Michael Benz has rapidly emerged as a prominent voice in Republican circles, fiercely criticizing government overreach and social media censorship. His opinions, amplified by figures like Elon Musk and cited in congressional hearings, have positioned him as a leading expert in the contentious debate over online freedom and content moderation. However, an investigation by NBC News has uncovered a past that casts a long shadow over Benz’s current persona: evidence suggests that before his government service and punditry, Mike Benz allegedly operated under the pseudonym “Frame Game,” creating alt-right content and engaging with white nationalists online.
Recordings, livestreams, and blog posts reviewed by NBC News paint a picture of “Frame Game” as an active participant in the alt-right movement during its surge following Donald Trump’s election. Concealing his face in videos and online appearances, Frame Game propagated far-right narratives, most notably the “Great Replacement Theory,” a racist conspiracy alleging the intentional eradication of the white race in America for political and economic gain. His content also revealed him identifying as a white identitarian, denouncing diversity, and producing montage videos urging white viewers to unite racially.
In discussions with known white nationalists, Frame Game reportedly blamed Jewish people for “controlling the media” and orchestrating the decline of the white race. In one particularly disturbing statement, Frame Game asserted that “If you were to remove the Jewish influence on the West, white people would not face the threat of white genocide that they currently do.” Frame Game ceased posting content around 2018. However, a detailed analysis of his online footprint has unearthed numerous details aligning with Michael Benz’s known biographical information and physical appearance. It is important to note that in his public life as Mike Benz, he has not publicly expressed the same racist views attributed to Frame Game.
Despite attempts to maintain anonymity, Frame Game inadvertently revealed clues to his real identity during livestreams. On one occasion, while navigating browser tabs, he accessed a website that automatically displayed a Facebook profile picture in the comments section. This image strongly resembled Benz with his then-wife.
Furthermore, the vocal characteristics of Frame Game bear a striking similarity to Benz’s voice. Listen to the comparison below:
[Video clip comparison of Frame Game’s voice and Mike Benz’s voice]
Further digital breadcrumbs emerged in Frame Game’s videos. Switching between browser windows, he was seen logged in as “Mike” and “Michael.” In one instance, the username “Mike” appeared alongside a separate browser window displaying Frame Game’s Twitter avatar – a figure in a green hoodie.
A screenshot of a browser window showing the display name
Alt text: Browser window displaying the profile name “Michael” linked to Frame Game’s online activity, suggesting a connection to Michael Benz.
Frame Game’s online persona also divulged biographical details consistent with Michael Benz’s public record. He frequently mentioned being a Jewish attorney residing in New York City and possessing a magna cum laude psychology degree from an Ivy League university. These details directly mirror information found on Michael Benz’s archived LinkedIn profile, which states his magna cum laude psychology degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Adding further weight to the connection, an acquaintance of Benz, choosing to remain anonymous due to fear of reprisal from Benz’s supporters, confided to NBC News that Benz had personally admitted to publishing online under the Frame Game moniker.
When contacted by phone for comment, Benz declined to discuss the allegations, citing his busy schedule. He hung up when asked about his past writings as Frame Game and did not respond to subsequent voice messages and text messages detailing specific questions.
In a statement released hours after the initial publication of the NBC News report, Benz confirmed his association with the Frame Game account. However, he offered a surprising and controversial explanation, claiming the account was a “covert effort” by Jewish individuals to combat antisemitism. “The account in question was a project by Jews to get people who hated Jews to stop hating Jews,” he wrote, adding, “Let me be clear: I am extremely proud of this.” This explanation has been met with widespread skepticism and criticism.
At 39 years old, Benz has successfully positioned himself as a leading figure for conservatives concerned about perceived censorship by social media platforms and government entities. He leads the Foundation for Freedom Online, an organization focused on this issue, and is frequently cited as an expert in news reports. He has been instrumental in drawing attention to and criticizing individuals and organizations involved in content moderation.
Benz and his organization have been referenced in reports and testimonies before the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government and the Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs. He has also been a vocal proponent of the “Twitter Files,” internal documents released by Elon Musk revealing Twitter’s content moderation discussions and communications. Benz has consistently framed these internal debates as evidence of grand conspiracies and has attacked academic researchers and institutions involved as government agents.
Beyond the censorship debate, Benz has promoted videos alleging various shadowy conspiracies, aligning with far-right anxieties on numerous contentious issues. One video, linking criticism of Elon Musk to a conspiracy theory involving Ukraine and global energy markets, was even amplified by Musk himself, who commented, “Interesting perspective.”
The emergence of figures like Mike Benz, who gain prominence on the right while harboring extremist views, is not unprecedented. Several intellectuals and experts have been exposed for their past extremist rhetoric after achieving mainstream recognition.
Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at Free Press, a digital civil rights organization, warns of the dangers of this trend: “The slow normalization of extremist figures who become part of the fabric of our discourse are moving our discourse further and further to the right, and their tactics are becoming embedded into our institutions.”
A review of Frame Game’s online activity from 2017 to 2018 reveals a comprehensive embrace of alt-right themes, ranging from attacks on social justice movements, the media, and even Disney films, to praise for Donald Trump and promotion of cryptocurrency.
In a 2017 blog post, Frame Game described himself as “a Jew who is deeply sympathetic to the AltRight’s accurate depiction of the double-edged nature of Jewish influence on Europe and America.” He credited alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos for “putting the puzzle together” and awakening him to alt-right ideology.
