Lake County Gazette

Talks about the Disinformation Governance Board could be a major issue in the Illinois elections.

Rep. Lauren Underwood had asked a question that had revealed the Disinformation Governance Board, and now it has the potential to be one of the major issues in the upcoming elections of the state.

"Another huge threat to our homeland is mis- and disinformation," Underwood said to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. "One of my main concerns about disinformation is that foreign adversaries attempt to destabilize our elections by targeting people of color with disinformation campaigns."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a "fact sheet" on May 2 describing the Disinformation Governance Board as an internal working group established with the purpose of combatting disinformation, which DHS defines as "false information that is deliberately spread with the intent to deceive or mislead."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki recently stated that the Disinformation Governance Board will be "nonpartisan" and "apolitical," Yahoo News reported. The Board aims to combat disinformation related to various factors like foreign interference, extremism, and human trafficking in American elections and politics. Conservatives have expressed concern over the fact that Nina Jankowicz, the Board's executive director, has repeatedly spread false information. Psaki claimed she did not "have any information about this individual" when asked about Jankowicz. DHS told the Associated Press that the aim of the Board is to "monitor and prepare for Russian disinformation threats as this year's midterm elections near and the Kremlin continues an aggressive disinformation campaign around the war in Ukraine."

Underwood recently told Secretary Mayorkas that she believes the Disinformation Governance Board should go even further, according to The Center Square. "What I've heard you describe is internal organizations. What we are looking for is external communications with the American public, including those for whom Spanish is their predominant language to make sure that the information the department around mis- and disinformation campaign is reaching those individuals," Underwood stated.