The US government has ended agreements with several European countries aimed at fighting disinformation from Russia, China, and Iran, according to a Financial Times report that cites three European officials.
Last week, the State Department notified its European partners that it was withdrawing from so-called Memoranda of Understanding. These agreements, signed last year by the Biden administration, were designed to coordinate efforts to identify and expose foreign disinformation campaigns aimed at destabilizing Western democracies. The decision to end the agreements marks the final step in shutting down the program.
The initiative was led by the Global Engagement Center (GEC), a State Department office that targeted disinformation from US adversaries and terrorist groups overseas. James Rubin, who led the center until December, criticized the move as weakening the US position in the ongoing information war with Russia and China. He also pointed out that artificial intelligence is likely to amplify the risks of disinformation campaigns, a concern recently raised by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. OpenAI itself has uncovered similar campaigns, including a suspected Iranian effort to interfere in US elections.
Republican pushback led to GEC shutdown
The GEC was created in 2011 to counter terrorist propaganda and violent extremism online. Its mission later expanded to tracking and exposing foreign disinformation campaigns. According to the Financial Times, the center drew criticism from some Republican lawmakers, who accused it of censorship and suppressing conservative speech, despite its focus on threats outside the US.
Republican opposition in Congress ultimately blocked the renewal of the GEC's mandate, leading to the center's closure in December. Its functions were briefly transferred to another State Department office, which was then shut down by the Trump administration in April.
