Urgent Call to Action: Wisconsin’s Congressional Delegation Must Support Rep. Thomas Massie’s Resolution to Reinstate the Ban on Domestic Government Propaganda

The Libertarian Party of Wisconsin urgently calls on all eight of Wisconsin’s U.S. House Representatives—Bryan Steil (WI-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Derrick Van Orden (WI-03), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05), Glenn Grothman (WI-06), Tom Tiffany (WI-07), and Tony Wied (WI-08)—to co-sponsor and vote for the vital H.R. 5704 introduced by Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Representative Scott Perry (R-PA). The Party also calls on the public to contact their lawmakers to insist that they fight for a free and transparent marketplace of information.

H.R. 5704 seeks to repeal the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2013 and restore the critical protections of the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which prohibited federal agencies from distributing government-produced media within the United States, safeguarding domestic opinion from taxpayer-funded propaganda.

The 2013 Modernization Act walked back these protections, allowing U.S. government materials created for foreign audiences, such as those from Voice of America or Radio Free Europe, to circulate domestically. While proponents argue this promotes transparency, critics, including civil liberties advocates, warn it enables government-driven narratives to shape public opinion at home, blurring the line between foreign outreach and domestic indoctrination.

Rep. Massie’s bill reinstates the 1948 firewall, ensuring that State Department and U.S. Agency for Global Media programs target only foreign audiences. It explicitly bans the use of taxpayer funds to influence or propagandize U.S. citizens. Materials released abroad can be accessed by Congress or researchers, but they cannot be distributed domestically for twenty years, and only then with clear labeling of their government origin.

“Wisconsin’s representatives have a duty to safeguard the integrity of our democratic republic, and to defend the right of every individual to form their own ideas and positions without the government putting its invisible thumb on the scale,” says Reese Wood, Chair of the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin. “By supporting Rep. Massie’s proposal, our lawmakers will protect public trust, ensure government transparency, and prevent the misuse of taxpayer funds for domestic propaganda. We need independent media informing independent thought, not state-sponsored narratives instilling state-sanctioned opinions.”

With government obfuscation and narrative-distortion pervasive among both major parties, the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin urges state representatives to act swiftly to co-sponsor and pass this bill, clarifying their commitment to a government that respects the clear boundary between public information and propaganda. The Party also urges the public to contact their representatives and demand their support for this essential piece of legislation. “Independent thought and free thinking are the foundation of a free society,” says Wood. “We all have a duty to act now to preserve it.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.