The Department of Homeland Security has “paused” its plans for a Disinformation Governance Board, The Washington Post (Lean Left bias) reported Wednesday. 

DHS decided to shut down the board on Monday, according to multiple anonymous sources cited by the Post. Nina Jankowicz, who led the board, resigned from her position Wednesday morning. “Nina Jankowicz has been subjected to unjustified and vile personal attacks and physical threats,” a DHS spokesperson told the Post, adding, “The Board’s purpose has been grossly mischaracterized; it will not police speech.”

Coverage was highly polarized; right-rated outlets framed the disinformation board as “Orwellian” and its critics as justifiably “concerned” about “free speech.” The New York Post (Lean Right bias) said the quoted DHS spokesperson “whined” about threats and harassment against Jankowicz. Fox News (Right bias) accused The Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz, who broke the story, of “running cover” for the board. 

Lorenz framed the board’s downfall and Jankowicz’s resignation as the result of “a textbook disinformation campaign” in which “the right-wing Internet apparatus” allegedly targeted, mischaracterized and attacked those who disagreed with them. Furthermore, Lorenz wrote that “the board itself had no power or authority to make any operational decisions.” Coverage from across the spectrum, including Lorenz’s article, suggested the Biden administration had insufficiently communicated the board’s goals.