January 1, DHS Halts Disinformation Board

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is pausing the work of its new Disinformation Governance Board, saying that the “false attacks have become a significant distraction.”

Some critics argued that the DHS was not sufficiently forthcoming about the board’s mission, and others took to calling the board the “Ministry of Truth,” referencing George Orwell’s 1984.

The disinformation board was created just three weeks ago and has never formally met. Its leader, Nina Jankowicz, is also resigning from her post.

“With the Board’s work paused and its future uncertain, and I have decided to leave DHS to return to my work in the public sphere,” Jankowicz wrote in a statement.

“It is deeply disappointing that mischaracterizations of the Board became a distraction from the Department’s vital work, and indeed, along with recent events globally and nationally, embodies why it is necessary.”

One DHS official said: “There have been gross mischaracterizations of what the board’s work would be. And there have been grotesque personal attacks and the reaction has candidly become a distraction to the department’s important work in addressing disinformation that threatens homeland security.”

The board’s critics applauded the decision to “pause,” including journalist Glenn Greenwald, who also criticized the Washington Post report on the situation.

“It’s a cause of momentary celebration that the Department of Homeland Security was forced by popular anger to ‘pause’ its Disinformation Board and the absurd #Resistance cartoon they hired to run it, but read this to see how angry [the Washington Post] and [reporter Taylor Lorenz] are that this happened,” Greenwald wrote on Twitter.

Source:

DHS to pause work of disinformation board