Government Launches 'Disinformation Governance Board,' Irking Conservatives

Is the government's new Disinformation Governance Board necessary to combat fake news, or is it a threat to free speech?

During a House of Representatives hearing Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) head Alejandro Mayorkas announced "a just recently constituted misinformation/disinformation governance board." The board will be led by Nina Jankowicz, a misinformation researcher and strategic advisor, and will focus on countering misinformation about homeland security, especially on migration and Russia. DHS said in a statement that the board will "protect privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties." Several Republican lawmakers criticized the move as government overreach; few Democratic lawmakers offered reactions.

Coverage was much more frequent from right-rated sources, which often criticized the idea of the government controlling speech. National Review writer David Harsanyi (Right bias) criticized the idea of creating a government panel "to start dictating the veracity of what we read and hear"; Harsanyi and others on the right called the board part of Biden's "ministry of truth." Many also highlighted how Jankowicz previously suggested without evidence that the Hunter Biden laptop story could be part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

Coverage from left- and center-rated sources covered the news less prominently and tended to frame the board as a well-intentioned effort to combat misleading information. One analysis from Daily Beast (Left bias) highlighted "rage" from Fox News (Right bias) and other right-rated sources in response to the news.