The social panic over “disinformation” reached a new low last week. An exposé in the Washington Examiner revealed that Microsoft had blocked advertisers from sponsoring hundreds of conservative websites, based on secret blacklists created by a company calling itself the Global Disinformation Index. Without any data—and indeed without any attempt at engagement—GDI smeared hundreds of conservative sites and writers and attempted to put them out of business.

Included in those blacklists were most of Salem Media’s sites—Townhall was rated “reprehensible/offensive,” while others—such as Hot Air—got tagged as “false/misleading” without any evidence. Most hilariously, GDI’s public report hailed Buzzfeed as one of the most reliable sources even after its publication of outright disinformation in the Steele dossier, while rating the libertarian Reason Magazine’s site as one of the highest risks for disinformation.

Microsoft has retreated rapidly from GDI after this exposé, but not before the McCarthyist tactic got exposed for what it is—an attempt to deplatform conservatives and punish dissent.