State Department's 'censorship nerve center' shut down over the holidays

The State Department entity that was accused of censorship under the guise of countering "disinformation" shut down over the holiday break. 

“The Global Engagement Center closed on December 23, 2024,” the agency's website said, according to the New York Post.

House Republicans went after the GEC in the past after it was revealed that it had pressured social media companies to censor information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We learned Twitter, Facebook, Google, and other companies developed a formal system for taking in moderation ‘requests’ from every corner of government: the FBI, DHS, HHS, DOD, the Global Engagement Center at State, even the CIA,” independent journalist Matt Taibbi said in his testimony before Congress in 2023.

The entity was created in 2016 with a stated mission to "direct, lead, synchronize, integrate, and coordinate U.S. Federal Government efforts to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining or influencing the policies, security, or stability of the United States, its allies, and partner nations."

The State Department had said the GEC would likely shut down over the holidays, drawing a response from some lawmakers.

"The Biden Global Engagement Center went after the free speech rights of Americans and sought the censorship of conservative media and ideas. Good riddance," Rep. Darrell Issa wrote on X.