Oh, Brother

Ministry of Untruth?

“Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.”

—“1984”

THOSE WITH a vested interest in tripping the Biden administration at every step were darn-near giddy this past week when the word hit the streets that the feds were putting together something called a Disinformation Governance Board.

Apparently the government wants to get involved in getting the news right. And pundits, pols and editorial boards howled with indignation/delight. They even cited the Ministry of Truth and Big Brother from George Orwell’s

“1984.”

Meh. For those of us who’ve read “1984” more than once, the Ministry of Truth in that novel is involved in erasing the past. And other crimes against history. It sounds to some of us that this real effort by this real national government is more like public relations. Isn’t countering wrong facts in the media part of a PR professional’s job?

But the French have a saying: It is worse than a crime; it is a mistake. The Biden administration doesn’t need anybody to trip it when it makes such tonedeaf moves. What was the administration thinking? Or was it?

As readers of our replica edition will know, every Sunday this newspaper puts out an extra page in the A section called NOT REAL NEWS. It’s a look at what did not happen the week before. The Associated Press checks out certain outrages found on social media, and explains why what you see on that Facebook post is a bunch of bunk. It’s a delightful read. Sometimes hilarious. It’s amazing what people will believe.

This is what newspapers do, in part: Get the record straight. Which is yet another reason why newspapers print corrections (along with a desire to be fair). And as long as there is an Associated Press, and newspapers, Americans don’t need yet another government agency, this one to counter false claims. Or, better said, claims the government would tell you are false.

The Washington Post, you’ll recall, spent most of the Trump administration printing advisories to his falsehoods. (Don’t inject yourself with disinfectant. Please.) Then Joe Biden, during the campaign, said President Trump had advised people to drink bleach during that off-the-cuff White House briefing. President Trump had done no such thing. The papers set it right.

The government, through Homeland Security, says it wants to counter false news as it pertains to national security. That is, it wants to create this Disinformation Governance Board to tackle problems like misleading information about openings in the border, or U.S. policy in regards to migrants. And counter disinformation from foreign governments. Etc.

The problem is that government grows. Always. It’s never done. Today the Disinformation Governance Board (what a name!) might be in the business of telling Central American immigrants that the coyotes are lying about amnesty on Tuesdays. Tomorrow the government might be trying to tell us that we were always at war with Eastasia.

The Biden administration told the press last week that it was only building on work begun under the Trump administration. So what is that? Good?

DHS also said it would only coordinate work on disinformation from other government agencies and wouldn’t have any “operational authority or capability.” For now. Remember, government always grows.

The secretary of Homeland Security told the papers that the Disinformation Board wouldn’t monitor U.S. citizens. For now. Remember, government always grows.

The White House press secretary repeated that Homeland Security spooks involved in this would only coordinate. “The mandate is not to adjudicate what is true or false online or otherwise.” Then, pray tell, what is the point? For the administration to shoot itself in the foot with a horrible PR mistake for no clear reason?

And even if her statement were true, and the mandate isn’t to adjudicate truth—remember, government always grows.

If everything here is on the up-andup, and everything here stays on the up-and-up (did we mention government always grows?) we have other questions for those who put together the Disinformation Governance Board:

Who decides what is disinformation? Who decides what is truth?

The government? Puh-leeze. Liars we will always have with us. It’s part of human society. But it has become clear (and clearer in recent years) that good information drives out bad. And by good information, we don’t mean what government considers good.

Better information—more and more information, which eventually becomes an agreed-upon narrative—might take longer to take, but once it does take, it sticks. Yes, we really did go to the moon.

We don’t need another government agency to tell us that. We just need a free press.