EXPOSED: @AnthropicAI says it is working to combat “extremist content.”
Anthropic appears to have relied on a network of SPLC-linked, Biden DHS-funded groups that target so-called “right-wing extremism” to influence its AI.
/2 Anthropic, the architect of Claude AI, has publicly committed to “mitigat[ing] extremist content risks.”
Our research shows that Anthroic’s approach appears to rely heavily on organizations run, funded, or influenced by key players tied to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
/3 One of Anthropic’s partners is the Global Project Against Hate & Extremism, or GPAHE.
GPAHE was co-founded by two longtime “veterans of the SPLC”:
➡️Heidi Beirich, former SPLC Intelligence Project Director
➡️Wendy Via, former SPLC Chief Communications & Development Officer
/4 What does GPAHE consider “extremist”?
Memes. Project 2025. National identity. Conservative advocacy.
Ordinary speech from everyday Americans has become the target.
/5 Another Anthropic partner is American University’s Polarization and Extremism Research Lab, or PERIL.
PERIL has said it may “never have been launched without [SPLC’s] support.”
SPLC was PERIL’s “very first partner” and provided its initial grant.
/6 Under Biden, DHS also funded PERIL.
Biden’s DHS gave PERIL more than $1.5 million in taxpayer dollars to suppress so-called “extremist” content.
/7 SPLC has continued funding PERIL.
In FY 2026, SPLC granted PERIL $350,000.
/8 PERIL’s director also sits on SPLC’s “Tracking Hate and Extremism Advisory Committee.”
/9 PERIL and SPLC are routine partners.
They have worked together repeatedly to target what they describe as “far-right extremists.”
Now, PERIL is part of the same ecosystem, helping shape how powerful AI companies police “extremist” content.
/10 Another Anthropic partner is the Middlebury Center on Terrorism, Extremism & Counterterrorism, or CTEC.
CTEC’s director has relied on SPLC “hate group” designations to attack the tax-exempt status of so-called “radical right” groups.
SPLC is also a regular source for CTEC products.
/11 CTEC also received a $630,000 grant from Biden’s DHS.
The grant was designated to counter students’ supposed vulnerability to extremist recruitment, including by having them chat with fake personas about anime shows.
Yes. Really.
/12 CTEC’s grant came from Biden’s DHS.
Under Secretary Mayorkas, DHS distributed $20 million in Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention grants to combat “extremism.”
These grants helped bankroll the same censorship-adjacent network now influencing AI moderation.
/13 Anthropic has also joined the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, or GIFCT, as part of its AI working group.
GIFCT has referenced SPLC as a partner in monitoring and responding to “extremist” groups online.
/14 This is the SPLC playbook laundered through AI.
The same organization that smears parents, Christians, and conservatives with bogus “hate group” labels is now influencing the rules for what one of America’s most powerful AI models can say.
/15 The Biden censorship machine has evolved.
Now, taxpayer-funded “extremism” researchers, SPLC-linked activists, and powerful AI companies are building the next generation of speech control.
And AFL is fighting to expose it.
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