Federal Government Doubles Down on ‘Disinformation’ and Twitter Finally Freed of Censorship

At a meeting of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified that DHS will stand up a new panel ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Rather than enhancing security at the border and addressing lax immigration policies, the newly announced Disinformation Governance Board looks to stem the flow of illegal immigration by targeting false information circulated by human smugglers. Media outlets cited the spread of disinformation on social media within the Haitian community regarding the Biden administration’s immigration policies, blaming the resulting confusion as reason for the 14,000 migrants that converged on the small border town of Del Rio, Texas.

However, the new board’s efforts to tackle disinformation intends not only to address immigration. The department said in a statement, “The spread of disinformation can affect border security, Americans’ safety during disasters, and public trust in our democratic institutions.” The board will coordinate efforts to counter misinformation from Russia as this year’s midterm elections draw near. Secretary Mayorkas last month referenced “cybersecurity threats from sophisticated, state-sponsored threat actors and cyber criminals,” along with “what is increasingly becoming rampant mis- and disinformation about elections that undermine confidence in our democratic institutions.”

Politico further reported that Nina Jankowicz has been pegged as the board’s new executive director. She previously worked as a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center, advised the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, and headed Russia and Belarus programs at the National Democratic Institute. In March of 2021, Jankowicz took to Twitter to emphasize the intelligence community’s belief “that the Kremlin used proxies to push influence narratives, including misleading or unsubstantiated claims about President Biden, to US media, officials, and influencers, some close to President Trump.” In that tweet, she specifically alluded to the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, a story that mainstream media sources now acknowledge as credible.

As the Biden administration pursues misguided attempts to curb illegal immigration and seeks to counter “disinformation,” billionaire Elon Musk this week freed social media giant, Twitter, from subjective censorship. The Tesla CEO brokered a deal to purchase Twitter for $44 billion. Following news of the agreement, Musk said, “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”

The government once again expands control, and a private citizen looks to expand free speech.

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Aly Blake   Email

Aly is a military spouse and mom to two. She has a special interest in international security and foreign affairs, having lived overseas, worked with Sister Cities International and served as a commissioning editor for an international relations website. Aly holds a Masters in Global Studies and International Relations from Northeastern University and currently resides in Tennessee.