Disinformation Governance Board to tackle spread of misinformation in U.S., focusing on Russia and U.S.-Mexico border (1 Viewer)

Users who are viewing this thread

    SaintForLife

    Well-known member
    Joined
    Oct 5, 2019
    Messages
    4,970
    Reaction score
    2,401
    Location
    Madisonville
    Offline
    The Department of Homeland Security is setting up a Disinformation Governance Board to try to counter the spread of false information. The board will focus on disinformation coming from Russia as well as misleading messages about the U.S.-Mexico border, the Associated Press reports.

    The immediate focus will be on misinformation from human smugglers, who spread false claims about U.S. border policy to migrants to help drum up business.

    White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing Thursday that the board will tackle misinformation on a range of issues, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said part of its intention is to counter misinformation in Hispanic communities especially.

    Disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz will lead the board. Jankowicz, who has researched Russian misinformation tactics and online harassment, is author of the book "How To Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict." She has also advised the Ukrainian government on strategic communications, according to the Wilson Center think-tank, where she served as a global fellow.






    I actually can't believe the Biden administration created this. This was obviously a horrible idea and it's a potential threat to free speech. Is this a response to Mush buying Twitter since they can't use Twitter as their censor anymore? Either way the government has no business telling us what's misinformation.

     
    This is a bit concerning on its face, has anyone really taken the time to study what this group will be responsible for, and what their powers will be?
     
    This is a bit concerning on its face, has anyone really taken the time to study what this group will be responsible for, and what their powers will be?
    Of course not. They've taken the name of it, made wild assumptions, and rushed out opinion pieces and tweets based on combining 1984 fever dreams of mass surveillance and totalitarian repression and ignoring what little has actually been said.

    Seems more likely to be an advisory board that, I would suggest, is more likely to be offering communication based responses to disinformation than forming a legion of jackbooted Truth Police.
     
    From what little I have seen, they will not even consider anything said by any American. They are strictly looking at foreign sources of disinformation. It’s something to keep an eye on, sure, but honestly, we do have a problem with foreign disinfo. If they can just put out the truth, so that people can make up their minds with the full truth in front of them, that would be something.

    I’m not sure this will do any good, but we really need to try. I just saw an account on Twitter today with the tagline in its bio saying “Honesty is everything” and it was pushing election lies. Saying that Trump is the true president. And half of Republicans believe this shirt.
     
    It greatly depends on how closely they hew to objective reality. (Yes, there is such a thing.)

    Say if the Trump admin were in charge of it and human smugglers were telling South American refugees that the US was giving everyone $5,000 and a puppy just for applying for asylum. I'd be fine if the response was "No, that's not true. If you try to come here uninvited we'll catch you and send you right back where you came from."
     
    Freudian slip? It's a pretty bad idea. As bad an idea as a single individual controlling Twitter which, for some reason, you don't seem concerned about.
    It's funny that all of a sudden that many people think its a bad idea that a billionaire owns a media company. I don't recall hearing that same kind of concern about the other billionaires owning the media companies especially the Washington Post owner by Jeff Bezos.

    John Henry bought The Boston Globe, Patrick Soon-Shiong bought the Los Angeles Times, Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post, Laurene Powell Jobs The Atlantic, Chatchaval Jiaravanon Fortune, and Marc Benioff, of course, Time.
     
    Of course not. They've taken the name of it, made wild assumptions, and rushed out opinion pieces and tweets based on combining 1984 fever dreams of mass surveillance and totalitarian repression and ignoring what little has actually been said.

    Seems more likely to be an advisory board that, I would suggest, is more likely to be offering communication based responses to disinformation than forming a legion of jackbooted Truth Police.
    Yeah it's not like the government has ever abused certain systems to surveil and infringe on our privacy.
     
    It's hilarious that people think this is a response to Elon buying twitter. Government doesn't work that fast. This was most likely in the works since Biden took office.

    I think disinformation is a serious problem, but this office will just end up being used as a political tool. Republicans will control it one day too, so it's not like it's just a liberal tool to smash the ivermectin cult.
     