In the same blog post, Frame Game condemned the censorship of his channel and alt-right ideas, specifically mentioning Reddit’s ban of alt-right communities, Facebook’s fact-checking initiatives, and Twitter’s Trust and Safety Counsel’s consultation with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which he referred to as “the Jewish censorship squad Anti-Defamation League.” The ADL has remained a frequent target of Benz’s criticism in his more recent livestreams.
“The fight for white identity would mean a battle for the soul of the internet itself,” Frame Game wrote in 2017. He sometimes identified as “alt-lite,” a term used within the alt-right movement to describe those slightly less extreme, but even this community often exhibited hostility towards Jewish people, even those sympathetic to their cause.
Frame Game received promotion from prominent alt-right leaders like Richard Spencer, who led white nationalists in the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally, and frequently appeared on podcasts hosted by white supremacists such as Patrick Casey and Jean-François Gariépy. On Gariépy’s podcast, Frame Game discussed his belief that white people are being systematically replaced by non-whites, a process he attributed to Jewish influence.
In another online post, Frame Game wrote, “If I, a Jew, a member of the Tribe, Hebrew Schooled, can read Mein Kampf & think ‘holy shit, Hitler actually had some decent points.’ Then NO ONE is safe from hating you once they find out who is behind the White genocide happening all over the world.”
Despite engaging with white nationalists and promoting their narratives, Frame Game claimed in interviews that he did not share their ultimate goal of a white ethnostate.
“I want white identity politics to grow like wildfire,” he stated in a 2018 interview with a white nationalist publication. However, he clarified that his objective was not a white ethnostate but rather to halt “ethnic identity politics in America” and reverse “white demographic suicide.”
“Look, we’re in different movements, but there’s overlap,” Frame Game told the interviewer. “I just want white positivity to be normal instead of white toxicity. If you want something more than that, cool.”
Frame Game’s online presence began to experience the content moderation issues that Mike Benz now vehemently opposes. As hate speech proliferated online, civil society organizations and politicians pressured social media companies to take action. These companies responded by implementing new policies and enforcement measures that began to restrict the type of content Frame Game disseminated.
By 2018, Frame Game had received multiple warnings and strikes on his YouTube channel. He complained about censorship targeting videos with titles like “How White People Turned Alt-Right.” In the fall of 2018, Frame Game made his videos private and seemingly abandoned the channel. While many of his videos have been archived or republished on alternative platforms, Frame Game also disappeared from Twitter.
YouTube did not provide a comment regarding Frame Game’s channel.
Around winter 2018, Michael Benz transitioned into government service, taking a position as an assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he wrote speeches for then-Secretary Ben Carson. He subsequently moved to the Department of State in 2020, serving briefly as deputy assistant secretary for international communications and information technology.
Leveraging his government experience and legal background, Benz reinvented himself as a self-proclaimed cyber-expert, offering his expertise to a network of lawmakers, activists, and journalists critical of what they term the “censorship industrial complex.”
In April 2022, Benz established the Foundation for Freedom Online, describing it as a nonpartisan organization providing insights and support to those advocating for online freedom of speech and expression. To date, the foundation primarily serves as a platform for Benz’s blog posts, which have gained traction among Republican lawmakers and have been cited in official reports concerning alleged censorship.
Benz has also connected with figures like Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger, key individuals involved in reporting on the “Twitter Files.” Shellenberger publicly praised Benz’s research on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, albeit misrepresenting his credentials.
“It was hard to understand,” Shellenberger admitted regarding Benz’s complex research, which posits extensive connections between disinformation researchers, Twitter employees, and state intelligence agencies, suggesting a broad conspiracy. “You have to really go through it in a packet. I used a bunch of it in my testimony. I talked to him. I interviewed him a lot.”
Benz was present at a House Judiciary Select Subcommittee hearing in March, visibly supporting Shellenberger and Taibbi as they testified. His research and quotes have been incorporated into reports questioning the existence of disinformation and disparaging disinformation researchers, texts that were subsequently used as evidence in House and Senate committee hearings.
When contacted for comment about Benz and his Frame Game connection, Shellenberger stated, “Mike Benz has done some of the best research of anyone exposing the Censorship Industrial Complex, and I was glad to draw from it for our own reporting about the ways in which the US government and its proxies coerce and inspire censorship by social media companies of disfavored views and voices. I have no knowledge of Benz’s other views and am skeptical they would change my view of his research into the Censorship Industrial Complex.” Taibbi did not respond to requests for comment.
Elon Musk has also taken notice of Benz, publicly engaging with his posts on the X platform. Benz even tweeted about X’s team responsible for addressing disinformation and election integrity, accusing them of attempting to “rig election discourse on X.” This team was later dismissed by Musk, who claimed they were “undermining election integrity.”
Benz has cultivated a substantial following of 99,000 on X and has been featured in numerous interviews with conservative media outlets including Fox News, OANN, Real America’s Voice, and The Epoch Times.
Some individuals from his past online audience have recognized Benz’s Frame Game persona.
“Dude, loved your old YouTube channel back in the before times, any chance of donning the green hoodie again?” one user posted on X in response to Benz.
In 2017, Frame Game himself foreshadowed the potential exposure of his past, tweeting about his concerns regarding what information might surface about him in the future.
“This is my story,” he wrote, a statement that now resonates with a chilling prescience in light of the revelations surrounding Mike Benz and his past as Frame Game.
