Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on April 16 the closure of the State Department’s office responsible for countering foreign disinformation, citing concerns about free speech and the rights of American citizens.
The office started as part of the
U.S.
government’s efforts to fight terrorist messaging online. It was first called the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications. In 2016, it changed its focus to fighting lies and propaganda from foreign governments like
Russia
and China, and got a new name — the Global Engagement Center (GEC).
In December 2024, the GEC was reorganized into the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub (R/FIMI).
In a post on X,
Rubio
said the center had overstepped its mission and worked to “silence and censor” Americans.
“I am announcing the closure of the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, formerly the Global Engagement Center (GEC), which cost taxpayers more than $50 million per year and actively silenced and censored the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving,” Rubio wrote.
The move follows years of Republican criticism of the center. Billionaire Elon
Musk
, now an advisor to U.S. President
Donald Trump
and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), in early 2023
called
the GEC “the worst offender in U.S. government censorship (and) media manipulation.”
The GEC leadership and supporters have dismissed these allegations. Ambassador James Rubin, who headed the center prior to its closure, stated that their sole focus was on tackling international misinformation efforts. During his tenure, the organization implemented initiatives in regions like Latin America, Africa, and Moldova.
One project focused on a major Russian disinformation campaign in Africa called the “African Initiative,” which aimed at undermining trust in a U.S.-funded health program in the region. Russia recruited journalists, bloggers, and public figures to spread conspiracy theories across social media, websites, and Telegram channels.
“Potentially tens of thousands, if not more, could have embraced the misinformation and missed out on crucial medical treatment,” had the effort not been detected earlier, according to Rubin.
told
Politico in October 2024.
In June 2024, the GEC
helped
initiate the Ukraine Communications Group, a global effort to combat Russia
disinformation
on the
war
in
Ukraine
, based in Warsaw and backed by more than 20 governments, NATO, and the European External Action Service.
As stated by the National Endowment for Democracy, Russia
spends
an estimated $1.5 billion annually on foreign influence campaigns. In Europe alone, Moscow is believed to be behind 80% of such operations, according to Czech Foreign Minister
Jan Lipavský
.
In the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the Kremlin similarly took an interest.
leveraging
Unwitting Americans and Russian PR companies were utilized to disseminate misinformation, according to U.S. intelligence officials who spoke with the Associated Press in July 2024.
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