    I do think if they keep it solely for non-American sources, it could be helpful. We are reaching the point where there is no objective truth - it’s gotten so bad. It’s weaponized psyops at this point.

    To be clear - there are Americans practicing psyops on us as well. Flynn and Bannon come to mind. But if we can stem foreign sources, at least, that will help.
     
    "This thing has been or theoretically can be abused, therefore this thing is inherently not good," is a fallacy.
    Do you think it's a good idea for the government to tell us what is disinformation?
     
    Do you think it's a good idea for the government to tell us what is disinformation?
    When the source is foreign, why do you think it isn’t a good idea? Do you think it’s a bad idea for the US to counter the lies being told by Central Americans who profit from getting people to leave their homes and try to enter the US illegally?
     
    Do you think it's a good idea for the government to tell us what is disinformation?
    I think it'd be a good idea if you tried acknowledging accurate criticism once in a while, instead of just posting endless idiotic tweets and objectively terrible articles, and then avoiding responses and valid criticisms with evasive and poorly framed questions or by posting yet more of the same, and then acting like people ignoring the endless stream of crap is somehow symbolic of anything other than the abysmal quality of content you're putting on here.

    As for disinformation, governments can, should, and inevitably will respond to disinformation. Do you think it's a good idea for governments to actively avoid communication?
     
    The Department of Homeland Security is setting up a Disinformation Governance Board to try to counter the spread of false information. The board will focus on disinformation coming from Russia as well as misleading messages about the U.S.-Mexico border, the Associated Press reports.

    The immediate focus will be on misinformation from human smugglers, who spread false claims about U.S. border policy to migrants to help drum up business.

    White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing Thursday that the board will tackle misinformation on a range of issues, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said part of its intention is to counter misinformation in Hispanic communities especially.

    Disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz will lead the board. Jankowicz, who has researched Russian misinformation tactics and online harassment, is author of the book "How To Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict." She has also advised the Ukrainian government on strategic communications, according to the Wilson Center think-tank, where she served as a global fellow.






    I actually can't believe the Biden administration created this. This was obviously a horrible idea and it's a potential threat to free speech. Is this a response to Mush buying Twitter since they can't use Twitter as their censor anymore? Either way the government has no business telling us what's misinformation.



    Terrible name, terrible optics.

    What really matters is what this program will do, what its authorities are, and how it could leverage them. The federal government does engage in information publishing, if this is limited to identifying area where this board thinks there is misinformation and attempts to counter misinformation with the publication of "official" information, that's neither new nor Orwellian.

    If the board is using federal power to attempt to regulate how misinformation is being created and disseminated, that's another matter entirely. Yes, the quote to NPR sounds more like the latter than the former, but it's also presented in terms of what "should" be done - that doesn't mean they can do it based on existing authorities.
     
    if this is limited to identifying area where this board thinks there is misinformation and attempts to counter misinformation with the publication of "official" information, that's neither new nor Orwellian.

    This is how I see it, just a specific channel to counter misinformation with official information. However, two concerns:

    1. what happens when the GOP gets to staff the agency?

    2. given this statement:
    The immediate focus will be on misinformation from human smugglers, who spread false claims about U.S. border policy to migrants to help drum up business.

    Smugglers don't need to drum up business. The business comes to them. They don't go around leaving flyers on windshields promising visas or safe passage into the U.S. or have an office at the mall. If the U.S. government thinks the crowds at the border are the result of misinformation spread by coyotes, they are wrong.
     
    I feel like this tweet points out how impossible this task will be, and why I'm not sold on this existing. A tweet from the new head of this board promoting Christopher Steele's discussion on disinformation. I'm surprised she hasn't scrubbed this.

     

    Create an account or login to comment

    You must be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create account

    Create an account on our community. It's easy!

    Log in

    Already have an account? Log in here.

    Advertisement

    General News Feed

    Fact Checkers News Feed

    Sponsored

    Back
    Top Bottom