The West Virginia Senate has passed legislation aimed at protecting free speech and ensuring taxpayer dollars are not used to enforce ideological discrimination in media and advertising through so-called media monitors.

In a 30-2 vote on Friday, lawmakers approved Senate Bill 531, the First Amendment Preservation Act, which would prohibit state agencies from contracting with advertising firms or media monitoring services that use bias ratings or "reliability" scores to guide ad placements, according to The Review.

Supporters say the bill is designed to prevent viewpoint discrimination and ensure public funds are not used to blacklist conservative news outlets.

Left-wing media firms like NewsGuard, GDI, and others have used their ratings based on what they say is accuracy and "misinformation" to block conservative media from receiving ad revenues.

"This bill reaffirms West Virginians' First Amendment rights by ensuring that state advertising dollars do not fund viewpoint discrimination," Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Tom Willis, R-Berkeley, said.

The legislation requires companies bidding for state advertising contracts to certify that they do not use politically driven media monitors to determine where ads are placed. It still allows agencies to consider audience size, demographics, and general news aggregation data.

State Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, the bill's lead sponsor, pointed directly to concerns about NewsGuard and similar firms that assign "trust scores" to media outlets.

"There's an overt and plain bias that is there, and this is simply saying that West Virginia going forward will not be using a biased organization like NewsGuard in terms of routing where our advertising money goes," Azinger said.

NewsGuard was founded in 2018 after left-wing advocacy groups claimed President Donald Trump won the 2016 election using "misinformation" messaging to voters.

The co-founder of NewsGuard is Steven Brill, a major Democrat donor and activist.

Brill has helped fund the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and became an informal spokesperson for both the Bill Clinton and Obama administrations.

In several studies, the Media Research Council found that NewsGuard systematically gives conservative media lower ratings than liberal outlets.

The Independent Media Council, a group that represents leading conservatives and independent media, praised the Senate's action, calling it a major step toward protecting free expression.

"This is an important step towards strengthening the First Amendment and ensuring good stewardship of taxpayer dollars," IMC spokeswoman Christine Czernejewski said in a press release.

"West Virginia lawmakers are standing up for a free and independent press while also being good stewards of taxpayer funds."

The IMC noted that similar measures are gaining traction nationwide.

Florida last year enacted a measure prohibiting state agencies from contracting with firms that use media bias or reliability monitors, a move Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law.

At the federal level, Congress included language in the National Defense Authorization Act barring the Pentagon from using advertising agencies that deploy "media monitors" to rate outlets for misinformation or bias in military recruitment ads.

Section 1541 of the NDAA requires Pentagon contractors to certify they do not rank news organizations for factual accuracy or ideological bias, effectively cutting off taxpayer funding for firms that critics say function as censorship tools.

IMC leaders and supporters argue these actions are part of a broader pushback against what they describe as government-backed censorship.

"We urge the West Virginia House of Delegates to swiftly take up SB 531 and help the Mountain State set a national example," Czernejewski added.

Two Democrat senators voted against the measure, raising constitutional concerns, but the bipartisan support reflects growing debate over the role of media rating firms in shaping advertising markets and public policy.

If signed into law, West Virginia would join Florida and Congress in drawing a firm line against taxpayer-funded viewpoint discrimination in media.