THE United States on Wednesday eliminated a key government agency that tracked foreign disinformation, framing the move as an effort to preserve “free speech”. The closure of the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference hub, previously known as the Global Engagement Centre (GEC), comes as leading experts monitoring propaganda have been raising the alarm about the risk of disinformation campaigns from US adversaries. In December, just weeks ahead of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the US Congress failed to extend the agency’s funding following years of Republican allegations that it censored conservative views. In a statement on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the closure of the unit, saying it was the responsibility of government officials to “preserve and protect the freedom for Americans to exercise their free speech.” “Under the previous administration, this office, which cost taxpayers more than $50 million per year, spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving,” Rubio said. “That ends today.” — AFP
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