I recently disclosed that, after my Hill column ran, NED contacted me to say that it was stopping any further funding of the GDI. However, major questions still remain on the NED's funding of this highly flawed scoring system that targeted conservative and libertarian sites.

This is an effort to deter advertisers from supporting these sites while listing highly liberal sites like Huffington Post as some of the most reliable sources. It appears that a Microsoft company is supporting this effort. According to the Washington Examiner, Microsoft's Xandr  is running a blacklist based on the discredited GDI listing. However, it includes additional sites popular with conservatives, libertarians, and independents beyond the ten most dangerous sites flagged by GDI.

It now appears that NED is not the only federally funded group supporting GDI. The State Department also supports the Global Engagement Center, which gave GDI funds for this blacklisting effort. It also includes sites like the Drudge Report, the Washington Examiner, the Washington Times, and sites associates with individual figures like Sean Hannity and Mike Huckabee.

The Democratic members, writers, and pundits have increasingly embraced blacklisting of conservatives and even justices. There is also a chilling turn toward labeling critics as Russian sympathizers and "Putin lovers" after they called for investigations into government censorship efforts. In attacks that increasingly sound like Red Scare 2.0, Democrats are denouncing anyone who questions efforts to censor social media.