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Matt Taibbi Co-Authors New Report Showing DHS Likely Has Scrapped ‘Disinformation Governance Board’

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Readers following closely the story of new Twitter CEO Elon Musk applying the “sunlight is the best disinfectant” adage by sharing massive amounts of information about the social media giant’s previous activities through the “Twitter Files” will recognize the name of one of the independent reporters tapped for that role: Matt Taibbi.

You also might have followed our coverage of the Biden Administration Department of Homeland Security (DHS) entity, the “Disinformation Governance Board.” The roll out was anything but smooth, include videos floating around in April 2022 showing the group’s public face, Nina Jankowicz, saying truly creepy things during Zoom meetings about what the Board would do—that is, when Americans weren’t being treated to Jankowicz’s musical stylings.

By mid-May, though, after backlash over the “disinformation” entity from Americans, DHS announced that the Disinformation Governance Board would be placed “on hold”:

On Tuesday The Washington Post reported that the new Orwellian department had been “put on hold” by the Department of Homeland Security due to the perplexing and completely, totally unexpected backlash from Americans who wonder if the “largest purveyor of misinformation” in the world is the appropriate entity to be determining what qualifies as disinformation when it comes to the free speech of private citizens.

Then Musk began releasing the info for the Twitter Files in early December, starting with “a trove of documents outlaying a concerted effort by Twitter to suppress the Hunter Biden story during the 2020 election.” You might recall that the documents appeared to show that the DNC and Biden were complicit in those efforts. (The Files haven’t stopped coming, with the most recent release earlier in March.)

Then later in December, Republican Senators Josh Hawley (Missouri) and Chuck Grassley (Iowa), as part of their investigation, held hearings in which they grilled DHS Secretary Mayorkas over the Board and its intended, domestic purposes, which could stifle the First Amendment. As Streiff wrote, this was not the “focus,” but just a sideline to their work:

The Hawley-Grassley investigation’s focus was not on social media, per se, but on the practice of some federal agencies becoming actively involved in suppressing content that was not helpful to their aims.

Earlier in March, we wrote about some sneaky looking activity in September 2022, with the creation of the Foreign Malign Influence Center (FMIC). Here’s how my colleague Jim Thompson described it:

In September 2022, the  “Foreign Malign Influence Center” quietly opened for business. It is, for lack of a better analogy, a clone of the dead and buried “Disinformation Governance Board.” The FMIC’s mission is the very same that Jankowicz would have headed, but apparently without her Disney musical remakes. Its mission statement is to counter “malign influence” that ostensibly would influence behaviors and opinions, and elections.

But as the official page for the FMIC shows, this isn’t a DHS project after all. It reads, in part:

Chartered by Congress and established by the DNI, FMIC serves as the primary U.S. Government organization for analyzing and integrating all intelligence and other reporting… pertaining to foreign malign influence, including election security.

Now, a new report co-authored by Taibbi and Susan Schmidt brings us up to date on the Disinformation Governance Board’s activities—or rather, news of its possible demise. Their piece at Racket News reads:

The Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to present a less Orwellian exterior to the public took a big step forward this week, as it disbanded a key subcommittee linked to the Department’s ill-fated Disinformation Governance Board, announced last year and quickly “paused” amid public outcry.

Jen Easterly, head of the DHS’s cyber division — the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA — this week convened the agency’s influential Cybersecurity Advisory Committee (CSAC), which is made up of senior executives from organizations like Twitter, Amazon, and the Stanford Internet Observatory. The agency announced an expanded roster, adding 13 new members to CSAC, including chief cybersecurity officer for General Motors Kevin Tierney and Cathy Lanier, the chief security officer for the NFL. The full CSAC now contains 34 members.

However, amid the additions, CISA also shuffled responsibilities, making a key change. In particular, its “MDM” advisory subcommittee, for “Misinformation, Disinformation and Malinformation,” was scrapped.

