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Nina Jankowicz

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Nina Jankowicz
Official portrait, 2022
Executive Director of the Disinformation Governance Board
In office
April 27, 2022 – May 18, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
DHS SecretaryAlejandro Mayorkas
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Personal details
Born1988 or 1989 (age 35–36)
EducationBryn Mawr College (BA)
Georgetown University (MA)
WebsitePersonal website

Nina Jankowicz (born 1988 or 1989[1]) is an American researcher and writer. She is the author of How to Lose the Information War (2020), on Russian use of disinformation as geopolitical strategy, and How to Be a Woman Online (2022), a handbook for fighting against online harassment of women. She briefly served as executive director of the newly created United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)'s Disinformation Governance Board, resigning from the position amid the dissolution of the board by DHS in May 2022.

Career

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A double-major in Russian and political science, Jankowicz graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 2011 and spent a semester at Herzen State Pedagogical University in Russia in 2010.[2][3] In 2017, she was a Fulbright fellow in Kyiv, working with the foreign ministry of Ukraine.[4] She has also served as a disinformation fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center and as supervisor of the Russia and Belarus programs at the National Democratic Institute.[5]

Writing

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Jankowicz is the author of two books, in 2020 publishing How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News and the Future of Conflict.[6][7] In The New Yorker Joshua Yaffa called it "a persuasive new book on disinformation as a geopolitical strategy."[4] Jankowicz examines Russian influence operations aimed at weakening democratic nations and thereby strengthening its own standing in international order.[8] This proceeds via six case studies, one per chapter: Estonia, Georgia, Poland, Ukraine together with the Netherlands, Czech Republic, and the United States.[8] She argues for media literacy, public awareness, and an educated electorate as the best means to guard against a disinformation campaign.[7]

In 2022, Jankowicz published How to be a Woman Online: Surviving Abuse and Harassment, and How to Fight Back.[9][10] In it, she draws on statistics on online sexism and harassment of women, as well as on her own experience and that of journalist Nicole Perlroth, Guardian columnist Van Badham, and video game designer Brianna Wu.[9] It is organized in five sections, dealing with online security, handling trolls, developing supportive communities, navigating social media, and repelling online harassment.[10] A review in Publishers Weekly called it "strategic, focused, and eminently usable ... an essential guide for women interested in standing up for a fairer, safer online world."[9] Writing in The Diplomatic Courier, Joshua Huminski said that in addition to its usefulness as a how-to guide, reading about the experiences the book sets out to address also serves a second purpose: "forcing the reader to confront these very real and very uncomfortable questions" of why women face a "torrent of online abuse directed at them for the crime of ... having their gender."[10]

Jankowicz has also contributed to The Washington Post and The New York Times.[11]

Disinformation Governance Board

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In April 2022, Jankowicz was selected to head the newly formed Disinformation Governance Board of the United States Department of Homeland Security.[12][5] The appointment drew criticism from internet users, and congressional Republicans said the Board would be used as a tool by Democrats to restrict freedom of speech.[1][13][14] National Review, the Washington Examiner, and the libertarian magazine Reason negatively evaluated her criticism of the Hunter Biden laptop story[15][16][17][18] and her August 2020 praise of Christopher Steele (author of the Steele dossier).[16][15] Jankowicz would later say, in 2023: "I never said the laptop was fake. I never pushed the Steele dossier. I think if people return to the actual tweets, they will find that I never, never actually said those things, that they were removed from their context."[19]

Republican senator Josh Hawley criticized Jankowicz's "leftist radical" views on Twitter,[20] and Republicans also criticized her past support of Democrats and her negative response to Elon Musk's then-standing offer to purchase of Twitter.[17][21] In response, Jankowicz said that at least one of her tweets was "taken out of context".[16] On CNN's State of The Union, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called Jankowicz "eminently qualified, a renowned expert in the field of disinformation", and "neutral".[22] Progressive media watchdog Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting criticized mainstream media for focusing on right-wing criticism without considering potential left-wing objections to Jankowicz's appointment.[23] Writing in The Nation, Lev Golinkin criticized Jankowicz's previous work with the Ukrainian fact-checking organization StopFake, which he accused of running "interference for violent neo-Nazi formations".[24]

