Mere weeks after its establishment and failing to meet even once, the controversial Disinformation Governance Board, dubbed the “Ministry of Truth,” is being “paused” because of its “gross and intentional mischaracterization.” Its executive director, Nina Jankowicz, a political operative with a history of participating in disinformation herself, appeared unprepared to handle “coordinated online attacks” and resigned from her position.
The Washington Post, which broke the story, praised Jankowicz’s “extensive experience in the field of disinformation” while blasting the “right-wing Internet” for criticizing, “harassing,” and even “abusing” her online.
The outlet laments,
Within hours of [the] news of her appointment, Jankowicz was thrust into the spotlight by the very forces she dedicated her career to combating. The board itself and DHS received criticism for both its somewhat ominous name and scant details of specific mission (Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said it “could have done a better job of communicating what it is and what it isn’t”), but Jankowicz was on the receiving end of the harshest attacks, with her role mischaracterized as she became a primary target on the right-wing Internet.
Because of the perceived hostility toward the board and its director, the DHS decided to shut it down for the time being, according to “multiple people with knowledge of the situation,” per the Post. Jankowicz decided to resign and continue her career in the private sector.
The Post further argued that the treatment of Jankowicz, a “victim” of “far-right influencers” such as Jack Posobiec of Human Events, is a prime example of how the “right-wing Internet apparatus operates.”
Since in the leftist universe “right-wingers” are all sexists and racists, the Post suggested that it was typical for them to target a concrete representative of the organization they try to discredit, “almost always a woman or a person of color.”
It was further described how Posobiec was the first to “shape the narrative,” likening the board to the Orwellian “Ministry of Truth” that produced propaganda and policed speech. The message was picked up by Republican lawmakers and public figures, and amplified by the media.
The Post wept that “dozens” of right-wing media outlets were guilty of “publishing articles to generate controversy.” According to the spirit of the Post’s messaging, Breitbart, the New York Post, Fox News, Daily Caller, The Post Millennial, and other media should not have posted any such “critical” reports, instead repeating the official talking points on the matter.
The outlet noted that some of the websites went so far in their “attacks” on the board’s leader as to be “mocking” and “making fun” of her bizarre singing about “disinformation.” According to the report, the tactic of focusing the audience’s attention on “single, decontextualized moments” was a typical trick from the right-wing disinformation playbook.
The DHS and the whole Biden administration “struggled to counter” such bold “attacks,” continued the report, sourly admitting that despite a series of TV interviews aimed at “clarifying” the board’s mission and Jankowicz’s credentials done by her boss Alejandro Mayorkas, and despite then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki doing her best to “debunk false claims,” the “bad-faith, right-wing actors” were winning their “smear campaign.”
If only the DHS briefed Democratic lawmakers and staff on “what the board was and how it would operate,” they’d know how to respond to the “disinformation,” which would minimize the damage. Instead, their silence gave the criticism “an air of legitimacy,” per the report.
An anonymous Capitol Hill staffer familiar with the situation told the outlet that the department “didn’t even fight” for the board and its director, “they just rolled over.”
While the board’s work is on hold, its mission will be reviewed by DHS’s Homeland Security Advisory Council, which is led by former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, according to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The officials are also tasked with providing recommendations on how the DHS can “garner public trust surrounding its disinformation efforts” within 75 days, according to a report in The Hill.
Both Jankowicz and Jean-Pierre expressed their regret that the “mischaracterization” of the board forced the DHS to pause its “critical” work.
Asked if the board aimed at addressing “disinformation” was temporarily shut down because of the “disinformation,” Jean-Pierre could only respond by saying the administration was committed to continuing its crackdown on misinformation despite the challenges.
Mayorkas first announced the disinformation board during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on April 28.
“The goal is to bring the resources of (DHS) together to address this threat,” Mayorkas said during the hearing, adding that the department will focus on countering the spread of disinformation ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. The DHS issued a rather uninformative fact sheet on the matter on May 2.
Facing a backlash from Republicans, the White House defended the DHS board, claiming that it would operate in a “nonpartisan and apolitical” manner.
Yet, as reported by The New American on the board’s establishment, in a truly Orwellian manner, “the American Ministry of Truth is being operated by the very people who skewed the 2020 election by blocking — as ‘disinformation’ — real news stories that would have likely cost Biden the election.”
Shortly after Mayorkas’ announcement, both House and Senate Republicans introduced bills aimed at terminating the board and prohibiting federal money to be used on similar federal bodies.
