Conservatives are going all-in on attacking a Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) agency called the Disinformation Governance Board, falsely insisting President Joe Biden has created an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth” that will censor everything online.
It’s their latest attack on actual truth, of course. For starters, the board’s focus is on combatting foreign disinformation, not domestic, and it would work to help protect national security. It’s also not a new endeavor, but a continuation of work done during the Trump administration, and conservatives had no issue with it then.
Fox News Peter Doocy on Monday jumped at the chance to further misinform the far right-wing cable network’s viewers while attempting to paint the President as out of touch and uninformed.
“Does the President know that DHS is putting together this Disinformation Governance Board?” Doocy asked. (Minutes later he would accuse it of “censoring internet traffic.”)
“Well, Peter, I think I would note – and I’m not sure if this has been in your reporting yet – but this is a continuation of work that was done under the prior administration, under the Trump administration, to take steps to address disinformation, address the use of disinformation and helping smugglers prompt the movement of more migrants across to the border,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, schooling the right wing propagandist.
“I would note that the first example given in the announcement about this was DHS has worked to understand how ‘misinformation’ spread by human smugglers that prey on vulnerable populations attempting to migrate to the United States. So for anyone who’s out there who may be concerned about the increase in migrants to the border, this is the kind of apparatus that’s working to address disinformation. And again, continuing the work of the Department of Homeland Security and 2020. Something we’re currently applauding.”
Almost as if he had heard nothing Psaki said, Doocy steamrolled through with another question designed for a Fox News clip.
“Just in terms of what the President wants out of this, does he want the people on this board to start censoring information that is not helpful to him?”
“Well, let me be clear on exactly what this board does, or what the work they’re doing does and in their announcement, which is publicly available in the Department of Homeland Security website for anyone to read, it says, ‘the primary mission is to establish best practices to ensure that efforts to understand and respond to disinformation are done in ways that protect privacy, civil rights and civil liberties and the right to free speech.'”
Still not satisfied, Doocy continued, again ignoring everything Psaki had said.
“Okay, there’s this woman Nina Jankowicz, who is going to be in charge of the board. She has said that she thinks the Hunter Biden laptop is Russian disinformation. So should we look forward in the future to her censoring internet traffic about the Hunter Biden laptop?”
“I think I noted exactly what the objective of the board is, including continuing the work of the prior administration. And the woman you noted has extensive experience and has done extensive work addressing disinformation, she has testified before Congress testified in Europe. She has done worked closely with Ukrainians and has unique expertise, especially at this moment we’re facing.”
The answers to Doocy’s questions were already readily available to anyone who wanted them, like in this Washington Post report.
Watch: