Last week, US Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), along with more than a dozen fellow co-sponsors, introduced a bill to defund The Department of Homeland Security’s “Disinformation Governance Board.” The bill forbids federal funds from being used to “establish or support the activities of a Disinformation Governance Board at the Department of Homeland Security, or any other similar entity established in the Department of Homeland Security.”
In a press release announcing the bill’s filing, Tillis stated, “The Disinformation Governance Board is an Orwellian attempt by the Biden administration to manipulate and control information they don’t like about their failed policies.” Co-sponsors of the legislation include Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).
Since the Disinformation Governance Board was announced in late April, it has been met with widespread criticism from lawmakers and citizens alike. Despite the Department of Homeland Security stating that the board is a working group that “does not have any operational authority or capability,” countless individuals have taken to social media to further the 1984 comparisons by nicknaming the board “The Ministry of Truth.” A Twitter account bearing the username “U.S. Ministry of Truth” has already garnered over a quarter-million followers with its posts intended to satirize the board.
The bill to defund the disinformation board is short, approximately 100 words, but Tillis believes the purpose of this legislation is significant, stating, “Taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for this kind of free-speech limiting political experiment, and I am proud to introduce this legislation to defund it.”