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US State Department closes center on information counteraction to Russia, other countries

The top US diplomat specified that "under the previous administration, this office spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving"

WASHINGTON, April 16. /TASS/. The US Department of State has shut down its center on counteracting Russia and a number of other countries in the sphere of information, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a written statement.

He noted that the US government must protect freedom of speech. "That is why today I am announcing the closure of the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI), formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC)," Rubio stressed.

The top US diplomat specified that "under the previous administration, this office, which cost taxpayers more than $50 million per year, spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving." "This is antithetical to the very principles we should be upholding and inconceivable it was taking place in America," he noted. "That ends today," Rubio added.

The official also pointed out that "over the last decade though, individuals in America have been slandered, fired, charged, and even jailed for simply voicing their opinions."

The center’s main goals included countering foreign information campaigns, including from Russia and China.

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