Elon Musk Slammed It, Congress Defunded It: First Amendment Win

The State Department’s controversial Global Engagement Center (GEC), once labeled by Elon Musk as the “worst offender in U.S. government censorship and media manipulation,” is closing its doors.

The worst offender in US government censorship & media manipulation is an obscure agency called GEChttps://t.co/z6h5975anw

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2023

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The closure, which went into effect December 23, 2024, follows the agency’s defunding through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Pentagon’s annual policy bill, as Fox News reported.

“The Global Engagement Center will terminate by operation of law [by the end of the day] on December 23, 2024,” a State Department spokesperson confirmed, adding that discussions with Congress are ongoing regarding the next steps.

The GEC, created in 2016, was originally tasked with countering foreign propaganda. However, it faced mounting criticism from conservatives who alleged it crossed the line into targeting Americans and censoring constitutionally protected speech.

Critics pointed to its questionable partnerships and practices, such as working with agencies like the FBI, CIA, and NSA, and funding organizations accused of tracking domestic misinformation.

The agency’s downfall gained traction after funding for it was stripped from a government spending bill, thanks to conservative lawmakers who rejected a continuing resolution that included the GEC’s budget.

Initially funded at approximately $61 million with a staff of 120, the agency was viewed by many Republicans as redundant, given the private sector’s capabilities in addressing disinformation.

“The GEC weaponized its authority to violate the First Amendment and suppress Americans’ constitutionally protected speech,” the Texas Attorney General’s Office stated in a press release.

Attorney General Ken Paxton, The Daily Wire, and The Federalist recently sued the State Department, accusing it of orchestrating a conspiracy to silence conservative media outlets.

The lawsuit alleges that conservative platforms were branded as “unreliable” or “risky,” leading to diminished advertising revenue and reduced circulation. “This represents one of the most egregious government operations to censor the American press in the history of the nation,” the complaint declared.

Reports from journalist Matt Taibbi uncovered how the GEC flagged Twitter accounts as “Russian proxies” for discussing topics like the Wuhan lab-leak theory or questioning COVID-19 narratives. Taibbi stated that the GEC  “funded a secret list of subcontractors and helped pioneer an insidious — and idiotic — new form of blacklisting” during the pandemic.

The GEC was finally defunded!

Merry Christmas.

“This account is no longer in use as of 12/23/24”

Good riddance to the @TheGEC and all the communists that work there. pic.twitter.com/f5RhTJqIsd

— Tom Tuttle (@tomtuttle014) December 25, 2024

The agency’s reach extended to funding the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), which denied tracking Americans. However, a Republican-led House Small Business Committee report revealed that GEC-funded groups rated the credibility of U.S. publishers and monitored domestic misinformation—raising serious constitutional concerns.

Adding insult to injury, America First Legal, led by Stephen Miller, unearthed a taxpayer-funded GEC project called Cat Park.

The video game aimed to “inoculate youth against disinformation” by teaching them to spot conspiracy theories and media manipulation. Critics slammed the game as “anti-populist” propaganda pushing political narratives under the guise of public education.

While the State Department maintains that the GEC’s mission was to counter foreign disinformation, its track record suggests otherwise. Instead of protecting Americans, the agency became entangled in domestic censorship and political manipulation.

Its closure marks a victory for free speech advocates and a cautionary tale about government overreach in the digital age.