In her confirmation hearing on Friday to be the next Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem expressed concerns about the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) straying from its mission by focusing on misinformation and disinformation rather than protecting businesses from cyberattacks.
However, recent reports indicate that CISA has actually scaled back its efforts related to misinformation and disinformation due to political pressure from Republicans. Despite this, the agency has received bipartisan support from Congress for its initiatives aimed at enhancing cybersecurity measures for critical infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.
Internal proposals within CISA to combat election-related disinformation were reportedly ignored or rejected in the past year. Additionally, a contractor's proposal to address election-related misinformation and harassment was turned down by CISA before the 2022 midterm elections.
These decisions have been influenced, in part, by the controversial rollout of the DHS Disinformation Governance Board in 2022, which was intended to focus on issues like Russian interference and human smuggling. The board faced criticism for its perceived government overreach and was disbanded shortly after its launch.
Some election officials now fear that CISA may have over-corrected its approach, potentially leaving the agency ill-prepared to counteract false narratives spread by Americans that could pose risks to election infrastructure.
