The board is being paused this week, as first reported by the Washington Post, after the director resigned, in a victory for conservatives. An email was sent to Gizmodo from a DHS spokesman.
With the Board's work paused and its future uncertain, and I have decided to leave DHS to return to my work in the public sphere, Jankowicz said in her resignation announcement. It is disappointing that the mischaracterizations of the Board became a distraction from the Department's vital work.
In recent weeks, Alejandro Mayorkas tried to defend her, at least on some platforms, but it wasn't enough.
The Department of Homeland Security wrote to Gizmodo about the attacks and threats against Jankowicz. She will continue to be a leader in this field.
From the Department of Homeland Security.
“To help instill trust in our work, Secretary Mayorkas has asked former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick to lead a thorough review and assessment, conducted through the bipartisan Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC). This assessment will focus on answering two pivotal questions. First, how can the Department most effectively and appropriately address disinformation that poses a threat to our country, while protecting free speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy. Second, how can DHS achieve greater transparency across our disinformation-related work and increase trust with the public and other key stakeholders. The Secretary has requested the HSAC’s final recommendations within 75 days. During the HSAC’s review, the Board will not convene and its work will be paused, but the Department’s critical work across several administrations to address disinformation that threatens the security of our country will continue.”
The board's roll-out was shaky from the beginning, and its purpose was a little vague, but ultimately what shut the DGB down was misinformation. A troll campaign began with Jankowicz's first post. Jack Posobiec, a far-right influencer, started a storm in response to Jankowicz, trying to undermine her by comparing the dis info board to Orwell'sMinistry.
The creation of the board and Jankowicz herself were both slammed in thousands of posts, often in misogynistic and anti-Semitic ways, as pointed out by the Associated Press.
The Missouri Attorney General posted a letter and a series of social media posts describing the board as a threat to free speech. The board was called a terrible idea by Romney.
The Board was never about censorship or policing speech, according to the DHS. It was designed to ensure we fulfill our mission to protect the homeland while protecting core Constitutional rights.
It is still a pretty opaque factsheet, so it provides additional detail. The end has been bolded by Gizmodo.
The Department identifies disinformation that threatens the homeland through publicly available sources, research conducted by academic and other institutions, and information shared by other federal agencies and partners. DHS then shares factual information related to its mission to potentially impacted people and organizations.
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 fact, the Disinformation Governance Board is an internal working group that was established with the explicit goal of ensuring these protections are appropriately incorporated across DHS’s disinformation-related work and that rigorous safeguards are in place. The working group also seeks to coordinate the Department’s engagements on this subject with other federal agencies and a diverse range of external stakeholders. The working group does not have any operational authority or capability.
Jankowicz, the target of much of the far-right hate, was appointed to head the board because of her research into Russian misinformation. She wrote a book on how to lose the information war and another about standing up for herself online.
She made some comments about verified users of the social networking site and posted a musical about Rudy Giuliani. All of the above were part of the right-wing campaign against Jankowicz.
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