Home / Censorship Advocates / Nina Jankowicz
NJ
HIGHUSAdded 2026-03-24

Nina Jankowicz

Former Executive Director, Disinformation Governance Board
US Department of Homeland Security
Freedom Threat Index81%
SEVERE THREAT TO SPEECH FREEDOM

Profile

Appointed by the Biden administration as Executive Director of the Department of Homeland Security's Disinformation Governance Board in April 2022 — immediately dubbed the "Ministry of Truth" by critics. The Board was framed as a coordinating body for government disinformation response but its mandate, combined with Jankowicz's own extensive public record of labelling heterodox political views as disinformation, triggered immediate bipartisan alarm. Jankowicz had previously described the Hunter Biden laptop story as a "Russian influence op" before its authenticity was confirmed, and had advocated for giving "verified" Twitter users the ability to add context to others' tweets — a form of credentialled speech gatekeeping. The Board was paused within three weeks of launch and formally dissolved in August 2022 following public backlash. Jankowicz resigned and subsequently sued several commentators who had criticised her appointment.

Key Actions & Positions

Appointed head of DHS's Disinformation Governance Board — a federal body critics described as a government ministry for policing approved speech
Previously described the authentic Hunter Biden laptop story as a Russian influence operation — an exemplary case of misclassifying true political information as disinformation
Advocated for a "verified" user system on Twitter that would allow credentialled accounts to annotate others' speech — creating a formal speech hierarchy
Board dissolved within months following bipartisan public backlash over its mandate and her personal record of disinformation classification
Filed defamation lawsuits against critics of her appointment — using litigation to suppress public commentary on a public official's public role

Tags

disinformation-governance-boardDHSministry-of-truthgovernment-censorshipdisinformationBiden-White-House
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