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Congresswoman Lauren Boebert recently introduced “The Protecting Free Speech Act” to defund what has been dubbed by critics the “Ministry of Truth” in reference to George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
The stated purpose of the officially named “Department of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board” is to monitor and respond to false information spread by governments in Russia and China, and transnational human smuggling organizations.
According to the administration, the board is merely continuing efforts that began under the Trump administration at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to thwart foreign disinformation dissemination.
Critics are concerned the board will not confine its attention to foreign disinformation intended to inflate American partisan divisions and will take sides in online debates among Americans.
This would be in direct violation of the First Amendment. “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech” and by extension, no executive agency can justify abridging such freedoms under existing laws.
There is plenty of homegrown misinformation. Critics question whether the board will respond to leftwing falsehoods and fantasies of the “if you like your health plan, you can keep it” or the Steele Dossier variety with the same vigor as rightwing stolen election or anti-vaccine fabrications.
Worse, opinion, hyperbole, sarcasm, satire and simple mistakes could be misinterpreted as disinformation as they are sometimes by social media censors. The only time Facebook ever blocked one of my posts was when I attempted to say something about the “bomb cyclone,” the low-pressure weather system that took Colorado by surprise in 2019.
The timing of the announcement of the new agency is disconcerting — late April, just when Elon Musk was looking to buy Twitter and loosen the constraints on expression imposed by the prior leadership of Twitter. It appeared to be a reaction even if it wasn’t.
Critics are also concerned about Executive Director Nina Jankowicz, who was a disinformation fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. Critics say she is not the right person for the job given her positive comments about Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous, discredited Steele Dossier.
All of these concerns are quite valid. Yes, there is a certain level of irony in a congresswoman, known for embarrassing outbursts during the State of the Union and venting covfefe on Twitter, carrying the bill, but she is right; the Department of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board, should be defunded and its doors shut.
The irony doesn’t end there. Disinformation fellowship at the Wilson Center, from which Jankowicz hails, is named after President Wilson, who was the first president to initiate a large-scale propaganda agency within the federal government.
Right after Congress declared war in April 13, 1917, Wilson created the Committee on Public Information to shape press coverage and public discourse about the war. Called “the nation’s first ministry of information” by journalist Stephen Ponder, the agency produced articles, advertisements, and even “guidelines” for newspaper editors to promote the war and American nationalism.
That’s not the purpose of the Biden Administration’s Disinformation Governance Board; nevertheless, Americans should question federal government involvement in public discourse. It is not the government’s duty to police speech; it’s the individual’s responsibility to listen to trustworthy voices, pass on factual information, and voice opinions without dehumanizing opponents, and to avoid those engaging in disinformation and defamation.
The government must leave Americans to converse without interference.
Krista L. Kafer is a weekly Denver Post columnist. Follow her on Twitter: @kristakafer
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