Did you know that in 1948, Congress passed a law called the Smith–Mundt Act?
Its purpose was pretty straightforward: allow the U.S. government to promote “American ideals” abroad (ahem… propaganda)—while forbidding it from using the same manipulation on its own citizens.
For decades, that firewall held. At least officially.
The State Department and CIA could produce media for foreign audiences, but not for you and me. Americans were supposed to get their information from a free press—not from the government’s PR machine.
Then, in 2013, Congress quietly tore that protection down. Officially.
The Smith–Mundt Modernization Act—tucked into the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act—made it legal for the U.S. government to direct its “information operations” at the American public. The change was sold as “transparency”: if the government was making taxpayer-funded media for foreign audiences, why not make it available at home too?
But that’s not what happened.
(Shocker)
Once the restriction was lifted, the federal government built an entire infrastructure for managing domestic narratives. The Global Engagement Center inside the State Department began funding “counter-disinformation” campaigns at home.
And who could forget this lady?
Back in 2022, Biden’s DHS rolled out the wildly dystopian “Disinformation Governance Board” (I preferred “Ministry of Truth”—ha) that, after major public backlash, was supposedly scrapped. Sorry to sound like “that guy” again, but I have absolutely no faith that this actually happened. I suspect it just got pushed underground and renamed, and has been running quietly ever since.
And of course, there are the Federal agencies that have been coordinating with social-media companies on which stories to suppress and which to amplify.
In other words, the very thing Smith–Mundt was designed to prevent—government messaging disguised as news—became official business as usual.
If you’ve read our Tuttle Twins Guide to True Conspiracies, then you’ll know that what the government officially admits to, and what it is actually doing are two entirely different things.
Still, I’m happy to hear that Rep. Thomas Massie just introduced a bill to repeal the 2013 law and make domestic propaganda illegal again.
But geez! I can’t believe it ever got this bad.
Actually, yes. I can. Sigh.
This all just serves as such an important reminder of how fragile freedom becomes when people forget their own history.
Each “temporary measure,” each small legal tweak to control what we see and hear, adds up until at some point, truth has to compete with a taxpayer-funded illusion, and nobody even knows it’s happening.
It’s one of the reasons we built such a robust America’s History offering.
We wanted to help families understand how liberty has been won, lost, and defended through the centuries. Having that foundational understanding is such a vital tool for helping make sure kids can quickly spot propaganda for what it is.
Right now, our Columbus Day Sale is making it easier than ever to stock up on our best America’s History content. You can save up to $330 on history books, bundles, videos, and curriculum.
We’ll never be able to control what’s taught in every classroom, but we can make sure the truth is taught in our own homes. We can make sure that our kids grow up knowing how to think for themselves.
That’s why we do the work we do, and I suspect it’s what motivates you as well.
👉 Shop the Columbus Day Sale and teach your family real history
— Connor
