False claim Obama ‘repealed’ 1940s law blocking government propaganda
The claim: Obama ‘repealed’ law blocking government propaganda
An Oct. 22 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows an image of former President Barack Obama signing a document in the Oval Office.
“Did you know? In 2012, President Barack Hussein Obama repealed the Smith-Mundt act, which had been in place since 1948,” reads on-screen text in the post. “The law prevented the government from putting its propaganda on TV and Radio.”
The caption of the post asserts, “This why you got fake news, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CNBC, NBC, CBS, propaganda machines for the Democratic party.”
The image in the post circulated widely on Facebook and Instagram. A version of the claim shared to X, formerly Twitter, by billionaire Elon Musk was reposted more than 9,000 times in a day.
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Our rating: False
The claim is wrong on multiple fronts. The law referenced in the post was not repealed, it was amended. And the legislation refers only to broadcasts the U.S. government produces for foreign audiences. The law doesn’t impact traditional media outlets, and laws remain in effect banning the government from producing programming designed to influence the public opinion of Americans.
1940s law was amended in 2013, not repealed by Obama
The image in the post, which has circulated since at least March and found a wider audience in October when Musk reposted it, refers to a change to a 1940s-era law that happened more than a decade ago. The U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, also known as the Smith-Mundt Act, authorized the State Department to air broadcasts to foreign audiences and blocked Americans from receiving that content.
But the claim in the post is false in multiple ways, two experts told USA TODAY.
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“Every time it comes up, the people who are making those assertions are incorrect about the fundamentals of the Smith-Mundt Act,” said Emily Metzgar, the director of Kent State University’s School of Media and Journalism and the author of a 2018 paper about the law.
First, the measure was not repealed, either by Obama or anyone else. It remains a law that no president has the authority to unilaterally repeal. A 2012 bill to amend some of its passages was included in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, which Obama signed that January.
The post also wrongly claims the original law prevented the government from “putting its propaganda on TV and radio,” as the post claims. The U.S. government produces and distributes programming in both of those formats, using six entities, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, to reach foreign audiences. The function of the old law was to restrict Americans’ access to that programming.
“Content produced by Voice of America, for example, was exempt from FOIA requests,” Metzgar said.
The post’s caption claims the law change is “why you got fake news” and references MSNBC, CNN, ABC and other legitimate media organizations. But those outlets have nothing to do with the amendment, the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012, an expert told USA TODAY.
“It doesn’t even come close to CNN,” said Damilola Adebayo, a researcher at Oklahoma State University who co-authored a 2023 paper about the law.
The only organization governed by the law and amendment is the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the arm of the State Department that operates Voice of America and other foreign-oriented broadcast services. Under the amendment, it is required to make its programming available to Americans “upon request” – in other words, to those who ask for it.
“Content that might not already be available in the U.S. could be requested and could be provided, (and) a requester would not be turned down,” Metzgar said. “Someone could request something – say, through FOIA – and they would actually be allowed to get the content.”
The post makes a broader point in suggesting the action taken by Obama permits the U.S. government to spread propaganda to Americans. But that, too, is false, according to both experts and the law itself. It remains illegal for government-funded media to use the agency’s funds to create and market programs to influence public opinion in the U.S.
“The fact remains that these broadcasters are not actively disseminating their content in the United States,” Metzgar said. “We’re not being overwhelmed by content from Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, Voice of America, anything like that.”
The post is accurate in noting the American Civil Liberties Union called the amendment a “positive step” for the First Amendment, with legislative counsel Gabe Rottman writing in a 2012 commentary that the change improves the federal government’s transparency and accountability.
USA TODAY reached out to Musk through the X platform’s press office and to several Facebook users who also circulated the image but did not immediately receive responses. The Instagram user who shared the image in March did not provide evidence to support the claim in a response to USA TODAY.
The Associated Press debunked a version of the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
Emily Metzgar, Oct. 23, Phone interview with USA TODAY
Damilola Adebayo, Oct. 23, Phone interview with USA TODAY
GovTrackUS, Jan. 27, 1948, United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948
Justia, accessed Oct. 23, Legislative Process
Congress, May 10, 2012, H.R. 5736 – Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012
Congress, Jan. 2, 2013, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013
Congress, Jan. 2, 2013, H.R.4310 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013
U.S. Agency for Global Media, accessed Oct. 23, Mission
U.S. Agency for Global Media, accessed Oct. 23, Legislation
The Hill, Oct. 20, 2019, Congress should strengthen laws outlawing domestic government propaganda
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim about Obama repealing Smith-Mundt Act | Fact check
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