American Diplomats Take to Social Media in New Counter-Propaganda Push

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed American diplomatic missions worldwide to combat foreign state-backed propaganda and disinformation campaigns—a move that comes with no small irony after his decision to dismantle the State Department’s dedicated counter-propaganda office last year.

According to a diplomatic cable obtained by The Guardian, Rubio instructed all U.S. embassies and consulates to pursue five broad goals: countering hostile messaging, expanding information access, exposing adversary behavior, elevating pro-American local voices, and “telling America’s story.” The directive specifically encourages diplomatic posts to recruit local influencers and community leaders to carry these counter-propaganda messages, creating the impression that such narratives are organically local rather than centrally coordinated.

The memo also calls for coordination with the Department of Defense’s psychological operations unit, raising questions about mission alignment. While military deception campaigns—like a recent CIA operation that successfully distracted Iranian forces during the extraction of a downed U.S. airman—have specific tactical objectives within limited operational areas, the State Department traditionally focuses on broader diplomatic engagement to build global influence and goodwill.

This distinction highlights the problematic timing of Rubio’s decision in April 2023 to shut down the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference office, which he claimed had been “actively silencing and censoring the voices of Americans.” Industry observers familiar with that office and its predecessor, the Global Engagement Center, note that it had been appropriately focused on countering foreign interference operations.

Diplomatic posts now face the daunting task of countering sophisticated, well-funded disinformation campaigns that have operated for years—at a time when many embassies are already stretched thin managing multiple diplomatic crises. The directive’s suggestions for implementing this work include using X’s Community Notes feature and unspecified AI tools, approaches that experts consider woefully inadequate for the scale of the problem.

Community Notes, in particular, has significant limitations in this context. A Bloomberg analysis found the feature largely ineffective for addressing divisive content due to its consensus-based approach. Additionally, coordinated groups can manipulate the system by creating the appearance of division to prevent fact-checking notes from being published.

The platform formerly known as Twitter once maintained a more comprehensive trust and safety operation that worked to detect and neutralize inauthentic campaigns across the platform. However, since Elon Musk’s acquisition, X has scaled back many of these efforts, allowing disinformation to proliferate more freely.

Compounding these challenges, the Trump administration has also cut funding to arms-length broadcasters such as Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe—organizations whose perceived independence from direct government control has historically made their messaging more credible to international audiences.

Intelligence Online reported last October that the State Department was considering reactivating some of its counter-propaganda offices, suggesting an awareness within the department of the critical gap in America’s information security strategy. However, until more comprehensive efforts are implemented, U.S. diplomats are left with little more than a memo and instructions to use social media tools that were not designed for countering sophisticated state-backed influence operations.

Meanwhile, in a related development highlighting broader cybersecurity concerns, Chinese hacker groups have been increasingly targeting U.S. lawful intercept and surveillance systems. The FBI recently declared a China-linked breach of its systems a “major incident” posing significant risks to national security. The breach, first disclosed in March, affected a system containing sensitive law enforcement information and personal data related to FBI investigations.

This incident follows a pattern of similar attacks by Chinese hackers, including those by the group known as Salt Typhoon, which has compromised U.S. and global telecommunications companies. These breaches provide foreign intelligence services with valuable information about who is being targeted for surveillance by U.S. authorities, potentially allowing them to adjust their espionage operations accordingly.

As American adversaries continue their sophisticated, long-term information and cyber warfare campaigns, the U.S. response remains fragmented and reactive, highlighting the need for a more coordinated and proactive approach to defending against these evolving threats.