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Megyn Kelly again raised the alarm about foreign governments sneaking propaganda into our public conversation, arguing that Americans deserve to know when hostile states are trying to shape our politics and culture. Her show pushed back against the comfortable lie that all speech on social platforms is harmless; she made the case that state-directed narratives deserve scrutiny, not silence. This isn’t mere punditry — it’s a warning that a free society must reckon with organized information campaigns.
The reality is stark: social media has been repurposed from a tool of connection into a battleground where influence is bought, manipulated, and weaponized by regimes hostile to Western values. Analysts and military thinkers have documented how networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are exploited to sow discord, amplify division, and undermine faith in democratic institutions. What used to be covert propaganda now spreads with the speed of an algorithm and the veneer of authenticity.
We have clear examples: Russia’s well-documented campaigns to amplify anger and confusion in foreign electorates, Iran’s sophisticated online propaganda during regional conflicts, and China’s use of platforms and apps to push narratives favorable to the CCP. These are not theoretical threats — they are coordinated efforts that exploit our open platforms and, at times, our cleavages. Pretending these efforts are innocent public debate is willful blindness that plays into the hands of our adversaries.
Meanwhile, the tech companies respond inconsistently, labeling some state-controlled outlets while allowing other influence operations to flourish, and applying rules selectively based on pressure and convenience. Researchers who track information operations show platforms often fail to consistently mark or remove state-backed content, which creates a chaotic environment where bad actors can hide in plain sight. The current mix of partisan moderation and corporate opacity has made the problem worse, not better.
The correct conservative response is not reflexive censorship, but sovereignty and accountability: require transparency about foreign-funded content, criminalize covert foreign influence in domestic political messaging, and shut down apps and accounts that function as foreign government proxies. Congress and oversight bodies have already sounded alarms about weaponized information and the national-security risks posed by foreign-controlled platforms; it’s past time to act rather than lecture American citizens about “misinformation.” If platforms won’t protect the public interest, lawmakers must.
We should also stop letting billionaire tech executives decide national policy through opaque moderation teams and woke content rules. Free speech matters, but that freedom was never meant to be a Trojan horse for foreign regimes to erode our institutions and manipulate elections. Conservatives should demand robust, principled responses that defend the marketplace of ideas while blocking foreign malign interference.
Patriotism means protecting the integrity of our civic debate and the security of our republic. We can champion free expression and still insist that foreign governments not turn our platforms into their battlegrounds; that balance is the conservative commonsense solution. The choice is simple: defend our country’s information sovereignty or watch our public square be slowly colonized by hostile actors who have no loyalty to the American people.
