Key U.S. Agency Fighting Russian, Iranian Disinformation Might Face Funding Challenges

The Biden administration said on Friday that reauthorizing the Global Engagement Center (GEC), a State Department agency that’s tasked with combating foreign propaganda and disinformation, "is a priority."

It "is a priority for the Department of State and Secretary Blinken," a State Department Spokesperson told TURAN's Washington correspondent.

The GEC, which was founded as part of the fight against terrorist messaging, deploys some $61 million budget and a staff of 125 to counter disinformation from countries such as Russia,China, Iran. For instance, last year it took an unusual step of disclosing a covert Russian operation when it was barely off the ground.

However, as TURAN reported earlier, the Agency is due for congressional reauthorization by the end of this year. Extension of its termination clause was not included in the recent national security supplementals, which passed the Congress this week and was signed by President Biden.

"If the termination clause were allowed to go into effect in December 2024, the U.S. Government would be without a statutorily empowered center that analyzes, exposes, and takes coordinated action against foreign information manipulation overseas that seeks to undermine U.S. priorities globally and negatively impacts our national security,"  a State Department Spokesperson told TURAN.

Allowing the termination clause to take effect risks putting the State Department and the broader U.S. interagency back at square one in the fight against foreign information manipulation.

"There is no question that the GEC’s work of identifying and countering foreign propaganda and disinformation abroad will have to continue. We hope Congress will take the important step of reauthorizing the GEC,” a State Department Spokesperson concluded.