It continues by noting that “[a] spokesman for the agency said the change appeared in an unpublicized summary of a Dec. 6 advisory board meeting. The summary provided to Racket states Easterly decided late last year that the subcommittee had fulfilled its tasks and would ‘stand down.’”

Taibbi and Schmidt’s report stresses that it’s not odd that no one spotted it—since it appears it was quietly added on their website in February:

But that notice appears to have only been posted on the agency website recently (the Wayback Machine captured a first image of it in late February).

Besides the fact that the agency disbanded the subcommittee responsible for the Board, the blockbuster of the report is this nugget—what isn’t on the DHS’ site anymore:

Last week, Mike Benz of the Foundation for Freedom Online reported that CISA scrubbed key sections of its web page about its campaign against “Misinformation, Disinformation, and Malinformation.” Crucially, the agency appeared to remove references to “domestic threat actors” as purveyors of “MDM.”

The updated page now refers to foreign actors only, and no longer makes reference to other domestic-facing programs, like an “MDM planning and incident response guide for election officials.”

As this probably isn’t the last word we’ll hear about the Biden team and their allies seeking to monitor information and speech they don’t like—even at times calling it “misinformation”—we’ll keep you posted on any updates.

The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.

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RedState Weekly Briefing: Reality Bites

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Welcome to the RedState Weekly Briefing  — where we take a quick look at the week’s most viewed stories in case you missed any of them. Grab a cup of coffee and sit down with this 21st Century Weekend Edition of your favorite (online) publication!

Elon Musk
Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File

#1 – Turley Raises a Big Question about J6 Chansley Case, Then Elon Drops a Bombshell Video — by Nick Arama

They showed videos of Chansley yelling at the crowd. But what they didn’t show was this kind of video, of him peacefully walking around with the officers not threatening anyone. It showed that he wasn’t the character being portrayed to the judge in his case, which may have factored into why he got such a stiff sentence for non-violent action.

Not only does Chansley have Carlson and Turley asking questions about his case, but now he has Twitter owner Elon Musk as well. Musk commented on the video that Carlson had shown about Chansley on his show, showing him being guided around by the police.

Biden
AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel

#2 – Biden Laughs About IRS Going After Americans, as Yellen Gives Away His Huge Lie — by Nick Arama 

So Smith asked what are they talking about when they’re talking about “will not see an increase” — did she mean the total number of new IRS audits or a proportionate number based on historic levels?

“I’m talking about the proportion of those small businesses and families,” Yellen responded.

“Okay. So the proportion, I mean, just for the record, the proportion is 90%,” said Smith, referencing the GAO report. “So 90% of the new audits will be, you know, according to the data, that we can expect up to 90% of new audits to be on those making less than $400,000.”

Oh, so they were playing word games with us. They’re still going to have 90 percent of the new audits falling on us. What weasels. Not that we didn’t know that Joe was lying, but they are such slimy liars, particularly playing these word games.

AP/Reuters Feed Library

#3 – There’s a Growing ‘Trad-Wife’ Trend That’s Making Feminists Furious — by Brandon Morse 

However, the media is acting as if this is a contagion that needs to be suppressed and destroyed ASAP. People on TikTok are going after these women as if they were social pariahs, denouncing and belittling them at every turn.

While I won’t deny that there are some performative aspects to this growing TikTok trend, as I suspect everything on TikTok to be at least a little theatrical, I don’t see these women looking down on others for not being like them. Moreover, I don’t see them spreading or endorsing any kind of evil. There are bad apples in every tree, but I haven’t seen enough to convince me this is the breeding ground of racism and bigotry like some have claimed.

The question I have to ask is why these people are reacting so negatively to this traditional wife trend.

Kevin McCarthy
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

#4 – Kevin McCarthy Goes There in Speech, Goes off on Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell for Lying — by Jerry Wilson 

It is simultaneously refreshing and exciting that McCarthy would be so blunt in his comments. It is also a mite puzzling. Given how much of modern politics is constantly pointing toward the next election, looking for any pull-quote usable to bolster one’s standing among the faithful, not providing same is standard operational procedure. McCarthy’s comments are blue-meat fodder for Schiff’s Senatorial campaign.

