WASHINGTON–Indiana Republican Senator Todd Young is among a group of senators that has introduced legislation hoping to ban federal money from being used to establish a Disinformation Governance Board at the Department of Homeland Security.
“The idea that a ‘disinformation board’ of unelected government bureaucrats should enforce speech rules is both radical and unconstitutional. Hoosiers shouldn’t have to answer to a government bureaucracy when exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. This board should be shut down immediately,” said Young.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex) have called it “Orwellian in nature.” The term”Orwellian” is an adjective describing a situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His reviews have had an influence on literary criticism.
The Biden administration says the goal of the Disinformation Governance Board is to protect national security by combating foreign misinformation and disinformation. Specific problem areas mentioned include false information propagated by human smugglers encouraging migrants to surge to the Mexico–United States border, as well as Russian-state disinformation on election interference and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The Biden administration wants a government agency dedicated to cracking down on what its subjects can say, an idea popular with Orwellian governments everywhere. This board is unconstitutional and un-American—my bill puts a stop to it,” said Cotton.
Indiana’s other senator Mike Braun has joined the bill as a co-sponsor. 19 senators across the U.S. support the legislation.
You can read the full legislation here.
