WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Charlie Kirk Act today to restore protections against government-funded propaganda targeted at American audiences. Named as a tribute to the late conservative leader Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated last week during a debate appearance in Utah, this legislation restores protections from the Smith-Mundt Act to block the federal government from propagandizing its own citizens shaping media narratives. The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS).

“From the end of World War II until the Obama administration, it was illegal for the US government to use the State Department’s foreign broadcasting apparatus to target American citizens with propaganda,” said Senator Mike Lee. “In 2013, these protections were taken away. My legislation restores this safeguard under the name of an American martyr for freedom of speech and freedom of thought: Charlie Kirk. As Charlie’s vital work so ably demonstrated, Americans can figure out the truth for themselves without government telling them what to believe.”

“The tragedy we witnessed last week was a sobering reminder of the perils of a population subjected to dangerous propaganda,” said Senator Roger Marshall. “The federal government should never be able to directly target U.S. citizens with propaganda, and this bill takes meaningful steps to remove any semblance of government influence over American media.”

Background

New survey data revealed in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s death that 24% of very liberal Americans find political violence justifiable – a startling revelation on the effects of extremist rhetoric from the ideological left. Vice President JD Vance urged Americans to address “this incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism that has grown up over the last few years,” which he believes “is part of the reason why Charlie was killed by an assassin's bullet." Kirk’s murder was the latest in a growing list of political attacks apparently motivated by extreme leftist rhetoric.

The Smith-Mundt Act was enacted during the Cold War and included specific protections against the federal government gaining illegitimate, monopolized influence over the minds of the American people by banning the targeted dissemination of government funded propaganda material to American audiences. Under the Obama administration in 2013, these protections were weakened, opening the door for government control and exploitation of information channels.

Now, American audiences are not only vulnerable to, but likely paying for their own propagandization. Given that government funded media outlets like NPR and PBS have proven so incredibly politically biased that Congress revoked their federal funding when Senator Lee led the charge, this is a deeply troubling overstep of tyranny over the American public.

In response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination, President Trump expressed support for reenacting Smith-Mundt, and a petition for its passage in memoriam of Kirk has gathered over one hundred thousand signatures. The Charlie Kirk Act will restore media accountability and safeguard freedom of speech and the press from biased government control with Smith-Mundt Act protections against propaganda funded by American tax dollars.

Read exclusive coverage by Fox News here.

Read bill text of the Charlie Kirk Act here.

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