"The Weaponization Subcommittee has selectively released congressional testimony to discredit them, make them targets for harassment, and create a chilling effect across the field of disinformation research," the nonprofit wrote. "These tactics echo the dark days of McCarthyism, but with a frightening 21st century twist: Even as America faces unprecedented threats in the information space, both from our adversaries' increasing capabilities and from the exponential growth of emerging technologies, your committees are wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars targeting American citizens who are trying to strengthen our democracy."Nina Jankowicz, the former executive director of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Disinformation Governance Board (DGB), has re-entered the field of information policing with the launch of her nonprofit, The American Sunlight Project.
Upon the nonprofit's launch earlier this week, The American Sunlight Project submitted a letter to several Republican-led committees in the House accusing them of using government resources to attack researchers and "deliberately" misconstrue their work.
The American Sunlight Project claimed the committees, led by Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop
and Kentucky Rep. James Comer, represented a "dangerous distraction" from "real threats" to the nation.
The nonprofit went on to warn the country was heading towards an inflection point in which a "cocktail of foreign adversaries, artificial intelligence, and anyone after power or profit will further pollute the information environment." "Since the 2024 primaries began in earnest, Americans have witnessed a number of concerning developments in the information space," the organization continued, citing several instances of public "deepfake" videos shared across social media. "Russia used a deepfake video to attempt to lay blame on Ukraine for the recent ISIS terrorist attack in Moscow, and has developed a bevy of sites posing as local news organizations in a ploy to influence U.S. public discourse. China continues its use of online disinformation via a network of false amplifiers attempting to sway American citizens ahead of the November vote." "This should be a time for unity, resolve, and clarity of purpose. However, federal agencies have slowed down, or - in some cases - completely stopped their work to identify and respond to information that seeks to threaten, undermine, or disenfranchise American citizens," they continued. "Public-private information sharing on foreign threats, including those from U.S. adversaries like China, has in large part been frozen. Social media companies, worried about potential political retribution, reversed some of their content policies and moderation procedures."
The American Sunlight Project further warned instances of deepfakes and other methods of disinformation would intensify as law enforcement and cultural norms struggled to keep pace with technological advances.
The letter to Congress went on to claim the committees burdened, intimidated, and maligned independent researchers, further arguing women were specifically targeted. The nonprofit then demanded the committees release "all unedited transcripts and video recordings of your interviews and depositions with researchers and cease using selectively leaked and out-of-context testimony as a retaliatory and chilling tactic."
The American Sunlight Project describes themselves as a bipartisan group of professionals in national security, technology, and information integrity who seek to combat "partisan political attacks on independent technology researchers."
Jankowicz served as the executive director of the DGB from the agency's creation in April 2022 until her resignation the following month. DGB was disbanded the following August by DHS Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
