US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down

[FightFight]

Source: france24

The Global Engagement Center, a State Department unit established in 2016, shuttered on Monday at a time when officials and experts tracking propaganda have been warning of the risk of disinformation campaigns from US adversaries such as Russia and China.

"The State Department has consulted with Congress regarding next steps," it said in a statement when asked what would happen to the GEC's staff and its ongoing projects following the shutdown.

The GEC had an annual budget of $61 million and a staff of around 120. Its closing leaves the State Department without a dedicated office for tracking and countering disinformation from US rivals for the first time in eight years.

A measure to extend funding for the center was stripped out of the final version of the bipartisan federal spending bill that passed through the US Congress last week.

Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241224-us-agency-focused-on-foreign-disinformation-shuts-down

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Russian troll operation

An in-depth look inside the Russian troll factory in St. Petersburg: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/world/europe/russia-troll-factory.html

Russian troll describes work in the troll factory: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/russian-troll-describes-work-infamous-misinformation-factory-n821486

A former Russian troll explains how trolls are taught to spread fake news: http://time.com/5168202/russia-troll-internet-research-agency/

A former Russian troll describes work in the troll factory as like being in Orwell’s world: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/02/17/a-former-russian-troll-speaks-it-was-like-being-in-orwells-world/

The activist who worked as a mole for Mueller and uncovered the troll farm in the Mueller indictment: https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/03/15/594062887/some-russians-see-u-s-investigation-into-russian-election-meddling-as-a-soap-ope

The decent Russians working inside the troll factory trying to take it down: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/the-notorious-kremlin-linked-troll-farm-and-the-russians-trying-to-take-it-down/2017/10/06/c8c4b160-a919-11e7-9a98-07140d2eed02_story.html

Even many Russians can’t stand what the troll farm is doing according to The Moscow Times: https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/the-kremlins-trolls-go-west-35651

Outstanding three-part video series in the New York Times on Russian disinformation and the troll program, “Operation Infektion”: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/opinion/russia-meddling-disinformation-fake-news-elections.html?auth=login-email&login=email&auth=login-email

[yellow dahlia]

1. And it was allowed to happen?

Were there deliberate agendas at work?

[underpants]

2. I've heard this as a topic on talk radio

They were trying to tie it to free speech or something. Basically they want bot farms driven by algorithms.

[MadameButterfly]

3. This is the real story about what got cut out of the CR

by Elon Musk's actions.

Both Elon and Trump won. The Dems shouldn't have voted for it. They should have let the shut down fall on Republicans rather than let this happen. Now Russia owns us.

[Captain Zero]

4. Trump won. It is not like this agency was hugely successful

was it?

Of course now Elon won't have to spend as much, just handing the job back to Putin.

[oldmanlynn]

6. They definitely didnt stop disinformation

[MadameButterfly]

9. They actually did. They made it harder, discredited some fake films,

warned us that there was more Russian disinformation than in 2016. It wasn't enough, but we're not comparing it to what might have been.
That 90 million will be hard to replace. Especially with the FBI in the tank for Trump.
I predict Russian going full out propaganda now with no resistance in place. It might be kind of like living in Russia.

[oldmanlynn]

5. Why would it shut down?

Thats crazy. If they are worried trump will shut them down let trump do it and get the bad publicity

[C0RI0LANUS]

7. FightFight: Thank you for posting and providing all of this time-consuming research. Regards, Coriolanus.

[Dumpy]

8. Global Engagement Center, WTH is that....

First time I have heard of them, and they spend $61 million a year. I hear more about disinformation from people on here than from GEC.