Things aren’t looking good for Fox News, which just agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a brand-infringing defamation case with Dominion Voting Systems, only to be hit with another on Wednesday, this one- ci on behalf of Nina Jankowicz, who specializes in Russian disinformation.
The New York Times Jankowicz’s lawsuit reported, citing his claims that “the network promoted lies about him that generated serious threats to his safety and harmed his career prospects.”
Jankowicz was the executive director of a three-week division of the Department of Homeland Security called the Disinformation Governance Council, which was “responsible for coordinating efforts to monitor and address disinformation threats to national security. Right-wing pundits and politicians have falsely portrayed his group as part of an Orwellian attempt to control the speech and thinking of ordinary Americans.
In fact, his work didn’t try to control speech or thought like, I don’t know, a “Don’t Say Gay” law or a book ban.
Ironically or predictably, the DHS advice on Russian disinformation has been the victim of misinformation, as Jankowicz put it. NPR . She told NPR that she was “barred with abuse, harassment and death threats.”
The usual suspects targeted and demonized her: “In 300 mentions over eight months on Fox last year, she was repeatedly belittled and defamed in highly personal language, the lawsuit alleges. Hosts, including Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo and Sean Hannity, said his job was to “silence anyone who criticizes the Biden administration” and perhaps even, as Mr Carlson warned, “to get gunmen to tell you off. to hush up”.
None of this was true, of course. Hence the defamation, but they also said she was fired and actually quit because they were targeting her.
Jankowicz is well known for her work focused on strengthening democratic institutions, so Fox News treated Jankowicz as if she was blacklisted.
Their relentless lies about him eventually resulted in his resignation due to the harassment and threats against him, which prompted “an abrupt suspension of council activities” – as did Fox and many Republican lawmakers who joined the council. harassment wished.
In another layer of right-wing billionaire bingo, the self-identified brainchild of Elon Musk, who is an expert at taking other people’s ideas and making them worse but with better marketing, brings Tucker Carlson’s show to Twitter , suggesting that its goal is to amplify the fascist misinformation bent rather than to make a profit. Fired for defaming companies or people or being a bad guy? Twitter wants you! He also worked to amplify Russian disinformation while slandering experts on Russian propaganda efforts. Apparently that’s never enough for these guys, and yes, our government is still paying Elon and funding his businesses with our taxes. It’s almost as if our whole government wants to fail.
In August 2022, DHS has terminated the Disinformation Governance Council and repeals its charter. In fact, the The Biden administration would have allowed right-wing attacks to end this operationin another bowing to attacks from the right by a government apparently run by non-right wingers.
It had only been running for a few weeks when it was shut down after Jankowicz “felt coordinated online attacks as the administration struggled to respond,” as the Washington Post put it at the time.
It’s not like coordinated right-wing attacks are a novelty. A year ago, Republicans blocked a National Terrorism PREVENTION bill dealing with hate crimes and gun reform. Yes, we must not prevent domestic terrorism. How then could they plot another more successful attack on our government? No one will think of the terrorists?
The Times pointed out that the division Fox News helped shut down with lies was working “to monitor and defend against disinformation from foreign agents seeking to influence the election; cartels promoting human trafficking operations; and those who seek to undermine the government’s public health and safety efforts.
Human trafficking, you know, like the Republicans say they’re against and accuse everybody of doing it. Foreign agents seeking to influence elections: Idem. Undermining public health and safety efforts: Same. Even. Even.
The more relevant question at this point is what exactly is a division intended to protect the United States from the Russian misinformation that has made the hosts of Fox News so frothy and enraged.
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