable news source like Reuters, for example, or, you know, what is in effect the subsidiary of a foreign government,” Smith said at the time. “We need to reach a large number of people — let’s make that our goal. And let’s acknowledge right now, ‘Hey, we’re just getting started.’”

NewsGuard promotes its free extension for speech arbitration on Microsoft Edge. “NewsGuard requires a monthly subscription for access on most internet browsers — but it’s free for all users of the Edge browser.” It displays “[w]arnings on from [sic] hoaxes, conspiracy theories, advertising posing as news, and other unreliable sites.” According to the group’s website, “[t]he extension is available for free on Microsoft’s Edge browser through a license agreement with Microsoft.”

NewsGuard’s advisory board — which it previously claimed “play[s] no role in the determinations of ratings or the Nutrition Label write ups of websites unless otherwise noted and have no role in the governance or management of the organization” — includes officials from the administrations of former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. This includes former CIA Director Michael Hayden, who signed a letter attempting to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop story.

Notably, the board also includes Richard Stengel, Obama’s former State Department undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs from 2014 to 2016. Stengel oversaw the Global Engagement Center — the same government agency that supported the online censorship groups Global Disinformation Index and NewsGuard. 

Logan Washburn is a staff writer covering election integrity. He is a spring 2025 fellow of The College Fix. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.