Free speech concerns mount over DHS ‘disinformation’ board as lawmakers, critics weigh in

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Federal and state lawmakers, constitutional scholars and other experts are expressing concerns with the Department of Homeland Security’s new misinformation board, which they say is the Biden administration’s attempt to stifle free speech.Mayorkas announced during testimony Wednesday before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security that DHS had created a Disinformation Governance Board to combat online disinformation.“The goal is to bring the resources of (DHS) together to address this threat,” Mayorkas said during the hearing, adding that the department is focused on the spread of disinformation in minority communities ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.REPUBLICANS ACCUSE MAYORKAS OF DISCREDITING ‘LEGITIMATE CRITICISM’ WITH ‘DISINFORMATION’ BOARD, DEMAND INFO
Nina Jankowicz will be executive director of the misinformation board.
(Arkadiusz Warguła/iStock)Sen. Tom Cotton, R‑Ark., was quick to condemn this latest action by the Biden administration, promising to introduce legislation to defund the new disinformation board.“The Federal Government has no business creating a Ministry of Truth. The Department of Homeland Security’s “Disinformation Board” is unconstitutional and unamerican, and I’ll be introducing a bill to defund it,” he tweeted Friday.Sen. Marco Rubio, R‑Fla., similarly tweeted, “Nothing else we are working on will matter if we don’t put an end to the Biden’s Ministry of Truth.” And Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R‑Wyo., stated, “I trust the common sense of the American people. A government arbiter of ‘truth’ department is a [red flag] for free thinking people.“Sen. Rick Scott, R‑Fla., plans to ask Mayorkas more about the board in a hearing next week before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.Oversight Committee Ranking Member Rep. James Comer, R‑Ky., organized a letter Frida …

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