Effort led by Virginia AG Jason S. Miyares urges dissolving “un-American” disinfo board.
QUICK FACTS:
- Attorneys General from Republican-led states are threatening legal action against the “Disinformation Governance Board,” a newly formed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) group, FOX News reports.
- The fight is led by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who sent a letter (read below) to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday demanding the department stop contributing to a “chilling effect” on free speech the letter described as “un-American.”
- Nineteen other attorneys general signed on to the letter sent to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
- “This is an unacceptable and downright alarming encroachment on every citizen’s right to express his or her opinions, engage in political debate, and disagree with the government,” the attorneys general wrote.
- The Republican AGs also raised concerns about the timing of the board’s creation, pointing out that it comes just after the Biden administration had “flagged problematic posts” on social media and worked with Big Tech companies and the private sector to take down “misinformation” off their platforms. Specifically, they point to the new disinfo group’s inception coming after the recent acquisition of Twitter by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who committed to ensuring free speech and transparency on the platform.
- “Suddenly, just as Elon Musk prepares to acquire Twitter with the stated purpose of correcting the platform’s censorship of free speech, you announce the creation of the Disinformation Governance Board. As the Biden Administration apparently loses a critical ally in its campaign to suppress speech it deems ‘problematic,’ you have created a new government body to continue that work within the federal government,” states the letter to Mayorkas.
- “The contemporaneous occurrence of these two events is hard to explain away as mere coincidence. It instead raises troubling questions about the extent of the Biden Administration’s practice of coordinating with private-sector companies to suppress disfavored speech,” the letter went on to say.
AGs CONNECT DISINFO BOARD TO ORWELL:
“Unless you turn back now and disband this Orwellian Disinformation Governance Board immediately, the undersigned will have no choice but to consider judicial remedies to protect the rights of their citizens,” the GOP AGs conclude.
READ AG MIYARES’ LETTER:
BACKGROUND:
- Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) questioned DHS Secretary Mayorkas at a recent Senate hearing regarding the Disinformation Governance Board, to be led by Nina Jankowiz (watch below).
- Kennedy’s questioning revealed that Mayorkas “was not aware” of Jankowiz’s provocative TikTok videos throughout the department’s hiring process.
- The questioning also revealed the “mission [of the Disinformation Board] is to protect the security of the homeland” and will “address disinformation when it threatens the security of the homeland.”
- Mayorkas has stated that he believes “the most prominent threat is the threat of White supremacists.”
