https://sputnikglobe.com/20220720/targeted-journalist-speaks-out-as-dhs-panel-calls-to-scrap-disinfo-governance-board-1097600129.html
Targeted Journalist Speaks Out as DHS Panel Calls to Scrap Disinfo Governance Board
Targeted Journalist Speaks Out as DHS Panel Calls to Scrap Disinfo Governance Board
Sputnik International
The Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal told Sputnik News the DHS panel’s announcement that there’s “no need” for the much-maligned Disinformation Governance Board... 20.07.2022, Sputnik International
2022-07-20T02:57+0000
2022-07-20T02:57+0000
2023-04-14T12:56+0000
disinformation
department of homeland security (dhs)
x (formerly twitter)
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A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advisory panel declared Monday that there is now “no need” for the Disinformation Governance Board, which the Biden administration withdrew in May amid widespread public outrage over what was quickly dubbed the “Ministry of Truth.”While the Homeland Security Advisory Council subcommittee’s final report isn’t expected to be published until early August, the declaration is being widely reported as the final nail in the coffin.A ‘fact sheet’ published by the DHS shortly after the board’s announcement in April characterized the Disinformation Governance Board as a defense against what it called “disinformation that threatens the security of the United States,” specifically those supposedly being “spread by foreign states such as Russia, China, and Iran.”But fierce pushback – much of it aimed at the bizarre and frequently-alienating theatrics of Nina Jankowicz, the self-proclaimed “disinformation expert” appointed by Biden to head the board – quickly led the administration to reverse course and announce the effort was being “paused” just three weeks after its creation.When the DHS subsequently announced the creation of a panel tasked with giving recommendations on how the department “can garner public trust surrounding its disinformation efforts” in the wake of the botched rollout of the since-scrapped speech oversight board, that too was met with fierce criticism.Both Jankowicz and subcommittee co-chair Chertoff have themselves been accused of spreading disinformation for falsely characterizing the notorious Hunter Biden laptop as mere Kremlin propaganda.The Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal told Sputnik that the apparent death of the disinfo board represents “a blow to the ‘disinformation industry’ which has emphasized the need for the state to crack down on sources of media and narratives that it accuses of having ‘eroded trust.’”Blumenthal’s award-winning news outlet was once denigrated as “not a reputable source” by Jankowicz in a Twitter post which claimed without evidence that the independent investigative source “papers over Stalinist crimes against humanity.”The Grayzone wasn’t the only independent news outlet on Jankowicz’s radar, according to an explosive series of leaked emails obtained by the outlet that have received little attention in mainstream media.As Blumenthal reported alongside Kit Klarenberg in June, Jankowicz was also consulted on efforts to undermine Consortium News by British journalist Paul Mason and Andy Pryce, the former head of British intelligence’s secretive “Counter Disinformation and Media Development” unit. As Blumenthal explained in June, the leaked emails demonstrate that “a foreign intelligence official has sought to sabotage a US-based independent media outlet.”Although Blumenthal is among the independent journalists and civil liberties advocates celebrating Monday’s announcement, he cautioned that co-chair Chertoff’s “reference to a ‘separate disinformation board’ means that this effort will simply be handled by the traditional cyber-warfare specialists inside the Department of Homeland Security and will be viewed through a more conventional national security viewpoint.”While “Jankowicz was, in fact, the Democratic security operative who sought to institutionalize mechanisms for censoring opponents of the Biden administration,” Blumenthal notes “Chertoff, one of the orchestrators of the War on Terror, sees disinformation entirely through a national security lens.”“The termination of this project by a veteran securocrat like Michael Chertoff suggests that the Disinformation Governance Board was an initiative of Nina Jankowicz, and political elements within the Biden administration, and not part of the national security agenda,” Blumenthal explained.Even after being forced out of her brief role as ‘disinformation czar,’ Jankowicz has since been apparently unable to resist the limelight. On Sunday, she published a letter on Twitter that she penned to Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO), accusing them of spreading what she claimed were “false narratives” that she “would or could act in [her] capacity at DHS to censor [her] fellow Americans.”But her moves in recent days to block dozens of accounts, such as critical journalists like Blumenthal* seem to suggest there may be more than a small element of truth to such charges.*author’s note: efforts to research this story were complicated by the discovery that, I, too, had been blocked by Nina Jankowicz
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disinformation, department of homeland security (dhs), x (formerly twitter)
disinformation, department of homeland security (dhs), x (formerly twitter)
Targeted Journalist Speaks Out as DHS Panel Calls to Scrap Disinfo Governance Board
02:57 GMT 20.07.2022 (Updated: 12:56 GMT 14.04.2023) The Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal told Sputnik News the DHS panel’s announcement that there’s “no need” for the much-maligned Disinformation Governance Board is a “blow to the ‘disinformation industry.’”
