Denying any partisan motivations behind the rollout of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Disinformation Governance Board — while President Joe Biden and Democrats actively challenge the right to free speech — the dubiously nicknamed “Ministry of Truth” has been put on pause after expressed concern, leaving the door wide open for further ridicule.
The Washington Post entered a meta state of irony Tuesday when they reported that the board would be shutting down faster than CNN+. In an article titled, “How the Biden administration let right-wing attacks derail its disinformation efforts,” anti-doxing doxer and woebegone victim Taylor Lorenz attempted to pin the immense backlash as “coordinated online attacks.”
As she has so expertly done for herself, Lorenz painted the would-be chair Nina Jankowicz as a hapless target caught in the crosshairs of right-wing hate as she hyped up the claims of DHS Secretary Mayorkas, who labeled Jankowicz as “eminently qualified.”
Nina Jankowicz, Biden’s disinformation czarina, peddled Trump-Russia collusion hoax https://t.co/TCDjPpDPx3 pic.twitter.com/i2sbvBNVJC
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) May 9, 2022
At no point was Jankowicz’s record of peddling disinformation herself covered — she had pushed the Russian collusion hoax against former President Donald Trump. Among other claims, she called Trump a puppet to Russian President Vladimir Putin, tweeting: “Trump is Pinocchio, but what if Putin is Geppetto?”
Sorry we ruined your disinformation party. pic.twitter.com/n33LAfNt9j
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 18, 2022
Those who reported that they would be the arbiters of truth seemed to struggle with coordinating communications from their own office as Lorenz detailed Big Brother’s fluxing position.
“Now, just three weeks after its announcement, the Disinformation Governance Board is being ‘paused,’ according to multiple employees at DHS, capping a back-and-forth week of decisions that changed during the course of reporting of this story,” she wrote. “On Monday, DHS decided to shut down the board, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation. By Tuesday morning, Jankowicz had drafted a resignation letter in response to the board’s dissolution.”
“But Tuesday night,” Lorenz went on, “Jankowicz was pulled into an urgent call with DHS officials who gave her the choice to stay on, even as the department’s work was put on hold.”
UPDATE: Nina Jankowicz has officially resigned from Disinformation Governance Board and the DHS. https://t.co/rLi3FvUNMw https://t.co/z4hdwTBFIB
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) May 18, 2022
A spokesperson for DHS was cited in defense of Jankowicz arguing, “Nina Jankowicz has been subjected to unjustified and vile personal attacks and physical threats. In congressional hearings and in media interviews, the Secretary has repeatedly defended her as eminently qualified and underscored the importance of the Department’s disinformation work, and he will continue to do so.”
The article went on to call the case being made against the very existence of the board a “textbook disinformation campaign” as it endeavored to hold a narrative that the right was following a “playbook and that it’s crucial that the public and leaders of institutions, especially in the government, the media and education bodies, understand more fully how these cycles operate.”
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 18, 2022
If they knew anything about us at all, they would know we don’t do coordination. I thought ‘Ministry of Truth’ the moment I heard about it & so did about a million other people. Her ridiculous & sophomoric Broadway showtune parodies parodied themselves.
— Troy Riser (@TroyRiser) May 18, 2022
Lorenz claimed that by not responding “with a highly compelling counternarrative, or not getting out ahead of these campaigns to being with” is what led to the failings. Citing Mark Jacobson, assistant dean at Syracuse University who researched propaganda and disinformation for 30 years, the article pinned the effort to maintain a positive narrative on the DGB “amateur hour.”
Of course, the reality is what it is and Americans who care about the First Amendment need to be on the lookout should DHS attempt to restart this program in a similar or varied capacity.
Just the title alone…I know what they’re trying to say, but they end up telling the actual truth. Re-worded: “Disinformation efforts by the Biden administration derailed.”
— Kevin (@kwjones001) May 18, 2022
Thank goodness we aren’t alone. And we are getting bigger and stronger through finding our voices.
— Tesla Diamond Hands (@TeslaDiamondBlz) May 18, 2022
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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