US Closes Information Manipulation Countering Programs Set Up under Biden
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Washington administration has terminated all the mechanisms set up by the previous administration to counter foreign information manipulation, which were used as an instrument of political censorship instead, the US Department of State said.
"The United States has ceased all Frameworks to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation and any associated instruments implemented by the former administration," it said, adding that these mechanisms "devolved into tools for political censorship instead of protecting Americans from foreign adversarial propaganda," TASS reported.
The current administration "will counter genuine malign propaganda from adversaries that threaten our national security, while protecting Americans’ right to exchange ideas," it stated.
The Department of State recalled that in April, it announced the closure of "the Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI) Hub, formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC)." Secretary of State Marco Rubio said back then that under the Biden administration, this structure, which was supposed to counter information interference from foreign states, including Russia and China and which cost taxpayers $50 million a year, spent millions of dollars on attempts to silence and censor the Americans instead.
