The Trump administrations is officially dismantling a unit at the State Department that became a tool of censorship against conservative voices.
The State Department announced Wednesday its decision to close the remnants of the Global Engagement Center, an office the Biden administration rebranded last year after it came under scrutiny for contributing to the censorship of conservatives online.
“The United States has ceased all Frameworks to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation and any associated instruments implemented by the former administration,” principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement, referring to the Global Engagement Center’s new title.
“The Framework, initially launched by the GEC to counter so-called disinformation, devolved into tools for political censorship instead of protecting Americans from foreign adversarial propaganda,” he added.
“Through free speech, the United States will counter genuine malign propaganda from adversaries that threaten our national security, while protecting Americans’ right to exchange ideas.”
The Biden administration reshuffled the GEC into the Frameworks to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation after congressional Republicans defunded the GEC in 2024. Republican lawmakers shut down the GEC after widespread backlash among conservatives against the agency over the pressure it put on social media companies to censor disfavored points of view.
The State Department’s move followed through on Secretary Marco Rubio’s directive earlier this year to close the unit and end the practice of government-sponsored censorship.
“Over the last decade, Americans have been slandered, fired, charged, and even jailed for simply voicing their opinions. That ends today,” Rubio declared in April.
Acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs first made the announcement in an interview with the Daily Wire. Beattie told the outlet that State had to tie up “loose ends” after Rubio’s directive, including agreements the GEC negotiated with other countries to collaborate on censorship under the guise of “disinformation.”
The Daily Wire sued the State Department in December 2023 alongside The Federalist and the state of Texas because of the Global Engagement Center’s support for the Global Disinformation Index, a British organization that attempted to pressure advertisers into defunding right-wing news sites.
“We are glad to see our clients’ claims begin to be vindicated by the State Department’s latest statements. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Even during litigation, the State Department shielded the truth with a protective order and claims of privilege,” said Zhonette Brown, an attorney at the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a right-leaning legal group working on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit argued that the State Department violated the First Amendment by supporting third-party organizations engaging in censorship and targeting media outlets.
The Global Engagement Center collaborated the Election Integrity Partnership, a group of organizations that worked together on censoring election-related speech beginning in 2020. The EIP targeted conservative voices and the GEC worked with it on numerous occasions to flag speech for social media platforms to take down, according to a House Judiciary Committee report from 2023.
Closing the GEC complies with President Trump’s day one executive order ending federal censorship. Trump instructed federal agencies to ensure no taxpayer dollars were being spent on restricting the free speech rights of American citizens.