Florida Gov. DeSantis signs law barring state contracts with so-called “media reliability and bias monitors”

07/10/2025 / By Laura Harris

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a provision blocking state agencies from contracting with organizations that rate media outlets for bias, misinformation or reliability. The rule targets firms like NewsGuard, Ad Fontes Media and GDI.
The ban, embedded in Florida’s 2026 budget bill, expires in July 2026 unless extended. It excludes neutral aggregators, focusing only on groups that actively assess content for truthfulness or ideological slant.
Critics argue these monitors disproportionately harm conservative media by steering advertisers and platforms away from right-leaning outlets, calling it “censorship by surrogate.” NewsGuard previously received a $750K Department of Defense grant for misinformation tracking.
Analysts like Newsmax‘s Tom Basile and Jonathan Turley praise the move as dismantling a “censorship industrial complex,” accusing bias monitors of economically strangling disfavored voices under the guise of credibility ratings.
Supporters, including the Independent Media Council, hail it as a win for free speech, while opponents warn it undermines efforts to combat misinformation. The debate highlights tensions between media oversight and ideological influence.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a measure that would block state agencies from contracting with organizations that evaluate media outlets for bias or misinformation.

The provision, quietly inserted into the state’s 2026 budget bill earlier this July, prohibits any taxpayer-funded contracts with advertising firms or other vendors that act as or use the services of so-called “media reliability and bias monitors.” Organizations whose primary function is to assess the factual accuracy, political bias or misinformation risk of media content are specifically targeted by the new rule.

Among the entities potentially affected by the ban are NewsGuard, Ad Fontes Media and the Global Disinformation Index (GDI). These groups work with advertisers, platforms and governments to flag unreliable or misleading content. NewsGuard, for example, has previously received a $750,000 grant from the Department of Defense to develop “Misinformation Fingerprints,” a technology it markets to tech firms and AI developers to detect and trace allegedly false information online. (Related: How NewsGuard became the establishment guard against independent media.)

Importantly, the new rule does not apply to news aggregators or organizations that compile viewership and audience metrics, only to those that actively rate content for truthfulness or ideological leanings.

The ban is temporary, set to expire in July 2026, unless the Florida Legislature votes to extend or make it permanent.

Analysts applaud DeSantis, hail “victory for free speech”

Newsmax analyst Tom Basile called the budget measure a “huge deal” in dismantling the “censorship industrial complex.”

Speaking on “Newsline” with host Bianca de la Garza, Basile applauded DeSantis for signing the provision. He argued that these groups rate media outlets on perceived reliability and credibility – a process that has been used to financially starve right-leaning media.

“These news rating agencies were effectively choking the finances and revenue for a whole host of conservative media,” Basile said. “They can’t regulate speech, so they created this scheme to do it by other means,” he added, referencing the concerning alliance between government entities and ideologically driven organizations.

Christine Czernejewski, spokesperson for the Independent Media Council, a coalition that includes Newsmax and other alternative media outlets, also echoed a similar statement.

“This is a pivotal win for free speech and for the many Floridians who rely on independent voices to keep them informed,” said Czernejewski. “The state has sent a clear message: Florida will not bankroll censorship disguised as oversight.”

Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University, also shared Basile’s concerns and has been a vocal critic of NewsGuard. Turley argued that the rating system, which assesses media outlets based on subjective criteria like “credibility” and “transparency,” poses a significant threat to free speech by enabling what he describes as “censorship by surrogate.” By assigning low ratings to conservative and libertarian outlets, NewsGuard indirectly targets their revenue streams, potentially marginalizing or bankrupting them without direct government involvement.

Turley contends that NewsGuard is part of a larger “censorship industrial complex,” where biased evaluations influence advertisers, educators and funders to avoid disfavored media sources, effectively suppressing speech through economic pressure rather than overt bans.

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