p. 6 - "By mid-2021, YouTube had removed more than one million videos for alleged COVID-19 misinformation, while Facebook had taken down more than 18 million pieces of similar content."
p. 24-25 - "The GDI [Global Disinformation Index] received at least four Federally funded awards; one directly from the U.S. government through the U.S.-Paris Tech Challenge, and three from the NED (which was created by Congress and is largely funded by Congressional appropriations from State), totaling nearly $1 million. The GDI is indirectly supported by the Federal government through continued funding Code for Africa/CivicSignal.
As summarized in its 2020 application for NED funding, the GDI aims 'to disrupt, defund and down-rank disinformation sites, and [the GDI] work[s] collectively with governments, business and civil society to achieve it.' ...
It is vital not only for the sake of innovation to be able to challenge the current consensus, but also for the ability to resolve complex issues through public discourse. This problem is demonstrated by the GDI’s position on media outlets giving credence to the COVID-19 lab-leak theory: '[c]utting off ads to these fringe sites and their outer networks is the first action needed.' This theory on COVID-19 origins is now widely accepted as credible, including as the 'most likely' cause by multiple Federal agencies, yet the GDI had labeled it as disinformation and attacked the credibility and earning capacity of news and media businesses discussing it."
p. 58 - "During the pandemic, the WHO enlisted NewsGuard for its input, including regular reports, on which COVID-19 narratives it determined to be misinformation were prevalent online. This included information about the virus itself, the vaccines, and treatments. The WHO then contacted social media companies and search engines asking them to remove this content."