Photo illustration by Noah Clay Dawson
By Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief; Noah Clay Dawson, Columnist; Tom Warren, Publisher; and the Amarillo Pioneer’s Editorial Board
At the Pioneer, we have rarely delved into issues of solely national interest, and have tried to stay regionally and locally based in our reporting, coverage, and commentary. However, this week’s announcement that the Biden administration will be creating a new Disinformation Governance Board has caused us to revisit this position and make our feelings very clear on this newly announced entity.
We have long been believers in free speech, free press, and the right of Americans to communicate freely and openly on controversial issues without fear of retribution from the government. After all, isn’t free speech a principle enshrined and protected by our Constitution? In recent years, we have seen an uptick in political activists both locally and nationally deeming information inconvenient for their beliefs or positions as “fake news,” “disinformation,” or even “hate speech.” This isn’t a trend that is exclusive to one party or ideology, as it has been a commonly recurring theme in recent years of political discourse in America.
With that in mind, this week’s announcement by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that the department will be creating a Disinformation Governance Board has us very concerned for the future of free speech in America, on a large scale and also on a smaller, more-regional basis.
The Biden administration has played coy on what exactly this entity will do, other than Mayorkas’ very vague comments about election security.
“We have just established a mis- and disinformation governance board in the Department of Homeland Security to more effectively combat this threat, not only to election security but to our homeland security,” Mayorkas said during a recent congressional hearing.
On the surface, this comment might seem harmless, but it actually poses serious threats to the future of free speech in America, including the glaring questions of how misinformation and disinformation will be defined, who will be defining those terms, who will be enforcing those terms, and how exactly those terms will be combatted.
Additionally, the announcement of the board also saw the selection of Nina Jankowicz to serve as its executive director. This selection is troubling when considering how politically charged the terms “misinformation” and “disinformation” have become in our public discourse in America. Prior to her selection, Jankowicz made her position known as a pro-Biden partisan who has criticized Republican candidates on Twitter. Does this seem like the right person to lead an entity that is supposed to be charged with policing “misinformation” and “disinformation” when the definitions of those terms vary wildly depending on the political ideology of the definer?
We are very concerned about what this entity means for our county as a whole and the future of free speech in America. Will conservatives be allowed to have conversations about free speech without their statements being deemed “misinformation” or “disinformation,” thus earning them the wrath of the federal government?
Likewise, on a smaller level, will independent news entities like our company be able to continue reporting on controversial issues and sharing potentially controversial commentaries from those across the political spectrum with the risk that our content could be deemed “misinformation” or “disinformation,” thus garnering the attention of the federal government?
Additionally, will this entity be used just to target political opponents of the Biden administration, and if so, will future presidents use this entity to target their own political opponents?
The creation of the Disinformation Governance Board is too dangerous and provides too many possible issues for the future of free speech in America.
Our editorial board strongly opposes the creation of the Disinformation Governance Board and calls upon President Biden to rescind its creation effective immediately. If President Biden and his administration allow this entity to be created and allow it to target controversial or politically inconvenient speech in the way that it is feared it might, then free speech in America will be irreparably damaged.