NEW: Nina Jankowicz Resigns From Biden’s Disinformation Governance Board And DHS

On Wednesday, barely three weeks after the Disinformation Governance Board was formed, Nina Jankowicz resigned from her role as its executive director. 

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appointed the 33-year-old “expert” in fighting disinformation and extremism, announced on April 27th last month. 

Jankowicz was previously a fellow at the Wilson Center, advised the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry as part of the Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship, and oversaw Russia and Belarus programs at the National Democratic Institute.

According to the Washington Post, she was attacked by “right-wing extremists,” which was allowed by the Biden administration to derail the board.

The DHS announced the Disinformation Governance Board on April 27, 2022, during a 2023 budget hearing before the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. It had begun operating two months before the announcement. The DHS had decided to form the board in 2021 after conducting research that recommended creating a group to “review questions of privacy and civil liberty for online content.” 

According to Mayorkas, the board would have no operational authority or capability but would collect best practices for dissemination to DHS organizations already tasked with defending against disinformation threats and asserted the board would not monitor American citizens. John Cohen, the former acting head of the intelligence branch of the DHS, said that the board would study policy questions, best practices, and academic research on disinformation. They would also submit guidance to the DHS secretary on how different DHS agencies should analyze online content.

On May 2, 2022, the DHS released a statement that said that the board would monitor disinformation spread by “foreign states such as Russia, China, and Iran” and “transnational criminal organizations and human smuggling organizations” and disinformation spread during natural disasters–which listed as an example, misinformation spread about the safety of drinking water during Hurricane Sandy. The DHS added that “The Department is deeply committed to doing all of its work in a way that protects Americans’ freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy.”

In the meantime, while some media outlets are reporting that the Department of Homeland Security has shut down the Disinformation Governance Board, some like WAPO have reported it as being “paused,” causing speculation about whether the decision to close it down is accurate, or not.