On May 18, The Washington Post reported that the board and its working groups would be shut down, pending review, citing failures by DHS to communicate with relevant congressional entities, to respond to criticism of the board's name and its unclear mission, and to defend against right-wing criticism of Jankowicz.[1] On May 17, 2022, DHS shut down the board, and Jankowicz officially resigned her DHS post the following day.[1] A DHS spokesperson said, "Nina Jankowicz has been subjected to unjustified and vile personal attacks and physical threats."[1] Robby Soave of Reason argued that Jankowicz's "faulty record" "doomed" the board.[25] On July 10, Jankowicz appeared on Brian Stelter's Reliable Sources, during which she said that the board's purpose had been misrepresented by "Republicans" and the "far-left", calling the board a "victim of disinformation." She also complained of receiving "disproportionate" attention from the media.[26] Jankowicz asserted her opposition to censorship and pointed to her body of work in the field, which advocates tracking misinformation closely and quickly responding with truthful speech that debunks it.[19] She said she declined an offer of continued employment with the Biden administration, citing what would be a lack of ability to speak to the press and the administration's refusal to "mount a fulsome response" to criticism of her and the board.[19]

In May 2023, Jankowicz sued Fox News for defamation over their coverage of her and her role in the DHS, alleging that Fox's "verifiable falsehoods" damaged her reputation and resulted in harassment and death threats.[27][28] She lost that lawsuit in July of 2024.[29] Jankowicz says that while she was 8 months pregnant, she was advised by her security consultant to leave her home for her own personal safety.[30]

Centre for Information Resilience

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In September 2022, Jankowicz announced the launch of The Hypatia Project, which she conducted at the UK-based Centre for Information Resilience (CIR). The project's stated aim is to combat gendered abuse and disinformation online.[31] As part of her work with CIR, which was partly funded by grants from the UK government, Jankowicz had registered as a foreign agent in the U.S. in November 2022. She wrote in her registration that she "supervises research, executes business strategy, oversees the establishment of CIR's research, communicates with the media, and briefs individuals and officials on CIR's research."[32][33] She was the Vice President at the CIR from September 2022 through April 2024,[34] at which point she cofounded the American Sunlight Project.[35]

