Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that his administration would be closing the department’s center dedicated to combating foreign propaganda efforts. This move marks the culmination of an extended push to shutter the office, which Republican officials have claimed was used to silence conservative viewpoints.
Rubio stated in a release that the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference unit within the State Department, previously called the Global Engagement Center, had allegedly “diverted millions of dollars to deliberately suppress and censor American voices,” which was their intended mission to support. As per Rubio’s allegations, this small governmental department allocated over “$50 million annually” for these purposes.
This goes against the principles we ought to uphold, and it’s unimaginable that this occurred in America,” Rubio stated. “Those days are over. During President Trump’s tenure, we will consistently strive to safeguard the rights of Americans, and this represents a crucial move toward keeping that promise.
The center was criticized heavily.
senior Republican members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
last year for allegedly silencing conservative voices through its efforts to clear up disinformation and misinformation online. Elon Musk, who now heads up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, described the office in 2023 as ”
the most egregious violator of U.S. governmental censorship
.”
But the center’s supporters, including Sens.
Chris Murphy
(D-Conn.) and
John Cornyn
(R-Texas) has claimed that it serves a crucial function in countering Russian and Chinese misinformation.
Funding for the center was stripped out of the final government funding deal signed into law by President Joe Biden in December, when its congressional authorization was set to expire. Previously, the center exposed a major Russian disinformation campaign in Africa, and last year put together an international agreement — now removed from the State Department’s website —to counter foreign disinformation that had the backing of around two dozen other nations.
A current State Department official, granted anonymity out of fear of retribution, said Wednesday that “the Kremlin and Chinese Communist Party are cheering today.”
“Our adversaries spread disinformation, deliberately meant to deceive and divide communities and nations and to attack the foundations of democratic societies,” the former official said. “Yet another fissure has been created in our national security that makes America even more vulnerable.”
Roobie Gramer helped with this report.
