Secretary of State Marco Rubio today announced the closure of the State Department’s office responsible for countering foreign disinformation, asserting that the unit improperly targeted American citizens and infringed upon their free speech rights.
In a press statement released Wednesday, Rubio declared the termination of the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI) office, formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC). He positioned the move as a defense of core American values.
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“Freedom of speech and expression have been a cornerstone of what it means to be an American citizen,” Rubio stated. He argued that recent trends have seen individuals in America “slandered, fired, charged, and even jailed for simply voicing their opinions,” creating an environment the nation’s founders “would not recognize.”
Rubio placed the blame squarely on the now-closed office, which operated with an annual budget exceeding $50 million. He alleged that under the previous administration, the R/FIMI/GEC “spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving.”
“This is antithetical to the very principles we should be upholding and inconceivable it was taking place in America,” Rubio declared in the statement. “That ends today.”
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The Secretary emphasized that the closure aligns with the Trump administration’s commitment to safeguarding citizen rights. “Under the administration of President Trump, we will always work to protect the rights of the American people, and this is an important step in continuing to fulfill that commitment,” he concluded.
The closure marks a significant policy shift, ending the State Department’s dedicated unit, originally established to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation efforts directed at the United States and its allies. Rubio’s justification focuses solely on the alleged misuse of the office against domestic dissent.
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