Rubio Shuts Down State Department Office Accused of Censorship

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced the closure of a State Department initiative, the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI), formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC), Fox News reports.

Rubio accused the office of spending millions of taxpayer dollars on censorship activities.

“I am announcing the closure of the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI), formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC),” Rubio said in a statement released Wednesday.

Rubio claimed the GEC, costing taxpayers over $50 million annually, had “spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving” under the previous administration.

According to archived State Department website content, the GEC officially closed in December.

Rubio further alleged in an op-ed published on The Federalist that the GEC hadn’t been truly eliminated, but rather rebranded.

Dan Bishop, former House lawmaker and current deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, expressed his support for Rubio’s decision, writing “This is the way” on X.