They also are usable by Swalwell. Despite the laughable failure of his 2020 presidential campaign, Swalwell clearly has his eye on higher office, most likely the governorship whenever Newsom tires of the job. Perhaps McCarthy is, in his way, living out something Hawkeye Pierce said on M*A*S*H:

You know what a hero is? Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, he’s somebody who’s tired enough and cold enough and hungry enough not to give a damn. I don’t give a damn.

Matt Taibbi
Screenshot via YouTube

#5 – Taibbi Drops Yet Another Dem With a Little Reality — by Nick Arama 

Not only did she ask, but Garcia did as well, as the first video in this story showed.

Taibbi is just on fire, he’s calling all these Democrats out on their lies.

He also made an interesting observation about Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) who hilariously claimed that there wasn’t “any direct government censorship of lawful speech.” Notice the “weasel word” in there, “direct.” If they don’t explicitly say the word “ban” they’re not trying to get the person they flag to Twitter banned, wink wink, it’s not “direct.” But Rep. Jim Jordan (D-OH) dropped him with an example of a request to censor Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

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The Latest Twitter Files Release Reveals Efforts by the Government and Social Media Platforms to Block ‘True’ Information

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Matt Taibbi provides more disturbing evidence of how extensive the government’s desire and the outlets’ cooperation were to kill accurate information.

Matt Taibbi has just posted the latest batch of internal messages from the social media giant: The Twitter Files #19. This latest release comes just after he and Michael Shellenberger made an appearance before a House Committee regarding the activities at Twitter, and the contentious attitudes and belittling of these reporters by certain House members on March 9 are made even clearer as a result.

These latest revelations lay out cleanly the organized effort that took place to manage and control the pandemic-related messaging on social media, and the widespread agreement of those platforms. What is striking is just how extensive this plan was and the manner in which all of the various entities involved worked in concert to smother discourse that even those involved acknowledged was accurate.

Stanford University served essentially as the information hub, under the banner of “The Virality Project.” This enterprise was fed voluminous amounts of posts — numbering into the billions — that came from government agencies and social media platforms. They were flagging posts that dealt with questions about the vaccines, Senator Rand Paul’s comments on natural immunity, and even people telling or sharing what were labeled “worrisome jokes.” This shows how extensive their net was and how fine their information filter was set.

The Virality Project (VP) stated it was even flagging posts and content it admitted were accurate because the nature of these posts was deemed either dangerous or running counter to desired government efforts. These were flagged even as they were said to harbor “true content,” and as a result, they came up with a new designation: Instead of “disinformation,” these flagged posts were dubbed “malinformation” because the factual content could lead to vaccine hesitancy.

Another reason this type of action was so disturbing is that it involved so many entities which normally would not be so cooperative. As Taibbi points out, many of those participating in this project are normally working in their self-interest. But these were corporate rivals joining together. More than just Twitter, the Virality Project also involved Google/YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Medium, TikTok, and Pinterest. These competitors were banding together under the guidance of the government and managed by Stanford to deliver an approved and homogenized narrative on their platforms.

The VP managed to both narrow its acceptable guidelines (from flagging opinions down to determining which facts were acceptable) and in turn broaden what would become flagged as misinformation. The entire goal was to preserve the governmental narrative. People expressing concerns over vaccine passports, for example, were cited because these concerns could then lead to vaccine hesitancy. 

Factual issues with one vaccine — from AstraZeneca — were squelched because it could lead to people casting doubts on other vaccines. This was the move to kill off possibly important health information, accurate information that could have impacted individuals. But because the broader narrative could have been threatened, this accurate information was targeted to be censored. This meant that even the New York Times came under the focus of the VP.

This policing of the language by the VP was so militant that factual news items would be flagged if the people who were mentioning those valid reports were doing so to promote the wrong narrative. Given as an example was the case of an elderly woman who became vaccinated and then soon after passed away. This was an entirely accurate and media-reported event, but because too many people sharing it or commenting on it were considered “anti-vax,” then the factual news story became labeled as misinformation.

