I have good news if you value free speech and don’t want the government jamming its nose into the issue. Joe Biden’s new “Ministry of Truth,” officially known as the Disinformation Governance Board, has been put on hold.
After Nina Jankowicz (its leader) was extensively exposed for being a far-left quack and a troubling promoter government censorship, this is what it does. RedState has reported extensively on her past, from Jankowicz’s rants about “gender disinformation” to her desire to be able to edit other people’s social media posts.
The Washington Post reports that the Disinformation Governance Board was halted. Who is it? You got it, those dastardly Republicans who don’t wish to live in a George Orwell novel.
WaPo got the scoop on the Disinformation Board closing down. Surprisingly, that is what the WaPo is reporting pic.twitter.com/6qny6Ng7xT
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) May 18, 2022
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. Multiple sources with information claim that DHS closed the board on Monday. By Tuesday morning, Jankowicz had drafted a resignation letter in response to the board’s dissolution.
But Tuesday night, 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 because of the backlash it faced, according to multiple people with knowledge of the call. DHS working groups that focus on mis-, dish- and mal-information were suspended. The Homeland Security Advisory Council is reviewing the situation and Jankowicz has been evaluating Jankowicz’s position in the department.
Taylor Lorenz, an objectively terrible writer, wrote the article. It is mostly a love note to Jankowicz. However the main news is that DHS will likely terminate the board in full.
What is the problem? Lorenz spends her screed blaming conservatives for an “unrelenting barrage of harassment,” which is really just code for “some people criticized government officials I like.” Color me skeptical on that front, though. Is there any other circumstance where the Biden administration and DHS have ever paid a single iota of attention to what conservatives think than this? I can’t think of one.
However, past backlashes never seem to have had an effect on Jankowicz’s backlash. The answer is that we shouldn’t believe that.
Rather, I suspect the reason for the board’s possible downfall is two-fold. There are two things that I think raise serious constitutional concerns. One, the government could create an entity to influence speech. It doesn’t matter if the board doesn’t have an enforcement mechanism. The government can’t subvert the First Amendment through proxy. It is against law. It would look really terrible for an already insolvent administration to lose a Supreme Court case on such a crucial issue.
Last but not least, some in DHS’ leadership realized that the White House will soon be occupied by a Republican. Given the dramatic left-lean at these federal bureaucracies, I doubt they want to see Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis in charge of policing “disinformation” from their viewpoint. Maybe they are willing to pull the plug in order not to give their political opponents a tool.
Regardless, there shouldn’t be a Disinformation Governance Board in the United States. This isn’t Europe, and we actually value free speech here. This should not be disqualifying because the Biden administration tried to do it.
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