US State Department Struggles with Foreign Disinformation After Dismantling Key Office

In a notable example of bureaucratic irony, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on diplomatic posts worldwide to combat foreign propaganda and disinformation campaigns—less than a year after he shut down the very office designed for that purpose.

Last week, Rubio issued a directive to US embassies and consulates globally, instructing them to launch campaigns countering hostile messaging from foreign actors. The memo outlines five broad objectives: challenging propaganda, expanding information access, exposing adversary behavior, elevating local pro-American voices, and “telling America’s story.”

According to reporting from The Guardian, the cable instructs embassies to recruit local influencers, academics, and community leaders to carry counter-propaganda messaging. This approach aims to make American-funded narratives feel locally authentic rather than centrally directed.

The directive comes at a particularly challenging time for US global messaging, as foreign disinformation campaigns continue to gain traction on social media platforms. X (formerly Twitter) has been described as a “cesspool of disinformation” since Elon Musk’s acquisition reduced the platform’s trust and safety operations.

In April 2023, Rubio shut down the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference office, claiming it had been “actively silencing and censoring the voices of Americans.” That office had been the successor to the Global Engagement Center, which focused on countering foreign interference and funded projects characterizing Chinese influence operations.

The new directive creates an awkward coordination challenge. Rubio has instructed diplomatic posts to work with the Department of War’s psychological operations unit, despite these organizations having fundamentally different missions. While military psychological operations typically have specific tactical objectives within limited areas, the State Department aims to build global influence and relationships.

A recent example highlights this distinction. Politico reported that a CIA disinformation operation was used to distract Iranian forces during the extraction of a downed US airman stranded in Iran. This operation, which planted false information about the airman’s location, exemplifies the tightly scoped nature of military deception campaigns—quite different from the State Department’s broader mandate.

Rubio’s memo suggests diplomats utilize resources such as X’s Community Notes feature and unspecified AI tools to combat disinformation. However, experts note that Community Notes is primarily designed for fact-checking rather than identifying coordinated campaigns. Bloomberg analysis found the feature often fails with divisive content because it requires group consensus, making it vulnerable to manipulation by coordinated groups.

The Trump administration has also cut funding to arms-length broadcasters like Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe, further limiting America’s ability to project its message globally.

Intelligence Online reported last October that the State Department was considering reactivating some of its counter-propaganda offices, suggesting an awareness that the current approach is insufficient. Until a more comprehensive strategy emerges, American diplomats are left armed with little more than a memo and suggestions to use social media tools ill-equipped for the task.

Meanwhile, Chinese cyber espionage groups continue targeting America’s lawful intercept systems, with Politico recently reporting that the FBI declared a China-linked breach of its systems a “major incident” posing significant national security risks. The breach, first disclosed in March, affected a sensitive system containing information about law enforcement targets.

This is part of a pattern that includes the Salt Typhoon hacking group’s efforts to compromise telecommunications companies and access information about targets of legal surveillance. While not enabling further collection, such access provides valuable intelligence about US surveillance priorities.

Experts suggest a concerted defensive rethink is urgently needed to protect these critical systems from persistent Chinese targeting. As one cybersecurity expert noted, “The best time to secure them would clearly have been before the Chinese hacked them.”