Center for Individual Freedom

The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) is an Alexandria, Virginia, based U.S. nonprofit conservative policy advocacy organization.

History

The Center for Individual Freedom was founded in 1998 by former tobacco industry executives who sought to counter government restrictions on smoking. W. Thomas Humber, former head of the National Smokers Alliance, transferred several million dollars from the alliance to assist in the establishment of the CFIC.

It has led efforts to defeat efforts to compel "dark money" groups like it from being forced to reveal their donors. It won a victory in September 2012 when a U.S. appeals court overturned a lower court decision that increased disclosure requirements. Despite this, Mother Jones reported in April 2012 that the Center for Individual Freedom had been given $2.75 million from Crossroads GPS, the conservative non-profit started by Karl Rove. Paul Ryan, an attorney with the Campaign Legal Center (a group in favor of campaign finance regulation), says CFIF's anti-disclosure cases are without merit but adds that challenging disclosure laws is a new attempt to deregulate campaign finance. The money spent in 2010 on the ads was not specified on CFIF's tax return as political spending, but as education or legislative activities.

CFIF was involved in several federal appellate proceedings in 2012-2013, including Center for Individual Freedom v. Madigan before the Seventh Circuit in 2012 and Center for Individual Freedom v. Tennant before the Fourth Circuit in 2013.

In the 2010 elections CFIF spent $2.5 million supporting Republican candidates, and in the 2012 elections it spent $1.9 million.

In April 2016, it was reported that CFIF spent $200,000 on advertisements opposing the Puerto Rico debt relief bill. The Center also launched a radio ad, criticizing Representative Sean Duffy for his inconsistent stance on the bill. The 2016 campaign ended up exceeding costs of $2 million overall.

The CFIF supported efforts to repeal net neutrality laws in 2017.

A story by Gizmodo found that CFIF was involved in the communications industry's campaign against net neutrality.

In 2024, CFIF launched a podcast called IP Protection Matters, which discusses intellectual property issues.

References

  1. 1 2 Cameron, Dell (February 21, 2019). "How an Investigation of Fake FCC Comments Snared a Prominent D.C. Media Firm". Gizmodo.
  2. 1 2 Tony Mecia & Haley Byrd (September 21, 2018). "Off the Hook: How Organizations Are Using Telemarketing to Reach Congress". Weekly Standard. Archived from the original on September 21, 2018.
  3. ↑ Geiger, Kim; Hamburger, Tom (October 24, 2010). "Group funding GOP campaigns had its origins backing tobacco". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ↑ Geiger, Kim; Hamburger, Tom (2010-10-24). "Group funding GOP campaigns had its origins backing tobacco". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-09-14.
  5. 1 2 Kroll, Andy (April 20, 2012). "It Takes Dark Money to Make Dark Money". Mother Jones.
  6. ↑ Barker, Kim (2012-08-19). "How Nonprofits Spend Millions on Elections and Call it Public Welfare". ProPublica. Retrieved 2026-09-14.
  7. ↑ Gold, Matea (2012-09-18). "Groups that run election ads may keep donors secret, court rules". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-09-14.
  8. ↑ "Court Cases of Interest April 2013" (PDF). Retrieved 2026-09-14.
  9. ↑ K., Wood, Abby; M., Spencer, Douglas (2016-01-13). "In the Shadows of Sunlight: The Effects of Transparency on State Political Campaigns". SSRN. Archived from the original on 2025-04-18.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ Stein, Sam (September 19, 2012). "Center for Individual Freedom, Conservative Group, Spends Big Against House Dems". Huffington Post.
  11. ↑ "Dark money group spends $200,000 on ads opposing Puerto Rico debt relief bill : Sunlight Foundation". sunlightfoundation.com. Retrieved 2024-10-04.
  12. ↑ Freedom, Center for Individual. "CFIF Launches Radio Ad Exposing Rep. Sean Duffy's Flip-Flop on "Super Chapter 9 Bankruptcy" for Puerto Rico". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2024-10-04.
  13. ↑ DeBonis, Mike (2016-04-14). "Puerto Rico debt bill in House limbo as pressure mounts from all sides". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-09-14.
  14. ↑ "Blockbuster Gizmodo investigation reveals probable masterminds of the massive anti-Net Neutrality identity theft/astroturf campaign". BoingBoing. February 22, 2019.

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