The VP also began cataloging notable accounts that routinely put out information of which they disapproved, and thus rather than citing their specific posts which were problematic, the account itself would be declared a misinformation source. Senator Robert Kennedy was one such individual who fell into their category of “Known Repeat Offender.” So rather than flagging particular comments, Kennedy, and numerous others, were deemed to be wrong, just on the basis of who they are.

Stanford was growing in its confidence as the VP continued. Not only was it making more determinations and expanding its qualifications for “misinformation,” it soon became more proactive in this arrangement and began coaching the government. At one point the VP was advising the DHS to begin undertaking particular initiatives to combat rumors and disapproved narratives that were spreading nationwide. Immediately after was when Alejandro Mayorkas announced the formation of the ridiculed DIsinformation Governance Board.

Things took on a true Orwellian nature when we see one of the avenues of investigation. The VP began seeking out those who were commenting on the possibility of a “surveillance state.” This becomes the darkest of ironies; an established shadow project overseen by the government was trying to ferret out those suggesting there was a government-operated shadow project.

What becomes disturbingly clear is that this was an operation intent on enforcing true censorship, and it originated within our federal government. Throughout the examples Taibbi provides, you see it mentioned by those involved that information they were targeting was factual and true – and even as was seen, frequently the VP was itself factually inaccurate. 

It flagged as false the now-proven fact that those vaccinated can still contract COVID (our frequently-infected President Jose Biden is a testament.) The Wuhan lab leak story has now become certified. People punished for expressing concerns over governments issuing vaccine passports were proven to be accurate.

The most ominous aspect in all of this is the repeated assertion of facts which then must be stifled. Without any public knowledge, we had an extensive enterprise with numerous power centers working together to control the approved messaging. The underlying reality is that facts were frequently pushed aside because those were details interfering with the government messaging. The release of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s emails was cited by Graphika as an example of how this release of information undermined authorities.

All of this displays a disturbing level of thought control by government entities, and it explains so much about the hostility visited upon Taibbi and Shellenberger when they sat before the House committee. The Twitter Files continue to expose the level this federal government was willing to go to control what people were permitted to say on social media and the broader news outlets. The Democrats who lashed out at these reporters were angered that their control was being exposed in an Oz-like fashion, and their authoritarian desires are being threatened.

This is how you know they have been caught. The revelation of facts and the act of opening up information has the politicians, the social media platforms, and the compliant journalism outlets seething. The people who call for transparency and the news divisions that normally love whistleblowers are united in their disdain for these details going public. Like vampires in sunlight, they are recoiling at the facts shining down on them.

The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.

Or Forever Hold Your Peace

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Ever since the hearing before the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government last Thursday, I’ve been trying to gather my thoughts on it – which isn’t easy, as there are so many. I watched the whole proceeding and spent the entirety of it alternating between anger and bemusement. I’m certain I wasn’t alone in that – at least not the bemusement – as it was written all over the faces of witnesses Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger.

Watching the reality sink in for both of them that not only were the First Amendment and journalistic ethics not the primary concern of the minority members, they were anathema to their cause, was bittersweet. It was gratifying to the extent it validated concerns I (and many on the right) have been raising regarding the alarmingly authoritarian and censorious lurch of our government in recent years; heartbreaking to see the realization washing over them that the core foundational principles underpinning our Constitution — and our republic — simply aren’t respected or valued by people they’d previously considered allies.

Neither Taibbi nor Shellenberger has been shy about sharing their dismay at the way things went down at the hearing — or at the very real threat presented by the “Censorhip-Industrial Complex.”

It bears repeating that Shellenberger and Taibbi are neither Republicans nor conservatives. Although, as indicated above, recent developments have likely severely diminished — if not outright extinguished — their affection for the Democratic Party.

