The Global Engagement Center is being shut down, absent congressional action.
The U.S. State Department is planning to close a center that aimed to combat disinformation but ended up targeting some Americans, the U.S. government has announced.
A funding bill in 2016 provided money for the center for eight years. Congress has not yet acted to extend the funding, and lawyers said they understand that more funding is unlikely to be authorized.
Lawmakers in the recently released National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2017 did not include more funding for the center.
Per legal requirements, the department notified Congress that it plans to close the center and reassign staffers to other offices and bureaus if funding does not come through.
“While we are disappointed that the NDAA text released over the weekend does not include a multiyear extension of the Global Engagement Center, the Department remains hopeful that Congress extends this important mandate through other means before the December 24th termination date,” a State Department spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.
Presented with evidence that showed the center flagging a YouTube channel run by Americans, Kimmage said he did not think it resulted in any action being taken or recommended.
The State Department spokesperson said this week that the center should remain in operation because “we need to ensure that the capability to identify and counter foreign disinformation overseas is maintained.”
A lawyer representing the outlets declined to comment.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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