The Department of Homeland Security reportedly is getting pushback from Senate Republicans regarding the possible expansion of the agency's disinformation authority.
According to Breitbart News, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., penned a letter Tuesday to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, demanding more information about the disinformation initiatives, which might also be co-opted by subagencies within the Biden administration.
Lankford wrote, according to Breitbart: "The expansion is a disturbing trend where the federal government goes from [combating] foreign interference to controlling national narratives and debate under the guise of security. DHS appears to be taking such steps by entrenching disinformation police throughout many of its critical missions and speaking to contentious areas like the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"The concerns are further compounded by reports that DHS is continuing to coordinate with private technology and social media companies to deem what is disinformation. As a result, many citizens are rightfully troubled about the slow creep of information control.
"DHS hasn't given Congress and the American people clear answers about its full intent to combat disinformation. Instead, Members of Congress are left to read news reports and leaked documents from whistleblowers that paint a politicized attempt to silence certain viewpoints. I urge you to set expansion of disinformation authorities aside and provide timely answers to Congress."
Lankford seemingly didn't like hearing speculative reports of the DHS coordinating with private social media and technology companies, in terms of determining what qualifies as "disinformation."
Also, the Oklahoma Republican's letter backed up a recent Office of Inspector General report, which deemed there was "no need" for the Disinformation Governance Board's existence in the public sector.
According to Breitbart, internal documents obtained by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, revealed the DHS's plans for having the Disinformation Governance Board leaning on Big Tech companies to help monitor "domestic speech," including election integrity and COVID-related issues.
Here are some of Lankford's demands for Mayorkas:
- Disclosing how the DHS plans to use advanced data analytics technology and what sub-departments are going to be tasked with implementation and oversight of the technology.
- Which private-public partnerships would help the DHS analyze data from online platforms?
- Would Facebook/Meta's third-party fact-checking program be involved in DHS's efforts to report disinformation?
- Which nongovernmental organizations would be hired as consultants or contractors for this initiative?
- What's the rationale in targeting disinformation campaigns involving the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan?
- What role would the DHS potentially play in monitoring COVID-19 "disinformation" campaigns?
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