The Department of Homeland Security has launched a new dashboard to tackle disinformation
WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security is intensifying its efforts to counter disinformation coming from Russia, as well as misinformation being circulated by human smugglers to target migrants hoping to travel to the US-Mexico border.
“The spread of disinformation can affect border security, the safety of Americans during disasters, and public confidence in our democratic institutions,” the department said in a statement Wednesday. He declined an interview request from The Associated Press.
A newly formed Disinformation Governance Board announced Wednesday that it will immediately begin targeting misinformation targeting migrants, an issue that has helped fuel surges at the US southern border in recent years. Human smugglers often spread misinformation about border policies to boost business.
Last September, for example, confusion over President Joe Biden’s immigration policies combined with messages shared widely among the Haitian community on Meta’s Facebook and WhatsApp platforms led some of the 14,000 migrants to the border city of Del Rio, Texas, where they set up camp. Some were eventually expelled and were transferred outside of the US.
“We are very concerned that Haitians who are taking the path of irregular migration are receiving misinformation that the border is open,” National Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at the time.
The new board will also monitor and prepare for Russian disinformation threats as this year’s midterm elections approach and the Kremlin continues an aggressive disinformation campaign surrounding the war in Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly launched disinformation campaigns targeting US audiences to heighten divisions at election time and spread conspiracy theories around US COVID-19 vaccines. Russian state media, social media accounts and officials have used the internet to call photos, reports and videos of bombed bodies and buildings in Ukraine false.
The board will be led by disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz, who has researched Russian disinformation tactics and online harassment.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden, a Democrat, repeatedly said he would push tech companies, including Facebook, to crack down on misinformation and conspiracy theories that have overwhelmed social media and its users.
Dozens of Republican lawmakers and pundits took to social media Wednesday to widely criticize the new board and call for its dissolution.
“Instead of policing our border, Homeland Security has decided to make policing the speech of Americans its top priority,” a tweet from US Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri read in part. “They are creating a Disinformation Board.”
DHS said in its statement that the board will “protect privacy, civil rights and civil liberties” as part of its duties.
Reference-abcnews.go.com