The US withdrew from agreements to counter propaganda from Russia, China and Iran
The United States has decided to withdraw from agreements concluded with European partners to counter disinformation campaigns waged by the governments of Russia, China, and Iran.
This is reported by the Financial Times, citing European officials.
According to available information, Washington has officially notified allies in Europe of the termination of cooperation within joint initiatives aimed at identifying and neutralizing information threats.
Last week, several European countries received letters from the US State Department terminating memoranda of understanding signed in 2023 by the Joe Biden administration. These documents provided for coordination in combating manipulative information spread by hostile states with the aim of destabilizing the situation in democratic countries.
The Global Engagement Center (GEC), a unit of the State Department responsible for information security and combating propaganda and disinformation originating from unfriendly countries and terrorist organizations, played a central role in the implementation of this program.
Former GEC head, diplomat and journalist James Rubin, criticized the US decision, describing it as a “unilateral act of information disarmament” in the face of challenges from Russia and China.
As a reminder, the GEC was founded in 2011 to counter online radicalization and extremist content. Later, its activities were expanded to include detecting foreign disinformation campaigns. During the presidency of Donald Trump, the center’s activities were significantly reduced, and some of its functions were eliminated altogether.
The Russian Federation, as experts note, has been actively using information warfare tools in recent years, seeking to weaken support for Ukraine in the international arena and undermine Western democracies.
Thus, in September 2024, the GEC officially accused the Russian TV channel RT of cooperating with Russian special services, in particular, in organizing cyber espionage and attempts to interfere in the presidential elections of Moldova. Due to such activities, RT and other state-owned Russian media outlets were subject to US sanctions, and after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, they were banned in the European Union.
As a reminder, the Center for Countering Disinformation has refuted another fake Russian propaganda claim about 1.7 million dead and missing Ukrainian military personnel . Such figures are absurd, as the size of the Ukrainian army has never even reached one million.
As reported, the number of Russian hybrid attacks in Europe has increased rapidly since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine . The main targets have been energy, transport, and communications.
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