Mike Benz

Benz served as deputy assistant secretary at the US State Department for international communications and information policy. He previously worked at HUD under Ben Carson and has a legal background.⁠[1]

He founded Foundation for Freedom Online and serves as executive director. The organization publishes research, policy analysis and legal-support information concerning online speech, linking this work to his prior international communications policy role.⁠[2]

An NBCNBCNBC (National Broadcasting Company) is an American national commercial broadcast television network. It was founded by RCA in 1926, began as a radio network and later developed television. With ABC and CBS it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks; it passed to General Electric with RCA in 1986, merged with Universal to form NBCUniversal in 2004, has been controlled by Comcast since 2011, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry News investigation linked Benz to Frame Game, an anonymous account that circulated racist and antisemitic material. The updated report records his response: he acknowledged a connection but said the account was an effort to reduce antisemitism.⁠[3]

In December 2025, The Atlantic cited US officials describing Benz as a special government employee examining USAID archives.⁠[4]

Founder and executive director of Foundation for Freedom Online. Official website: https://foundationforfreedomonline.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

X: https://x.com/MikeBenzCyber (opens in a new window).⁠[5]