In an effort to combat “misleading information” online, the Department of Homeland Security is forming a Disinformation Governing Council.
Throughout a congressional committee on Wednesday, National Security Adviser Alejandro Mayorkas discussed the “newly established” governing panel, arguing it would help minimize perceived threats to the US.
This is Only Where It Begins
As per Politico’s Daniel Lippman, the group will focus on migratory flows and Russia.
Nina Jankowicz, a Wilson Center fellow, found evidence and said she would lead the panel on social media, providing her government’s official image.
She said, “The cat’s out of the backpack, here’s what I’m up to for the past two months.”
The new panel, she said, was established to “keep the Department’s dedication to preserving free expression, privacy, civil rights, and individual freedoms.”
Conservatives slammed Jankowicz for trying to downplay material on Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2020, with her claiming it was most certainly “a Russian influence op.”
Cat's out of the bag: here's what I've been up to the past two months, and why I've been a bit quiet on here.
Honored to be serving in the Biden Administration @DHSgov and helping shape our counter-disinformation efforts. https://t.co/uN20vl7qqV pic.twitter.com/JEn4FqLdck
— Nina Jankowicz 🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@wiczipedia) April 27, 2022
Jankowicz has long advocated for control and regulation of social media.
Jankowicz spoke to the House House Intelligence Committee in October 2020 on the hazards of disinformation and conspiracy theories internet and how to combat them.
She cautioned, “domestic misinformation is a menace to democracy.” She chastised the ministry of health and social media platforms for “almost abdicating their duties” to combat “domestic misinformation.”
Jankowicz suggested Congress begin spending more taxpayer resources to fund a “strong public media” and cooperate on a worldwide effort to combat misinformation during her speech.
She also applauded Twitter’s attempts to filter users during the 2020 election and asked other tech companies to follow suit.
She’s a Nazi
“Twitter is the clearest illustration of a network heading in the right way in this context,” she said, “but more openness and equity around its execution of these policies would be served better by the US political landscape.”
By all means, let’s regulate social media. But let’s do it with proper thought and consultation, with the nation’s best interests at heart, not with the sweep of a sharpie in response to a specter of “political censorship” that doesn’t exist https://t.co/pahJMEI5x4
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— Nina Jankowicz 🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@wiczipedia) August 9, 2019
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) released a letter on Thursday, criticizing President Biden’s recently created Disinformation Governance Council.
Hawley responded to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, “At first [I] assumed this statement was humor.”
“Surely no American administration would ever utilize government authority to pass judgment on its own citizens’ First Amendment expression.”
“Unfortunately, I was mistaken. Instead of securing our border or the American homeland, you’ve decided to focus on controlling Americans’ speech.”
He went on to say, “This new panel is almost probably unlawful and should be abolished immediately.”
Jankowicz, the board’s newly appointed chairwoman, was described by Hawley as a “radical Democrat” who suggested Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” was Russian misinformation.
Jankowicz recently expressed alarm over Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, stating “free speech authoritarians were taking over more networks.”
Hawley also chastised Jankowicz for asserting that Donald Trump stoked “homegrown fascism” and saying the United States is a systemically racist country.
