The Biden Administration JUST Created a Dystopian "Disinformation Governance Board"

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now being weaponized against free speech. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the creation of a “Disinformation Governance Board,” raising serious free speech concerns. This is unprecedented and dangerous to our constitutional republic. It’s a dystopian and draconian attack on free speech. I never thought we’d see anything like it.

He announced this decision in a congressional hearing:

Our Undersecretary for Policy Rob Silvers is co-chair with our Principal Deputy General Counsel Jennifer Daskal, in leading a just recently constituted Mis/Disinformation Governance Board. The goal is to bring the resources of the department together to address this threat. I just read a very interesting study that underscored the importance of the point that you make, the spread of mis- and disinformation in minority communities specifically, and we are focused on that in the context of our CP3 and other efforts, and I’d be pleased to share more.

ACLJ Chief Counsel and my dad Jay Sekulow countered this announcement:

You talk about an attack on freedom of speech. You do realize what is happening, right? The government is empaneling a group of government employees who will, without court order or court oversight, decide whether speech that you’re giving constitutes disinformation. What are the penalties for that? . . .

Who do you think they are targeting? You know who they are targeting. You, me, broadcasts like this. You think Facebook is censorship? Just wait until the government is involved in disinformation review.

The discussion of this new “Disinformation Governance Board” arose partially in the context of election security. Think about just how far this could go.

Could you face criminal penalties under this new board for sharing your opinion? Depends on how they use it. But ACLJ Director of Policy Harry Hutchison explained how this entire concept violates the Constitution:

It is designed, in my view, to undermine the Constitution . . . . Now the Biden Administration has formally set up a new “Disinformation Governance Board” that is designed to allegedly counter misinformation regarding illegal immigration, Ukraine, and election security. The American people should rise up and they should certainly go to the polls. And they should engage in their own form, legally of course, of election security; and meanwhile, they should robustly exercise their free speech rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Executive Director of the Disinformation Governance Board Nina Jankowicz laid out what the goals of this new board will be:

For people of means, for people who are in the majority, it is a little bit easier to deal with. The onus always falls on the target of the abuse. The platforms aren’t doing very much right now. And I shudder to think about if free speech absolutists were taking over more platforms, what that would look like for the marginalized communities all around the world, which are already shouldering so much of this abuse, a disproportionate amount of this abuse, and retraumatizing themselves as they try to protect themselves from it, you know, reporting, blocking, etc.

Nina added:

We need the platforms to do more, and we frankly need law enforcement and our legislatures to do more as well. And in other countries that are looking at this, you know, the U.K. has an online safety bill that is being considered right now where they are trying to make illegal this currently, quote, “awful but lawful” content that exists online where people are being harassed. 

The keyword there is lawful. Even speech that is offensive is lawful as long as it is not threatening or criminal. ACLJ Director of Government Affairs Thann Bennett gave his take on how the Senate will likely respond to this announcement:

[Secretary Mayorkas] is going to be next week in the Senate in front of the Homeland Security committee that Josh Hawley sits on. This is going to dominate the Senators' questioning. He tweeted this:

The Administration that activated the FBI against parents at school board meetings now has created a government Disinformation Board to monitor all Americans’ speech. It’s a disgrace. Joe Biden & Secretary Mayorkas: dissolve this monstrosity immediately.

Thann added:

I got to tell you. I have seen this letter . . . and this is what the Senators are going to do next week when Secretary Mayorkas is before them.

We are working on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the DHS to get information about this board and get to the bottom of this so we can fight back. We’re already looking at other legal options. We’ll take action in court if necessary to protect every American from this draconian “Disinformation Governance Board.” We will continue to monitor the hearings and provide you with updates as they come.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more in-depth analysis of the DHS creating a Disinformation Governance Board.

Watch the full broadcast below: