Its future is now uncertain.
After being threatened with legal action, accused of being a violation of the First Amendment, and facing mass condemnation, the US Department of Homeland Securityās (DHSās) āDisinformation Governance Boardā has been paused and its head, Nina Jankowicz, has resigned.
Jankowicz told Wall Street Journal reporter Dustin Volz that the future of the Disinformation Governance Board is uncertain and that sheāll be returning to her work in the public sphere.
The Disinformation Governance Board wasĀ announced on April 27Ā and its goal was to āfight disinformation.ā After the announcement, critics quickly highlighted Jankowiczās many past comments on free speech, censorship, and misinformation.
In an interview posted just two days before she was named as head of the Disinformation Governance Board, Jankowicz commented on Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Muskās proposed Twitter acquisition by tweeting: āI shudder to think about if free speech absolutists were taking over more platforms, what that would look like for the marginalized communities, which are already shouldering disproportionate amounts of this abuse.ā
Some of Jankowiczās other past comments include her claiming that āāfree speech vs censorshipā framing is a false dichotomy,āĀ sayingĀ verified users like her should be able to edit tweets to provide ācontext,ā andĀ supportingĀ the UK government setting standards for acceptable speech.
Days after the Disinformation Governance Board was announced,Ā a bill was introduced to dissolve it. 20 states alsoĀ threatened legal actionĀ and described the Board as an āunacceptable and downright alarming encroachment on every citizenās right to express his or her opinions, engage in political debate, and disagree with the government.ā
Amid mounting pressure and criticism, DHS Secretary Alejandro MayorkasĀ claimed that the Disinformation Governance Board would somehow protect free speech.
While criticism of the Board was focused on Jankowiczās past comments and the potential of the board to chill online speech, Jankowicz framed this criticism as āmischaracterizations of the Boardā which ābecame a distraction from the Departmentās vital workā after announcing her resignation.
Some mainstream media outlets have gone even further with The Washington PostĀ claimingĀ that Jankowicz was āthe victim of coordinated online attacksā and that āthe Biden administration let right-wing attacks derail its disinformation effort.ā
Although the Disinformation Governance Boardās future is uncertain, this Board followed several online censorship and surveillance efforts backed by the DHS. Before the Board was even announced, the DHSĀ increased its efforts to identify āmisinformationā and āconspiracy theoriesā on social media, wasĀ accused of mass surveilling money transfers, andĀ branded online āmisinformationā a terrorism threat to the U.S. homeland.ā
And according to a DHS staffer cited by The Washington Post, the DHS is āgoing to need another Nina down the road.ā
Source: DHS pauses its “Disinformation Governance Board”