U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department’s Foreign Information Interference Unit at the State Department is being shut down.
“Over the past decade, Americans have been slandered, released, charged and even imprisoned just for speaking their minds. That ends today,” he wrote on social media X.
Rubio, in announcing the closure of the State Department’s Foreign Information Interference Management office – R / FIMI) – formerly known as the Global Engagement Centre (GEC), said the office was costing more than $50 million a year to operate
“(This office) spent millions of dollars to actively stymie and censor the voices of the Americans they were supposed to serve. It goes against the very principles we are supposed to stand for, and it is unimaginable that this is happening in America,” the Secretary of State said.
The GEC closed in December 2024. The centre was criticised by several Republicans who claimed it insisted on censoring Americans. The GEC was replaced by R / FIMI.