The United States has formally closed an office accused of censoring Americans and ended all associated programs created under Joe Biden. Acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Darren Beattie confirmed Tuesday that the State Department dismantled the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference framework, previously known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC).
Originally billed as a tool to counter foreign propaganda, the GEC instead pressured tech platforms to suppress domestic speech. Lawsuits from The Daily Wire, The Federalist, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the Biden administration of working with groups like NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index to target conservative media.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the closure in April, and the final shutdown fulfills President Trump’s executive order banning federal censorship. Beattie said the office often flagged Americans for censorship, not foreign actors, and funneled money to third-party groups that attacked dissenting views on COVID, immigration, and foreign policy.
He added that a sweeping transparency review of GEC’s records is underway, with the first release expected within weeks. The disclosure, Beattie said, will document “hundreds of thousands of emails” showing the scope of the center’s activities.
