Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared on Wednesday the shutdown of a minor division within the
State Department
aimed at countering
foreign disinformation
Campaigns that Republicans began to criticize more frequently for allegedly muffling conservative opinions on the internet.
Rubio declared the closure of the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference office, which was previously called the
Global Engagement Center
(GEC) for allegedly utilizing public funds “to deliberately suppress and censor the voices of Americans whom they were meant to serve.”
However, certain legal actions aimed at the GEC continue
alleged censorship
was unable to prevail as a federal appeals court determined that there was no proof indicating its officials pressured or manipulated social media companies into regulating content on their platforms.
The GEC’s mission was to monitor and eliminate malicious foreign influence operations, and during the past several years it has undertaken this role.
published reports
On Chinese and Russian attempts to influence worldwide public perception.
Nevertheless, the organization was also targeted by technology tycoon Elon Musk, who serves as the chief advisor for what is referred to as the “so-called” initiative.
Department of Government Efficiency
, which has taken a sledgehammer to parts of the federal government, including
in its dismantling
of the
U.S. Agency for International Development
.
In 2023, Musk called the center the “worst offender in U.S. government censorship and media manipulation.”
In an interview on Tuesday, Rubio stated that his aim was to “return and demonstrate” how the GEC’s activities resulted in specific U.S. citizens being removed from social media platforms.
“If we managed through internal evaluation to establish a connection between certain data sourced from funds allocated by the State Department and individuals who were actually affected, that would be significant,” he stated.
We were not willing to wait until that was ready to be implemented. We have sufficient information to start now, however, we clearly desire to understand the extent and breadth of this. That will occur.
Established in 2016 via an executive order under the Obama administration, the GEC secured support from both sides of the political aisle with its aim to combat foreign propaganda when recruitment by the terrorist organization known as ISIS was at its peak. Subsequently, Congress broadened its powers to tackle Russian misinformation initiatives.
However, the center had difficulty establishing itself as a leader in guiding the U.S. government’s initiatives to monitor and reveal covert operations orchestrated by hostile foreign entities. Despite having over $50 million at its disposal, most of this funding was distributed via grants aimed at supporting groups tasked with uncovering and countering misinformation spread by international rivals.
At the close of 2024, Congress eliminated the funding for the center, and as President Biden’s term came to an end, his administration revamped the Global Engagement Center (GEC). This restructuring placed roughly 50 staff members under the jurisdiction of the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub.
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