Biden’s Ministry Of Truth Halted Due To Public Backlash
James Duncan, MPA
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In what seems like a huge win for proponents of free speech across the political spectrum, the Biden administration has halted its newly-created Disinformation Governance Board, commonly referred to as the “Ministry of Truth,” as a result of intense public backlash. The board’s “czar,” Nina Jankowicz, resigned on Wednesday to resume her work “in the public sphere.”
The Ministry of Truth was established days after leftist control over one of several popular social media platforms, Twitter, was threatened with a benevolent takeover by SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk’s stated intentions were to bring free speech to the platform. In response, a smear campaign against free speech was conducted throughout the media, by politicians and by “experts” — like Jankowicz.
And, after several financial institutions and government scare tactics proved ineffective, the new Disinformation Governance Board was announced under the Department of Homeland Security, headed by a verifiable leftist who had every intention of attacking free speech online.
A reminder of what the Biden Administration was trying to do with their “disinformation governance board.” https://t.co/3XFXJgtOPp
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) May 18, 2022
The media is framing the halting of the board’s operations as the result of unfair assaults by right-wing media. And by this, they mean the actual media that serves as more than a cheerleading arm of the administration. Jankowicz had a past riddled with the spread of disinformation, and was quickly shown to be an entirely inappropriate choice for an un-American board added to the federal bureaucracy.
The revelations of public statements and tweets made by Jakowicz, along with her eccentric behavior on social media, was immediately recognized as an urgent issue by conservatives and liberals alike. The un-American idea of doing openly what we have the NSA in place to do in secret caught the attention of Americans and held it, bringing on a huge backlash echoed in Congress.
The real cause for the pause put on the Ministry of Truth actually was “right-wing attacks,” as they’ve been characterized by mainstream media outlets — and a big salute to all who brought this to the public’s attention. And what is meant by this is the coverage of relevant facts left out by the glowing coverage of Biden’s play at regulating speech. The spotlight put on Jankowicz and the department itself, combined with Biden’s waning political capital on the verge of a tough midterm election season, is what shelved Biden’s Minitrue.
Translated into actual journalism, "online attack" means pointing out that that the head of the "Disinformation Governance Board" is a a partisan actor who has spread disinformation. And also that the government, a purveyor of disinformation, has no business policing it. https://t.co/w0BMl6dSCW
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) May 18, 2022
The president has presided over historic inflation, international instability and even a baby formula shortage. The impact of the administration’s policies are being felt by ordinary Americans, and the last thing they want to do is add fuel to the fire with the threat of a Ministry of Truth determining for the public what is and isn’t truth.
Doocy: “The disinformation board is being shut down because of disinformation?”pic.twitter.com/R6UUbzdrYq
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) May 18, 2022
In her resignation, Jankowicz wrote that, “I have decided to leave DHS to return to my work in the public sphere.” She also stated that she was disappointed that “mischaracterizations” of Biden’s Ministry of Truth had become a distraction from her unconstitutional goals.
One “DHS staffer” allegedly spoke to the Washington Post anonymously, saying that, “We’re going to need another Nina down the road.” The quote was reported by Taylor Lorenz, who has been shown to be an unscrupulous source of information. But it does seem in line with the current culture of DHS and many on the left seeking to control communications through various maneuvers, under the guise of “protecting free speech.”
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 WPost and @TaylorLorenz are that this happened: https://t.co/dCY3VKuEua
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 18, 2022
The board is paused, not canceled. And DHS is still defending its operations, claiming the intentions have been “mischaracterized.” The Homeland Security Advisory Council will conduct an assessment of the Disinformation Board, seeking ways to improve its transparency, capabilities and acceptance by the public. In other words, we likely haven’t seen the last of Biden’s Ministry of Truth.
Keep an eye out for this topic to stay in the forefront of the left’s framing, and for the Disinformation Board to reenter the conversation after the midterms, if the political winds allow.
Don’t “pause” the Disinformation Board. End it. Forever. https://t.co/C4B5lpHfew
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) May 18, 2022
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