"Three days after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, President Donald Trump shared a supporter's video pleading with him to reinstate a Cold War-era law she said punished media organizations for spreading falsehoods. "I am hoping and praying that you will revisit what Barack Obama and Joe Biden got rid of back in 2013, which is the Smith-Mundt Act," the narrator said in a TikTok video that Trump reposted Sept. 13 on Truth Social."
"That bill folded in the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act, which was introduced in 2012. Claims that the Smith-Mundt Act held media "accountable for lying" mischaracterize that law, which did not apply to news content by private corporations. The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act amended the law to remove a ban on government-funded broadcasters disseminating their programming to American audiences upon request from media entities and others."
Three days after Charlie Kirk's assassination, President Donald Trump reposted a TikTok urging reinstatement of the Smith-Mundt Act, which the narrator said punished media organizations for spreading falsehoods. A supporter urged renaming the measure the "Charlie Kirk Act," and Sen. Mike Lee signaled plans to file legislation to restore Smith-Mundt. The Smith-Mundt Act was amended in 2013 through the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act folded into the National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment removed a ban on government-funded broadcasters disseminating programming to American audiences and did not apply to private news content.
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