Personal life

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Jankowicz has an interest in musical theatre.[4] She tweeted in 2021, "You can just call me the Mary Poppins of disinformation," and linked to a TikTok video of her singing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" with lyrics modified to fit the topic of disinformation.[36] She is a former member of the wizard rock band The Moaning Myrtles.[37]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Lorenz, Taylor (May 18, 2022). "How the Biden administration let right-wing attacks derail its disinformation efforts". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  2. ^ "Nina Jankowicz — The Cosmopolitan Review".
  3. ^ "Nina Jankowicz '11 Publishes Book on the Information War". Bryn Mawr College. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Yaffa, Joshua (September 3, 2020). "Is Russian Meddling as Dangerous as We Think?". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Daniels, Eugene; Bade, Rachael; Lizza, Ryan (April 27, 2022). "POLITICO Playbook: Fauci pulls out of WHCD. Is Biden next?". POLITICO.
  6. ^ Fadel, Leila (August 16, 2020). "Author Nina Jankowicz On Disinformation And Her New Book". All Things Considered. NPR. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Gamberini, Sarah. "How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict". Joint Force Quarterly. National Defense University Press. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Gentile, Michael (September 21, 2020). "How to lose the information war – Russia, fake news and the future of conflict". Eurasian Geography and Economics. 63 (3): 446–449. doi:10.1080/15387216.2020.1825982. ISSN 1538-7216. S2CID 224872983.
  9. ^ a b c "Nonfiction Book Review: How to be a Woman Online: Surviving Abuse and Harassment, and How to Fight Back by Nina Jankowicz". Publishers Weekly. April 1, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c Huminski, Joshua (April 9, 2022). "Being a Woman Online & the Absence of Decency". Diplomatic Courier. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  11. ^ "Nina Jankowicz". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  12. ^ "DHS Standing Up Disinformation Governance Board Led by Information Warfare Expert". Homeland Security Today. April 28, 2022.
  13. ^ Lyngaas, Sean; Alvarez, Priscilla; Bertrand, Natasha. "Expert hired to run DHS' newly created disinformation board resigns". CNN. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  14. ^ "Disinformation head Nina Jankowicz resigns after DHS board is paused". NBC News. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Biden 'disinformation' chief a Trump dossier author fan and Hunter Biden laptop doubter". Washington Examiner. April 28, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  16. ^ a b c "Meet Nina Jankowicz, Biden's New Disinformation Czar". National Review. April 29, 2022.
  17. ^ a b Blake, Aaron (April 29, 2022). "The tempest over DHS's Disinformation Governance Board". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  18. ^ Lancaster, Joe (April 29, 2022). "New DHS Board Seeks To Counter What It Thinks Is Disinformation". Reason.
  19. ^ a b c "What happened to Nina Jankowicz when Fox News came for her". On Point Radio. WBUR. May 15, 2023. (audio podcast)
  20. ^ Miller, Andrew Mark (April 28, 2022). "Biden's disinformation director referred to Hunter's laptop as a 'Trump campaign product'". Fox News. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  21. ^ Sganga, Nicole (May 6, 2022). "What is DHS' Disinformation Governance Board and why is everyone so mad about it?". CBS News. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  22. ^ "Transcripts, State of the Union Poland Welcoming Ukrainian Refugees; Interview With Fmr. Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX); Interview With U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas; Interview With Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR). Aired 9-10a ET". CNN. May 1, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  23. ^ Tveten, Julianne (May 13, 2022). "Media Ignore Criticism of DHS's New 'Disinformation' Board—Unless it's from the Right". FAIR. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  24. ^ Golinkin, Lev (May 12, 2022). "Meet the Head of Biden's New "Disinformation Governing Board"". The Nation.
  25. ^ Soave, Robby (May 18, 2022). "Nina Jankowicz's Faulty Record, Not Her Critics, Doomed the Disinformation Board". Reason.com.
  26. ^ Schorr, Isaac; Bernstein, Brittany (July 11, 2022). "Biden's Disinformation Czar Breaks Silence after Would-Be Unit Crashes and Burns". National Review. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  27. ^ Arkin, Daniel; Helsel, Phil (May 11, 2023). "Former DHS disinformation expert sues Fox News alleging defamation". NBC News. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  28. ^ Rutenberg, Jim; Myers, Steven Lee (May 10, 2023). "New Defamation Suit Against Fox Signals Continued Legal Threat". The New York Times. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  29. ^ Volokh, Eugene (July 22, 2024). "Nina Jankowicz's Libel Lawsuit Against Fox News Network Dismissed by Federal Judge". The judge concludes Fox's statements about Jankowicz's plans as Executive Director of the DHS Disinformation Governance Board, and the circumstances of her leaving the position, were constitutionally protected opinion—and, even if they were viewed as factual assertions, were substantially true.
  30. ^ Heidi Przybyla (March 8, 2023). "'A surreal experience': Former Biden 'disinfo' chief details harassment". Politico.
  31. ^ Jankowicz, Nina (September 23, 2022). "Announcing The Hypatia Project: Combating Gendered Abuse and Disinformation". Centre for Information Resilience. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  32. ^ Jacobs, Emily (November 28, 2022). "Former Biden disinformation chief Nina Jankowicz registers as foreign agent". Washington Examiner. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  33. ^ Betz, Bradford (November 27, 2022). "White House's former 'disinformation czar' Nina Jankowicz registers as a foreign agent". Fox News. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  34. ^ Jankowicz, Nina. "LinkedIn". Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  35. ^ Rutenberg, Jim; Myers, Steven Lee (April 24, 2024). "New Group Joins the Political Fight Over Disinformation Online". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  36. ^ The Editorial Board (May 18, 2022). "The Disinformation Governance Board, Disavowed". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  37. ^ "Se vi manca Harry Potter, ascoltate il wizard rock" (in Italian). November 4, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
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