As someone who had my own parting of ways with the Democrats in my mid-thirties, I empathize. Even now, nearly twenty years later, seeing the utter contempt with which so many on the left (including sitting members of Congress) view the ideals of free speech — ideals which I gladly embraced as a liberal Democrat and have continued to hold dear throughout my political conversion — is frustrating, almost painful, to watch.

I shared some of that frustration while co-hosting the Tim Jones & Chris Arps show Thursday afternoon on NewsTalkSTL. (That part of the discussion came near the end of the show — at roughly the 2:09:00 mark.)

Over and over recently, I’ve thought to myself (though I know I’m not alone in this) that free speech principles truly are the hill to die on. I had that in my mind as I began writing this column, then realized I’d, in fact, written just that not quite a year ago:

The Hill to Die On

But there is a hill I’ll die on and it’s come into sharp focus this week with the announcement by the Biden administration that it was creating the “Disinformation Governance Board” – the DGB — through the Department of Homeland Security. Ostensibly, the aim is to combat “mis-, dis-, and mal-information.” Immediate and obvious comparisons to Orwell’s Ministry of Truth sprang up.

This trend of late by many on the left to look to the government to regulate (read: “control”) speech is beyond disturbing and is, in fact, the antithesis of liberal. It is illiberal – and this is where I will stand and fight.

The freedoms guaranteed by our Bill of Rights aren’t just foundational — they are fundamental to our survival as a nation. We know that. So why are so many on the left — including the legacy media — seemingly so hellbent on chipping away at them? The obvious answer is that there is something they value over and above these essential liberties — they may cloak it in terms of “safety,” but the inescapable conclusion is that it comes back to power. And speech that counters — or even just questions — their narrative poses a threat to that. So it must be squelched.

And they’re not even subtle about it anymore. Big Government has formed an unholy alliance with Big Tech and they’re trying six ways from Sunday to silence any dissent.

RedState and other right-leaning media have been pushing back and will continue to do so. But these latest developments demonstrate that this isn’t just about resistance from the right against the party in power. Even some on the center-left are waking up to these dangers. If ever there were a time to make a stand, this is it.

That means it’s more important than ever to ensure that our voices are heard — and to amplify the sane voices of those like Taibbi, Shellenberger, and others who haven’t lost the plot. Speak now…or forever hold your peace.

This is why we need you, dear readers. Sites like RedState — with your support — play a critical role in amplifying those conservative (and rational non-progressive) voices and a vital role in reaching those persuadable hearts and minds. They’re out there, but they need to see and hear that they’re not alone and it’s not a losing battle.

We’ve gained some ground, but we still have to combat the digital might of Big Tech and its powerful allies and that means finding ways around the stranglehold they’re attempting to achieve on information. That’s why we created our VIP program — so we wouldn’t be left at the mercy of their infrastructure. Each RedState VIP and VIP Gold membership lessens our reliance on Big Tech and allows us to continue this critical work. We know that the Biden economy is affecting everyone’s bottom line, so with the promo code SAVEAMERICA you’ll get 40% off your VIP membership.

By becoming a RedState VIP member, you’ll not only directly support us in changing minds and winning those ideological battles, but you’ll also get exclusive columns and videos from  Andrew Malcolm, Jeff Charles, Kira Davis, Brandon Morse, and more.

P.S. – While VIP members have access to a wealth of exclusive content, VIP Gold subscribers get even more. With VIP Gold, not only is your direct support doubled, but VIP Gold members have Gold access across the entire Townhall Media family (Townhall, RedState, PJ Media, and more) – a nearly $300 value.

So if you’ve been holding off on signing up, I urge you to do so now — and encourage others who view the world through a rational lens and value the bedrock freedoms guaranteed by our Bill of Rights to do so now. Speak now.

Ex Vox ‘Journalist’ Aaron Rupar Gets Laid Low With Facts by Matt Taibbi and It’s a Thing of Beauty

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The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.

