Tulsi Gabbard, a former Hawaii Rep., suggested that former President Barack Obama was responsible in creating the Disinformation Governance Board.
Gabbard stated on Twitter Sunday that Biden was a “frontman”. Obama Apr 21: Social media censors aren’t going far enough so the government must take control. Homeland Security publishes “Ministry of Truth”, also known the Disinformation Governance Board, six days later.
Gabbard refers to Obama’s Stanford University speech last week in which he said that tech companies struggle with managing content and called for more oversight.
Obama stated during his speech that “Almost all major tech platforms now admit some responsibility for the content on their platforms and they’re investing large sums of money to monitor them.” This strategy, given the complexity and volume of the content, can feel like a game.
Obama stated that he believes employees at the companies are sincere about their efforts to reduce hate speech and violent content. He said that there is more to be done to eliminate such posts.
Obama said content moderation is a way to reduce the spread of clearly dangerous content. However, it is not enough.
Obama’s remarks come after the Biden administration established a Disinformation Governance board to be managed by the Department of Homeland Security. This board was created with the purpose of fighting online disinformation.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Habitual Security Secretary, stated that the goal was to “bring (DHS) the resources together with this risk” prior to Wednesday’s House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.
Mayorkas stated disinformation prevention would be the board’s focus ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Critics have expressed concerns about the board’s freedom-of-expression implications.
