On Monday, it was announced that the Department of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board would be “paused.”
The partisan leftist appointed to lead President Joe Biden’s de facto “Ministry of Truth” resigned from the project, according to the Washington Post.
Nina Jankowicz resigned as the executive director of the Disinformation Governance Board on Wednesday.
The entity was put on ice following a flurry of criticism, with lawmakers and political figures across the aisle rejecting the notion of a federal government agency that would instruct the public on “disinformation.”
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
Department of Homeland Security officials sought to convince Jankowicz to remain with the organization after the project was paused, potentially revamping the Disinformation Governance Board in an attempt to stave off civil liberties criticism.
Instead, Jankowicz tendered a letter of resignation to the department on Wednesday morning.
Federal officials, such as DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, fought back against criticism of the Disinformation Governance Board by arguing it would only be used to counter foreign propaganda from Iranian, Russian and drug cartel sources.
Are you surprised the Disinformation Governance Board was dissolved?
These claims were complicated by Jankowicz’s history of political partisanship.
The disinformation “expert” has sought the power to forcibly “edit” the tweets of private citizens, in a proposal reminiscent of Stalin’s Soviet Union.
Mayorkas sought to dismiss criticism of Jankowicz’s support for partisanship and censorship, representing her as an “expert” in the field of countering disinformation.
Internet censorship advocates criticized DHS after news of Jankowicz’s resignation was reported, angered that the department failed to shut down criticism of the project and Jankowicz’s political track record.
Biden’s @DHSgov hired @wiczipedia to head its new disinfo board, then failed to defend it with verve and clarity, failed to defend @wiczipedia at all, and kept her from defending herself. So she fell victim to a nasty disinformation campaign. https://t.co/TG65IOhS62
— SIVA VAIDHYANATHAN ??? (@sivavaid) May 18, 2022
Republican legislators introduced measures to defund the censorship board.
It’s likely the Disinformation Governance Board would have been a target of Republican majorities in the event of November red wave.
The project’s quick failure speaks to a tumultuous culture at DHS under Biden.
