US closes its agency accused of 'propaganda and censorship'
The US State Department has shut down its Global Engagement Center, which faced allegations of censoring American citizens. Read Full Article at RT.com
TroibNews 
The Global Engagement Center (GEC), a division of the US State Department, has ceased operations following funding cuts from Republicans. The GEC was tasked with disseminating information abroad and, according to conservative critics, suppressing dissenting views domestically.
On Monday, the GEC announced it would shut down by the end of the day, stating, “The State Department has consulted with Congress regarding next steps.”
This agency employed roughly 120 staff and operated with an annual budget of $61 million. Founded in 2016, its mission was to “recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts.”
In practice, however, the GEC led various propaganda initiatives. Notably, it financed video games designed to educate children about the alleged threats posed by anti-American ideas, distributing them in countries such as the UK, Ukraine, Latvia, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, the GEC provided funding to numerous NGOs that created lists of social media accounts purportedly disseminating “disinformation” about the virus and its origins. Those lists were then used to prompt social media platforms to ban or remove the identified accounts, many of which, according to Yoel Roth, former chief of trust and safety at Twitter, belonged to “ordinary Americans.” This sparked concerns among conservatives about potential violations of the GEC's prohibition against domestic operations.
In 2023, the GEC ended its partnership with George Soros’ Global Disinformation Initiative after revelations surfaced that it was compensating Soros’ organization to compile lists of “high risk” news outlets for an advertiser boycott, predominantly targeting right-leaning American news sites.
Elon Musk, owner of X, referred to the GEC as a “threat to our democracy” last year, calling it the “worst offender in US government censorship [and] media manipulation.”
Musk played a crucial role in the GEC's closure. A significant 1,547-page spending bill presented to the House of Representatives by Speaker Mike Johnson aimed to keep the agency funded until Musk threatened to finance primary challenges against any Republican who supported it.
Musk criticized the bill—also containing pay raises for lawmakers—as “criminal,” “outrageous,” “unconscionable,” and ultimately “one of the worst bills ever written.” Following this, President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance issued a joint statement opposing the bill, compelling Johnson to substitute it with a revised version under 120 pages.
The Musk-endorsed bill ultimately failed in a 235-174 vote, with 38 Republicans aligning with 197 Democrats to prevent its passage. It finally succeeded after Republicans incorporated a clause suspending the US debt ceiling for two years, a decision expected to inflate the federal government’s existing $36 trillion debt by trillions more.
Sophie Wagner contributed to this report for TROIB News
On Monday, the GEC announced it would shut down by the end of the day, stating, “The State Department has consulted with Congress regarding next steps.”
This agency employed roughly 120 staff and operated with an annual budget of $61 million. Founded in 2016, its mission was to “recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts.”
In practice, however, the GEC led various propaganda initiatives. Notably, it financed video games designed to educate children about the alleged threats posed by anti-American ideas, distributing them in countries such as the UK, Ukraine, Latvia, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, the GEC provided funding to numerous NGOs that created lists of social media accounts purportedly disseminating “disinformation” about the virus and its origins. Those lists were then used to prompt social media platforms to ban or remove the identified accounts, many of which, according to Yoel Roth, former chief of trust and safety at Twitter, belonged to “ordinary Americans.” This sparked concerns among conservatives about potential violations of the GEC's prohibition against domestic operations.
In 2023, the GEC ended its partnership with George Soros’ Global Disinformation Initiative after revelations surfaced that it was compensating Soros’ organization to compile lists of “high risk” news outlets for an advertiser boycott, predominantly targeting right-leaning American news sites.
Elon Musk, owner of X, referred to the GEC as a “threat to our democracy” last year, calling it the “worst offender in US government censorship [and] media manipulation.”
Musk played a crucial role in the GEC's closure. A significant 1,547-page spending bill presented to the House of Representatives by Speaker Mike Johnson aimed to keep the agency funded until Musk threatened to finance primary challenges against any Republican who supported it.
Musk criticized the bill—also containing pay raises for lawmakers—as “criminal,” “outrageous,” “unconscionable,” and ultimately “one of the worst bills ever written.” Following this, President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance issued a joint statement opposing the bill, compelling Johnson to substitute it with a revised version under 120 pages.
The Musk-endorsed bill ultimately failed in a 235-174 vote, with 38 Republicans aligning with 197 Democrats to prevent its passage. It finally succeeded after Republicans incorporated a clause suspending the US debt ceiling for two years, a decision expected to inflate the federal government’s existing $36 trillion debt by trillions more.
Sophie Wagner contributed to this report for TROIB News