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advisory panel declared Monday that there is now “no need” for the Disinformation Governance Board, which the Biden administration withdrew in May amid widespread public outrage over what was quickly dubbed the “Ministry of Truth.”
While the Homeland Security Advisory Council subcommittee’s final report isn’t expected to be published until early August, the declaration is being widely reported as the final nail in the coffin.
“There is no room for a separate disinformation governance board,” according to panel co-chair Michael Chertoff, who co-authored the PATRIOT Act under US President George W. Bush, indicating other schemes to police Americans’ speech may already be in motion.
A ‘fact sheet’ published by the DHS shortly after the board’s announcement in April characterized the Disinformation Governance Board as a defense against what it called “disinformation that threatens the security of the United States,” specifically those supposedly being “spread by foreign states such as Russia, China, and Iran.”
But fierce pushback – much of it aimed at the bizarre and frequently-alienating theatrics of Nina Jankowicz, the self-proclaimed “disinformation expert” appointed by Biden to head the board – quickly led the administration to reverse course and announce the effort was being “paused” just three weeks after its creation.
When the DHS subsequently announced the creation of a panel tasked with giving recommendations on how the department “can garner public trust surrounding its disinformation efforts” in the wake of the botched rollout of the since-scrapped speech oversight board, that too was met with fierce criticism.
Both Jankowicz and subcommittee co-chair Chertoff have themselves been accused of spreading disinformation for falsely characterizing the notorious Hunter Biden laptop as mere Kremlin propaganda.
The Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal told Sputnik that the apparent death of the disinfo board represents “a blow to the ‘disinformation industry’ which has emphasized the need for the state to crack down on sources of media and narratives that it accuses of having ‘eroded trust.’”
Blumenthal’s award-winning news outlet was once denigrated as “not a reputable source” by Jankowicz in a
Twitter post which claimed without evidence that the independent investigative source “papers over Stalinist crimes against humanity.”
“It is now increasingly clear,” he says, “that those elements pushing fear mongering around disinformation are actually simply political actors representing an increasingly desperate and discredited establishment that seek to silence their foes–who exist within a public that they largely fear.”
The Grayzone wasn’t the only independent news outlet on Jankowicz’s radar, according to an
explosive series of leaked emails obtained by the outlet that have received little attention in mainstream media.
As Blumenthal reported alongside Kit Klarenberg in June,
Jankowicz was also consulted on efforts to undermine Consortium News by British journalist Paul Mason and Andy Pryce, the former head of British intelligence’s secretive “Counter Disinformation and Media Development” unit. As Blumenthal explained in June, the leaked emails demonstrate that “a foreign intelligence official has sought to sabotage a US-based independent media outlet.”
Although Blumenthal is among the independent journalists and civil liberties advocates celebrating Monday’s announcement, he cautioned that co-chair Chertoff’s “reference to a ‘separate disinformation board’ means that this effort will simply be handled by the traditional cyber-warfare specialists inside the Department of Homeland Security and will be viewed through a more conventional national security viewpoint.”
While “Jankowicz was, in fact, the Democratic security operative who sought to institutionalize mechanisms for censoring opponents of the Biden administration,” Blumenthal notes “Chertoff, one of the orchestrators of the War on Terror, sees disinformation entirely through a national security lens.”
“The termination of this project by a veteran securocrat like Michael Chertoff suggests that the Disinformation Governance Board was an initiative of Nina Jankowicz, and political elements within the Biden administration, and not part of the national security agenda,” Blumenthal explained.
“To the extent that the Department of Homeland Security will conduct any operations relating to disinformation” going forward, “it will likely be within the traditional cyber-warfare realm that’s handled it for the past several years,” he noted.
Even after being forced out of her brief role as ‘disinformation czar,’ Jankowicz has since been apparently unable to resist the limelight. On Sunday, she published a letter on Twitter that she penned to Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO), accusing them of spreading
what she claimed were “false narratives” that she “would or could act in [her] capacity at DHS to censor [her] fellow Americans.”
But her moves in recent days to block dozens of accounts, such as critical journalists like Blumenthal* seem to suggest there may be more than a small element of truth to such charges.
*
author’s note: efforts to research this story were complicated by the discovery that, I, too, had been blocked by Nina Jankowicz
