Issue One criticizes elimination of State Department office countering foreign disinformation

In response to today’s news that the State Department would eliminate the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI) Hub, an office that tracks and counters foreign disinformation campaigns, Issue One Policy Manager for Technology Reform Liana Keesing issued the following statement:

“Stopping foreign disinformation campaigns from interfering in the internal affairs of the United States should be an issue that receives bipartisan support. Unfortunately, the decision to dismantle the State Department’s R/FIMI Hub marks yet another alarming move by the second Trump administration to erode critical protections against foreign interference in our democracy. It’s a sharp reversal from the early days of Trump’s first term, when Democrats and Republicans came together to establish the Global Engagement Center (GEC) — the predecessor to R/FIMI — to defend against threats from China, Russia, and Iran.

“Already, those same adversaries are using social media to exploit this administration’s purge of seasoned federal workers — experts with deep institutional knowledge of national security — to probe our government’s inner workings and weaken us from within. Our internal research has found that China, Russia, and Iran have spread over 50 new false narratives this year alone to target U.S. citizens. The Trump administration’s recent moves only empower our adversaries to continue their attacks. Unless Congress steps up to restore these protections, we risk more than political chaos — we risk handing our enemies the tools to undermine our democracy from the inside. In the end, when the national security safeguards necessary to maintaining a strong democracy are dismantled, it is the American people who suffer most.”

Background

Since returning to power nearly three months ago, the Trump administration has also stopped offensive cybersecurity and information operations against Russia, instigated mass layoffs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), dissolved the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, and significantly curtailed enforcement of Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a nearly century-old law requiring that people who lobby on behalf of foreign governments register with the Justice Department and disclose their lobbying activities.

Cumulatively, this shows the broader trend of how the Trump administration is undermining key cybersecurity and national security programs that protect against foreign interference.