Obama repealed this in 2012, in order to get the media to lie to the American people. He is the reason why the media is lying to us.

The claim centers on the idea that President Barack Obama repealed the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 in 2012, thereby allowing government propaganda to be legally targeted at American citizens and causing the media to lie. In reality, the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act was included as part of the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2013, signed by Obama on January 2, 2013. This amendment allowed certain government-produced information and propaganda, previously restricted from domestic dissemination, to be accessible within the United States. However, it did not mandate or legalize lying by the media or require media outlets to disseminate propaganda.

Multiple fact-checking organizations (FactCheck.org, PolitiFact, Lead Stories, AFP Fact Check) have clarified that this law change pertained only to government communications and did not affect private media's editorial practices or legal obligations. The First Amendment already protects private media entities' rights to publish freely, including misinformation or biased content, but no law signed by Obama authorized or compelled media outlets to lie.

Furthermore, the Smith-Mundt Act originally restricted government propaganda aimed at domestic audiences but did not regulate private media honesty. The amendment simply modernized these restrictions in light of digital information flows but did not repeal honest reporting mandates or create a government-controlled media propaganda machine targeting Americans.

Therefore, the assertion that Obama is responsible for media lying through this legislative action is misleading and unsupported by evidence.