Microsoft's use of a left-wing censorship tool created by NewsGuard has gotten the serious attention of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
On Monday, Cruz fired off a strongly worded letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella demanding to know answers about the Big Tech giant's partnership with one of the left's most notorious media monitors.
Cruz's letter addresses Microsoft's promotion and apparent funding of the online "Media Literacy" tool, which was created by NewsGuard to guide "learners of all ages through the overwhelming landscape of online news and information."
Conservatives say that NewsGuard's tool and its efforts are simply suppressing viewpoints and news reports using highly subjective ratings.
"Given growing concerns about NewsGuard's ideological bias and its efforts to manipulate young minds, I ask for transparency regarding Microsoft's involvement in and financing of this Orwellian censorship project," Cruz wrote to Nadella.
Cruz, the ranking member of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee, took issue with NewsGuard's blatant bias.
The senator pointed out that the media monitor claims such outlets as The Federalist, The Daily Wire, and Newsmax as "unreliable" while left-wing outlets like Jacobin, The Atlantic, and The New Republic are deemed reliable.
"Your company's financial support for NewsGuard is especially troubling given Microsoft's purported commitment to protecting free expression online."
Newsmax reached out to Microsoft for comment about Cruz's letter and did not receive a response.
A NewsGuard spokesperson issued a "no comment" when asked about the senator's missive.
Cruz also noted that NewsGuard "has found a willing partner in the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)" to spread the "Media Literacy" tool browser extension which the company says is used by educators and more than 800 public libraries worldwide.
"The organization's 'Media Literacy' program, which is actively marketed to schools, has faced criticism for pushing a left-wing ideological agenda while censoring conservative perspectives and news outlets," Cruz wrote.
"NewsGuard's marketing of its services to schools appears to be less about education and more about ideological conformity. Instead of encouraging critical thinking, NewsGuard's extreme bias limits young minds from questioning authority and forming independent opinions. This distorts media literacy by limiting the range of ideas to which students are exposed."
Cruz asked Nadella to supply specific information concerning the Microsoft-NewsGuard relationship and asked that a list of questions be answered by Jan. 10, when Republicans will be in control of the Senate.
Cruz asked Nadella to provide information about the funding and use of NewsGuard's products, and respond to concerns about his corporation's decision to engage with their obvious political bias.
Cruz is not alone in raising concerns about NewsGuard's growing influence with Big Tech, media outlets, and advertising agencies.
Last month, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, the commission's senior Republican and soon-to-be chair, wrote to the CEOs of Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet demanding that they fess up about their censorship activities targeting conservatives.
Carr specifically identified NewsGuard, which exists to "censor free speech and conservative news outlets."
He asked Big Tech companies to detail how advertising agencies they work with left-wing media monitors like NewsGuard.
Conservatives and others have complained that advertising agencies are taking political sides by using NewsGuard to determine what outlets get ad revenues.
NewsGuard was founded in 2018 by Steven Brill, a long-time Democratic activist, advocate, and donor who has backed many liberal candidates including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama.
In three comprehensive studies the Media Research Center found that NewsGuard consistently ranks conservative media outlets with lower ratings than liberal ones.
With low ratings from NewsGuard conservative media find themselves blocked on browsers like Microsoft's, see their search and social media traffic plummet and often get little ad revenue from advertising agencies.
The NewsGuard products effectively handicap conservative media by de-ranking and defunding them.
Brill's group is a for-profit organization that keeps secret who pays them for their activities.
But some government disclosures indicate NewsGuard received millions in federal grants from the Biden administration.
NewsGuard has come under fierce criticism for their censorship activities.
Independent journalist Matt Taibbi has castigated the group for taking government funds and says NewsGuard is nothing more than a "state sponsored bullying operation."
Elon Musk has called NewsGuard a "scam" with legal expert Jonathan Turley adding its work is both censorship and "blacklisting."
The use of left-wing media monitors like NewsGuard appears to be a high priority concern of the new Trump administration.
Earlier this month, FTC Commissioners Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak demanded a probe of efforts by online platforms to limit free speech and engage in censorship.
Ferguson, whom President-elect Donald Trump said he will appoint as FTC chair, specifically noted that NewsGuard has been used by major advertising agencies to block the flow of advertising and revenues to conservative media.