WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Marco Rubio closed the State Department’s controversial global engagement centre on Wednesday. This has faced intense criticism from House Republicans who said it was used to censor Americans under the Biden administration.
Rubio has decided to “preserve and protect the freedom of Americans to exercise their freedom of speech” after being temporarily rebranded in the last few months of former President Joe Biden.
“It is the responsibility of all government officials to continue to work to maintain and protect the freedom of Americans to exercise their freedom of speech,” he said in a statement.
“So today I am announcing the closure of State Department’s counter foreign information manipulation and interference (R/FIMI).
The former Florida senator called for a “previous administration” in the statement, accusing the now-closed center of treatment “is against the very principals that we should support and were not thought to have been happening in America.”
The State Department had previously notified Congress of its intention to close Congress, but its intention to close the GEC effectively halted its operations in December after lawmakers voted against this year’s fundraising.
Republicans began to aim for the GEC after journalist Matt Tybi revealed that the Biden administration used American social media platforms early in the Covid-19 pandemic to put pressure on American social media platforms to censor various individuals and news organizations.
“Twitter, Facebook, Google and other companies have learned that they have developed formal systems to incorporate moderate ‘requests’ from every corner of government. The FBI, DHS, HHS, DOD, the state’s global engagement centres, and even the CIA, testified to Congress shortly after the “Twitter File” was exposed to the GEC.
Washington examiners discovered a $100,000 grant GEC that they made to the London-based Global Disformation Index (GDI) in 2021 and 2022.
The agency’s stated goal was to “actively deal with the attempts of foreign enemies to use disinformation and publicity to undermine US interests,” but Rubio said the State Department program actually targets Americans.
“Freedom of speech and expression is the basis of what it means to be an American citizen. For centuries, the United States has served as a sign of hope for millions of people around the world,” Rubio said. “However, for the past decade, American individuals have been slandered, fired, charged and even jailed for simply expressing their opinions.
“That’s over today. Under President Trump’s administration, we will always work to protect the rights of our American people. This is an important step to continuing to fulfill that commitment.”
