Smith-Mundt Modernization Act

As one of its provisions, the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act forbade the domestic distribution of any materials prepared by programs intended for international audiences and broadcast in accordance with State Department guidelines. "Modernization" refers to the removal of propaganda safeguards and the enabling of government employees and agencies to provide "news" and "opinion" for the American people. The Smith-Mundt Act was first introduced in 1945 by Congressman Karl E. Mundt. On May 10, 2012, American Congressman Mac Thornberry introduced it. The Co-Sponsor for the act was Adam Smith. It was introduced in 2010 and became a bigger piece of legislation in 2012. In order to change specific sections of the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act, the act was included in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill as section 1078. It repealed the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948. The 1948 Smith-Mundt Act was repealed by the Obama administration. The Smith-Mundt Act requires the media to report truthfully, but Obama first enacts the 2012 Smith-Mundt Act, which permits the media to fabricate news and much of it to be slanted. According to U.S. Congressman Adam Smith, the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 would enable the U.S. government to use the State Department to communicate public diplomacy information in Arabic to counter in other countries where al-Qaeda was infiltrating the internet to spread anti-Americanism. 

The United States Information and Education Exchange Act of 1948 was amended by a bill sponsored by Representatives Mac Thornberry and Adam Smith to allow for the domestic distribution of information and materials about the United States intended primarily for international audiences, among other things. The bill lifts the ban on allowing Americans to access public diplomacy materials, removing a fictitious barrier to American global engagement while raising home understanding of international matters and encouraging supervision and accountability of the same. The bill underlines the true "anti-propaganda" protections in the legislation, which call for the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors to make the best use of private resources and avoid monopolies.

Greater audience participation and global connectivity will be made possible by the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act, which will increase transparency for publicly supported media. The law will make it possible for individuals all around America to see and hear the important news that the Agency's skilled journalists report, it considers contemporary content distribution channels including the internet, mobile delivery, and satellite television that are not constrained by geographic borders. Given the changing definition of "publicly available" for media organizations, the Act may now be in violation of the First Amendment right to access material that is made available to the public. The U.S. State Department is prevented from executing an efficient and education 21st century public diplomacy strategy, according to arguments that the efficiency of present public diplomacy initiatives a deteriorating and that the domestic dissemination ban is to blame. The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 enables the American public to be the target audience for information efforts funded by the U.S government.

Given the economic, political, and technological changes that have occurred in the 61 years since the Smith-Mundt Act was passed into law, many experts today contend that the Act is not only out of date but also has a negative impact on 21st century public diplomacy strategies. The growth of the internet has made it practically impossible for the American governments to shield its citizens from learning about American propaganda campaigns carried out abroad, especially radio and television shows that are readily available online. 

To stop the government from shaping and promoting public opinion through the media, the Smith Mundt Modernization Act was created. This made it possible to hear opposing views and voices. For example, there is only one collective "expert" voice about Covid-19 and its remedies in the mainstream media because of the current environment, which silences any voices that challenge the dominant narrative. The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act now permits the government to influence public opinion by using the media. This may affect different people in my generation. It allows the media to form a story and create biased news that can be fake. This leads to "terrorist" events where there is false misinformation. 

Every statement made by this propaganda machine is false and represents the worst form of existence. At my high school, I have heard of several fake shooting threats from classmates. Students get scared and they leave, even though nothing happens. Especially on social media, news can get sent around really quick. We see fake news and tend to believe it. This can influence me to believe it too since I get my information from social media. My family and friends tell me about what they heard from Twitter, Facebook, or someone online. They never step back and research just how accurate the information is. In our society, rich people have more privilege and power to do everyday things. People who are poor get silenced because of their status in society. Americans have this idea that the rich create more value for our society and make our businesses become successful that creates products. The rich have more dominance which lessens the value of the poor. On the web, we hear that America is "richer" than other places without acknowledging the poverty this country has. In political news, we see more male figures. There is little to no female political voices and figures in our country. It is mostly male dominated. On social media, we get to hear everyone's voices no matter what gender they are. We hear opposing views from people who may not have been heard with the Smith-Mundt Act. Females may not feel like they are valued and feel shushed at times, but news is being sent out to everyone around the world. We all have access to information and opinions from different news sources. Everyone has the ability to access news and take into account all of the non-restricted reports and journalists. All audiences are engaged with world news that provides audience connectivity in our society. Fake news can happen anywhere at any time which affects how our society functions and responds to information.