WASHINGTON: The US State Department has shut down its office that sought to deal with misinformation and disinformation that Russia, China and Iran have been accused of spreading.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Wednesday that he had closed what had been known as the Global Engagement Center because it had taken actions to restrict freedom of speech in the United States and elsewhere.
The center has been a frequent target of criticism from conservatives for calling out media and online reports that it said are biased or untruthful.
At times, it has identified US websites and social media accounts that it argued were amplifying misinformation, particularly related to the Russia-Ukraine war.
"It is the responsibility of every government official to continuously work to preserve and protect the freedom for Americans to exercise their free speech," Rubio said, charging that the office worked "to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving."
Rubio said that is "antithetical" to the principles that "we should be upholding."
Congress had supported the center's work, as had previous State Department leadership.
"This is a deeply misleading (and) unserious portrayal of an organization focused on identifying foreign—primarily Russian—disinformation ops," former State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a post on X.