FT: The USA ends international campaign to combat fake news from Russia, China and Iran

The United States has informed European countries that it is withdrawing from joint efforts to combat disinformation from Russia, China, and Iran.

This was reported to the Financial Times by three European officials.

Last week, European countries received notice from the US State Department that the United States was terminating a series of memoranda of understanding signed last year under the Biden administration that aimed to create a unified approach to identifying and exposing malicious information spread by foreign governments.

The memos were part of an initiative led by the Global Engagement Center, a State Department agency that combats disinformation spread abroad by US adversaries and terrorist groups.

James Rubin, who led the center until December, called the move a “unilateral act of disarmament” in the information war with Russia and China.

The center was created in 2011 to counter terrorist propaganda and violent extremism online. Its mission later expanded to include tracking and exposing disinformation campaigns abroad.

In December 2024, Republicans in Congress blocked attempts to extend the centerʼs mandate. Its functions were temporarily transferred to an office of the State Department, and in April 2025, the center was finally closed. The termination of the memorandums of understanding was the final step in ending the program.

Although the centerʼs work focused on disinformation outside the United States, it became a bone of contention for some Republicans, who accused it of censorship and stifling conservative voices. Rubin denied accusations of censorship by the center.

Rubin estimates that about 22 countries in Europe and Africa signed agreements with the United States over the past year. They were part of the Biden administration’s policy framework for countering foreign manipulation, which involved developing a shared understanding of the threat and working with partner countries on a unified response.

• Russia has waged an aggressive disinformation campaign in recent years to sow chaos and undermine support for Ukraine and the Western-led world order. Last September, the GEC accused a Russian state councilor of broadcaster RT of cyber espionage and an attempt to manipulate Moldova’s presidential election in Moscow’s favor.
• At the same time, the US imposed sanctions on RT and other state-owned Russian broadcasters for their role in spreading disinformation.
• Following Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, RT was banned in continental Europe and the United Kingdom.

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