I’m a big fan of Aaron Rupar. Aaron is 39 years old, a self-described freelance journalist who formally did his “journalisming” for Vox.Com. He’s made his bones critiquing and criticizing Donald Trump and anything related to conservatives or a conservative issue. He’s also an absolute master of stepping on rakes. Aaron hasn’t missed a rake in his long career of mostly mean-posting or posting videos on Twitter claiming something that is true when it’s verifiably false. Aaron might have developed a callus on his ample forehead that allows him to ignore his multiple missteps into Bigboyland.

In 2021, when the Vice President was tweeting not about the reason for Memorial Day but entreating us to “enjoy the long weekend,” Fox News noted the incongruity between Harris’ flip comment and her official position. How did our rake champ note her flub? By tweeting about Fox News and attempting to mock Fox’s… inconsistency?

The difference was obvious, the first tweet was reporting a story about a clueless sitting Veep. The second was a non-government news site producing a patriotic photo. Aaron couldn’t see the difference, through the rake on his face.

In November 2022, Rupar got his panties in a bunch after a retired producer, Mike Sington, posted a video from a Hershel Walker speech. The clip has an “OAN” tag in the bottom left. Aaron had posted the same video (that he didn’t shoot or produce) and got mad at Sington. Sington apologized (why is another question). Aaron’s panties were still in a bunch, so he responded thusly:

Rupar got raked. Not the “Did I step on another rake, Mom?” type; rather he got owned by vets. “Thank you for your service of….watching cable TV,” tweeted U.S. Marine and Townhall writer Julio Rosas. Rosas was joined by hundreds of vets to body-slam Aaron.

To be clear, the only battles that Rupar has ever been in are multiple attacks on ham sandwiches. Claiming that Sington should have used his tweet and retweeted it and claiming to not do so was “stolen valor” is like Aaron claiming he looks like Brad Pitt and anyone who doesn’t agree is blind.

Aaron was suspended from Twitter in December 2022. Why is unclear. I wasn’t pleased with his suspension. I looked forward to his unintentional comedy and frankly, I had it on good authority that one cannot be suspended for stupidity so I was surprised to see him go. Stupidity is a staple of Twitter. If you don’t believe me, wait until this article posts on that hellscape.

Anyway, after Aaron had a good cry in the corner, he was let back on Twitter. He didn’t waste any time getting back into “Step on a Rake” mode.

In March, Matt Taibbi gave compelling congressional testimony regarding how the past overlords at Twitter worked with government entities and how those now-fired suppressors of speech had used Twitter to support their agendas and biases. Although there were plenty of highlights of abject ignorance and unintended comical questions from lawmakers, Aaron hadn’t stepped on a rake in days so, by goodness, it was time to make a fool of himself. Aaron stepped up his game.

Because Taibbi is an actual journalist, he responded with his facts. And even Twitter added a disclaimer to Aaron’s post telling the reader, in gentler terms that Aaron had stepped on another rake and – well, this is a lie. I think Aaron likes the attention — like a child having a tantrum. It makes him feel like an actual journalist. He’s not. He’s a clown.

This morning, the guy who seems to be as athletic as my dead grandmother, mocked Ron DeSantis for throwing a baseball. Remember when the left had a collective orgasm over Obama and his “hoops” skills? I do. Remember when the New Yorker wrote this while quoting Obama leg-humper Alex Wolff? I do.

Alexander Wolff, a longtime writer for Sports Illustrated, argues that basketball has been a “touchstone” in Obama’s “exercise of the power of the presidency,” and that he has used it “more often and more effectively than any previous president had used any sport.” It was a campaign tool during Obama’s first run for the Presidency: scenes of him playing basketball on the trail highlighted his youthful vigor and, as Wolff writes, “undermined Republican efforts to portray Obama as foreign, suspicious, or someone who ‘pals around with terrorists.’ ”

I also remember when Obama missed about 30 shots in a row, and the journos decided that wasn’t worthy of mocking. By the way, DeSantis was a D1 baseball player but no matter, he’s DeSantis.

I pray each day that Aaron is never banned from Twitter. Aaron and Keith Olbermann belong there. I need the daily laugh.

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