Biden Awards Anti-Extremism Grants to British Think Tank Under Congressional Scrutiny for Targeting Conservatives

The Biden administration is sending hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of anti-extremism grants to a British think tank that is under congressional scrutiny for pressuring social media companies to censor conservatives.

The London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue that has called on social media companies to censor conservative commentators such as Ben Shapiro for "misgendering" transgender people will now help the State Department and Defense Department track extremism and disinformation. 

The State Department gave a $249,993 grant to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in April, while the Pentagon awarded $80,000 to it last month, according to a federal spending database. The grants, which have not been previously reported, were given to the institute to convene an anti-extremism workshop for the U.S. embassy in Germany, and to study extremism in the military as part of an Air Force research project. 

It’s the latest example of the Biden administration aligning with groups that have pressured social media companies to regulate views it deems to be extremist or disinformation. Republicans, who assert that anti-disinformation groups disproportionately target conservatives, last month called on the State Department to turn over all documents related to funding for several organizations, including the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.