America First Legal (AFL), a law firm notable for its commitment to American constitutional principles and free speech rights, has magnified its legal fight against alleged collaborated censorship by big government and tech giants. It recently incorporated the recognized Aspen Institute into its lawsuit. Previously, the lawsuit was directed exclusively towards the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP) and Virality Project (VP), two entities implicated in the systematic suppression of digital free speech during electoral seasons.
It’s alleged that the Aspen Institute, EIP, and VP have worked in concert with various tech powerhouses and governmental bodies, launching a concerted attack on free online expression during both the 2020 and 2022 electoral periods. The Aspen Institute, famous for its philanthropic endeavors, has been controversially funded by billionaire heavyweights George Soros, and Microsoft founder, Bill Gates.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reportedly donated over $101 million to the Aspen Institute between 2003 and 2020. Simultaneously, George Soros’s Open Society Network funded the Institute with upwards of $3 million during the same period.
In September 2020, Aspen Institute’s Vivian Schiller hosted an event that AFL claims was designed to manipulate social media engagement in the event of revelations relating to Hunter Biden. The Twitter Files provided additional analysis, stating that this exercise was intentional and designed to create a controlled narrative about the Biden family scandal on social media.
Further evidentiary support for the case came via alleged emails between the Aspen Institute and key players in the EIP and VP.
