Newly sworn in Secretary of State Marco Rubio is already prioritizing free speech in a major change from the Biden State Department.
Rubio, in comments to U.S. diplomats published by RealClearPolitics, stated that he is already taking action to end State Department programs that fund censorship and pressure Big Tech to censor. No longer will the State Department target so-called misinformation and disinformation. Rubio told RealClearPolitics that any programs within the State Department’s control that “lead or in any way open the door to censorship of the American people will be terminated.” The Secretary of State clarified, however, that the State Department will continue to monitor and target “enemy propaganda.”
Rubio also denounced “agencies and programs of our own government” that engaged “in censorship, suppression, and misinformation of their own.” He promised that programs that “lead or in any way open the door to censorship of the American people will be terminated.”
Defunding censorship programs would notably impact the previous administration’s anti-free speech projects through the Global Engagement Center (GEC). GEC famously violated its mandate by funding censorship entities such as the infamous Global Disinformation Index (GDI) which blacklisted many conservative media sites.
Rubio’s termination order comes after a massive congressional spending bill passed in December extended GEC’s authorization one more year, but it appears that might have been temporary. Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi reported earlier this month that Biden’s anti-speech Secretary of State Antony Blinken shifted GEC employees to a new wing of the State Department. But as Rubio terminates all censorship programs within the agency, that ruse is likely also short-lived.
Rubio is following the lead of President Donald Trump, who signed executive orders to block both federal government employees and agencies from censoring constitutionally-protected speech on his very first day in office.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment and provide transparency. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
