Journalism History

The early US communication field took root during the 1930s and ‘40s upon a rapidly shifting ideological terrain. These years saw several critical threads of communication research rise and fall, while other less critical approaches ascended to become the dominant paradigm of communication research, emphasizing social science methods that consistently found only limited media effects.

Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, including legal filings and decisions, executive orders, congressional hearings and testimony, news releases, agency decisions, and government reports, this article documents the ongoing governmental assault on disinformation research. This article assesses these activities through the historical lens of the origins of communications and media research.

Over 20 years ago, the US Supreme Court unanimously decided Reno v. American CivilLiberties Union (ACLU), which found the communications decency provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to be unconstitutional. Applying a strict scrutiny judicial review standard under the First Amendment, the Supreme Court concluded that unlike broadcasting (where the FCC’s “indecency” content regulation consistently has been upheld due to the unique characteristics of that medium), no government regulation would be constitutionally permissible—even for online child protection.