The United States is closing its service to the fight against foreign disinformation, on the pretext of « freedom of expression »-Liberation
There is no doubt that Vladimir Putin and Russian trolls of trolls must drop the lips. The Trump administration announced on Wednesday, April 16, in the evening, the closure of the US service against disinformation from foreign countries.
A decision justified by the American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, by the need according to him of « defend Americans’ freedom of expression»». « Under the previous administration, this service, which costs more than $ 50 million to the taxpayer each year, spent millions to silence the votes of Americans that he was supposed to defend »accused the head of American diplomacy, in a statement. « »It is the antithesis of principles even that we should defend and inconceivable in a country like America ”he added.
The closure of the information handling service and foreign interference (Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) nevertheless occurs when experts warn against risk disinformation campaigns on the part of China and Russia. Founded in 2016 under the name of « Global Commitment Center » (GEC), he has long been in the crosshairs of Republican elected officials, who blocked his budget at the end of 2024.
The service had started a few months before the first election of Donald Trump, which had been marked by accusations of Russian interference. A 2019 report of the special prosecutor Robert Mueller had notably established that the Russian state had « Intangible in the 2016 presidential election systematically ». Moscow has always denied any involvement – including the reported use of hackers and « Trolls » on social networks.
Shortly after the return to power of Donald Trump on January 20, the Ministry of Justice had closed a unit of the Federal Police (FBI) to combat foreign interference in the United States, the « Foreign Influence Task Force ».
