Last week, the Biden administration announced the creation of their new Disinformation Governance Board. If this sounds like something out of a dystopian novel, you’re not far off. Critics have quickly likened it to the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s “1984.” But the comparison hardly seems like an exaggeration. The Disinformation Governance Board is a clear attempt to control the national conversation and shut down dissent. That’s fundamentally un-American and an attack on our First Amendment right to free speech.
This announcement comes just days after billionaire and self-described “free speech absolutist” Elon Musk bought Twitter, sending leftists into a meltdown. The timing is certainly suspicious. It seems Democrats are concerned they can no longer rely on Big Tech to help steer their narrative. Instead, they’re using the Department of Homeland Security to cudgel Americans into swallowing their agenda. Apparently, free speech is a threat to our national security.
The most ironic thing about this overreach by the Biden administration? Newly appointed Disinformation Czar Nina Jankowicz has a record of spreading misinformation herself. An ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton, she promoted debunked conspiracy theories about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia and the Kremlin throughout the 2016 election cycle. She denied the validity of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, instead insisting it was part of a Russian disinformation effort to influence the 2020 presidential election. And even after the hyped-up Russian dossier was discredited as a shady propaganda operation against President Trump, Jankowicz held up Christopher Steele as an authority on disinformation. While White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki insists the board is apolitical, Jankowicz’s record of partisanship raises serious questions about her ability—or willingness—to preserve free speech equally for all Americans.
The creation of this board is alarming, but conservatives are no strangers to censorship. Last year, President Trump was banned from Twitter. Just weeks before the 2020 election, the company suspended the New York Post’s account for breaking news on the Hunter Biden laptop scandal—a laptop that even The New York Times now admits is authentic. Popular conservative satire site The Babylon Bee was locked out of its account for “misgendering” Biden administration official Dr. Rachel Levine as a man, which Twitter considered “hateful content.” Fox News’s Tucker Carlson was also locked out of his account for a similar post.
Even the Republican National Committee (RNC) has become a victim of censorship. Last month, my podcast episode with President Trump was removed from YouTube. And even more recently, a bombshell report by researchers at North Carolina State University found that Gmail—Google’s email platform—sent Republican emails to “spam” at a rate approximately 820% higher than similar Democrat fundraising appeals during the 2020 election cycle. As a result, Republicans missed out on an estimated $1.5 billion in contributions during the 2020 election cycle and over $2 billion since 2019.
The American people are tired of the double standards. They’re sick of self-censoring to avoid offending Silicon Valley oligarchs and they’re alarmed by the modern public square being weaponized for a radical political agenda. That’s why the RNC is fighting back. Last week, we joined the NRSC and the NRCC in filing a joint complaint with the FEC regarding Google’s censorship of Republican fundraising emails. We’ll continue to expose Jankowicz as the partisan activist she is and we’ll hold the Biden administration accountable for their disturbing and dystopian Ministry of Truth.
Free speech, free thought, and dissent are hallmarks of our republic—and are never more important than during an election cycle. As Democrats seek to muzzle Americans, the GOP will continue to fight for free speech for all.