Biden’s Disinformation Task Force Disbanded After Three Weeks, Head Nina Jankowski Resigns

The Department of Homeland Security “paused” the controversial disinformation board just three weeks after it began.

Nina Jankowski, who was hired to head the task force, has also stepped down.

“I had hoped we would be more transparent about how the board was going to operate and what it was going to do,” Jankowski said. “For whatever reason, that didn’t happen, and that information vacuum only grew. And I think the information vacuum kind of directed a lot of the attacks and digging around in my personal life.”

Jankowski, who previously worked to stop disinformation in Eastern Europe, added that she is unsure if the board had a future.

At its inception, the board’s purpose was to “protect free speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy.”

The board was surrounded by controversy with some worried about protecting free speech and stifling voices on the right. Homeland Security responded to their worries confirming the board would be used to boost “counter-disinformation activities,” especially surrounding Russian disinformation, rather than censor Americans.

Republican lawmakers were also concerned that Jankowski may have biases after an old TikTok she had made concerning former President Donald Trump‘s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was shared on social media.

Homeland Security Advisory Council will conduct an investigation of the board, and the board will not meet during that time. Jankowski said she hopes that the board will still meet despite her departure.