A group within the Department of Homeland Security focused on combating disinformation has been arrested.
Alastair Pike/AFP via Getty Images
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Alastair Pike/AFP via Getty Images
A group within the Department of Homeland Security focused on combating disinformation has been arrested.
Alastair Pike/AFP via Getty Images
A group within the Department of Homeland Security that was created to focus on combating disinformation has been put on hiatus, the DHS said Wednesday, with its director, Nina Jankowicz, stepping down.
The decision, first reported by the Washington Post, comes amid a coordinated right-wing smear campaign against Jankowicz. The group, called the Disinformation Governing Boardlaunched three weeks ago and has not delivered.
The working group was created with the purpose of helping develop strategies to combat disinformation while, DHS said, keeping its commitment to protect Freedom of speech and other rights of Americans. Republicans were quick to claim without evidence that the board would result in censure, criticizing what they saw as an unclear mission as well as Jankowicz as its leader.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recognized last month that the objective of the board could have been clearer.
A DHS spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday that the board has been “grossly and intentionally mischaracterized: never dealing with censorship or policing of speech in any way… The bogus attacks have become a significant distraction from the work of vital importance of the Department in combating disinformation that threatens the safety of the American people.
DHS says it is conducting a 75-day review and assessment on how to continue its work to combat misinformation. During this time, they said that the board will not work.
The Washington Post reported that DHS initially decided it would close the board on Monday, but decided on Tuesday that the board’s work would stop.
“It is deeply disappointing that the Board’s mischaracterizations have become such a distraction from the Department’s vital work, and indeed, coupled with recent global and national events, represents why it is necessary,” Jankowicz said in a statement. announcing his resignation. “I remain committed to raising awareness of disinformation threats and am confident that the Department will do the same.”
The next board review will be led by the Homeland Security Advisory Council and will be led by former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and former US Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rejected the idea that the meeting was closing down.
“He’s going to pause,” he said Wednesday at the White House news conference. “There was a mischaracterization of external forces, so what we’re going to do is stop it and do an assessment. But the work doesn’t stop.”
Reference-www.npr.org