Republican Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) has issued a warning that Congress “needs to act” to prevent President Joe Biden from trying to reactivate his paused Disinformation Governance Board.
Former Democrat Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) also joined calls to block the controversial board after the Biden administration put the “Ministry of Truth” on hold this week.
Sen. Cotton warned that measures must be put in place to prevent the board, or anything like it, from being “created again in the future.”
Cotton said:
“I’m glad to know that this Orwellian Ministry of Truth is at least paused for the moment, but I think it’s important to realize that it’s only paused because the American people found out about it.
“The government has no business refereeing disputes engaged in political campaigns or public debates.
“If you don’t like someone else’s speech, the solution is more speech.
“It’s not to use the Department of Homeland Security, for goodness’ sake, to try to censor or label someone’s arguments in the public sphere.
“Now, I think the Democrats often believe that disinformation and misinformation are simply facts that reflect poorly on Joe Biden and the Democrat Party.
“Congress needs to act in the weeks ahead to ensure that it – and nothing like it – can ever be created again in the future.”
WATCH:
If you disagree with someone, the solution isn’t to use the Department of Homeland Security to censor free speech. pic.twitter.com/lgFtW84XyM
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) May 18, 2022
Gabbard echoed Cotton’s calls, describing the board as “propaganda,” saying:
“Freedom requires vigilance.
“The vigilance of courageous Americans has forced the Biden Admin to ‘pause’ the Ministry of Truth (Disinformation Board).
“We must not allow them to reactivate this propaganda arm (with new name/leadership?)”
Freedom requires vigilance. The vigilance of courageous Americans has forced the Biden Admin to “pause” the Ministry of Truth (Disinformation Board). We must not allow them to reactivate this propaganda arm (with new name/leadership?)
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) May 19, 2022
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas picked former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff to replace Jankowicz to lead a “thorough review” of the disinformation board after he put it on “pause” after intense backlash.
“This assessment will focus on answering two pivotal questions,” the DHS said in a statement Wednesday.
“First, how can the Department most effectively and appropriately address disinformation that poses a threat to our country.”
“Second, how can DHS achieve greater transparency across our disinformation-related work and increase trust with the public and other stakeholders.”
Statement on the Disinformation Governance Board ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/KXFDgmYLv1
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 18, 2022
