Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley announced Monday that he plans to introduce legislation eliminating the Biden administration’s controversial “Disinformation Board.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the proposed Disinformation Governance Board mere days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased Twitter. But some are sounding the alarm on the administration’s idea.
“If Joe Biden won’t dissolve his unconstitutional Disinformation Board, Congress should,” tweeted Hawley. “I will introduce legislation this week to eliminate the Board and forbid the government ever to create another one.”
“It’s time to stand up for free speech,” he added.
If Joe Biden won’t dissolve his unconstitutional Disinformation Board, Congress should. I will introduce legislation this week to eliminate the Board and forbid the government ever to create another one. It’s time to stand up for free speech
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) May 2, 2022
Musk himself called the proposed board “discomforting” in a reply to conservative comedian Steven Crowder, who tweeted Thursday, “The government is creating a misinformation governance board. Who else did something like that? Oh I remember, the Nazi’s [sic]. And there’s some data showing some interesting things going on post-[Elon Musk]’s Twitter takeover!”
The board will be headed by Nina Jankowicz, who formerly worked as a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center and will act as executive director. She has not responded to requests for comment from The Daily Wire.
Jankowicz previously referred to Hunter Biden’s laptop as a “Trump campaign product,” the Washington Examiner reported, suggesting that it was a “Russian influence op.” She has since said the tweet was “simply a direct quote from both candidates during the final presidential debate.”
Last week, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to challenge the proposed board, comparing it to an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth.”
“You cannot have a Ministry of Truth in this country,” DeSantis said Friday morning in Williston, Florida. “Let’s get real here. Let’s make sure we are doing things to benefit Floridians and Americans, but we’re not going to let Biden get away with this one. We will be fighting back.”
The governor compared Biden’s efforts to a war on conservatives protesting the “decaying and discredited ruling elite in this country,” according to Florida Politics, calling the Biden administration’s proposed board a “belated April Fool’s Joke” intended to “stifle dissent.”
“They want to be able to put out false narratives without people being able to speak out and fight back,” DeSantis continued. “They want to be able to say things like ‘Russian collusion’ and perpetuate hoaxes and have people like us be silenced.”