US Ends Disinfo Pacts, Creating AI Propaganda Vacuum

The United States State Department has formally withdrawn from international agreements with European partners designed to collaboratively combat foreign disinformation, marking a definitive end to a key transatlantic security initiative. According to reports based on conversations with European officials, the State Department has terminated several “Memoranda of Understanding” established in 2023 to coordinate the identification and exposure of influence campaigns from state actors like Russia and China. This move finalizes the shutdown of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), whose mandate was not renewed by Congress in late 2023 amid domestic political concerns over alleged censorship. This strategic retreat occurs as the U.S. government simultaneously escalates a pressure campaign against the European Union’s landmark platform regulations, the Digital Services Act (DSA). The dual actions signal a significant US disinformation policy change in Europe, shifting away from cooperative defense and creating a leadership void as AI is documented to be amplifying information threats.

Dismantling the West’s Digital Defense Shield

The decision effectively dismantles a critical piece of international infrastructure built for a modern security threat. The initiative was spearheaded by the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), an analytical body established in 2011 to counter propaganda from terrorist groups and later expanded to address state-sponsored disinformation. Its closure, finalized in April, removed the central U.S. government entity dedicated to this international mission.

The now-terminated Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were the formal agreements enabling the GEC’s work. Signed in 2023, these pacts created a structured framework for sharing intelligence and coordinating responses to identified threats from adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran, creating a unified front to expose foreign influence operations. The immediate impact of US withdrawal from disinformation pacts is a significant weakening of the West’s collective defense. James Rubin, who led the GEC, explicitly criticized the move, stating it weakens the U.S. position in the ongoing “information war,” leaving efforts fragmented and creating delays that adversaries can exploit.

The Diplomatic Contradiction Dance

This withdrawal is not happening in isolation but is part of a broader, contradictory shift in U.S. digital foreign policy. The catalyst for the GEC’s shutdown was domestic political opposition, with some Republican lawmakers accusing the center of censorship despite its mandate focusing on foreign threats outside the United States. This opposition led Congress to block the renewal of the GEC’s mandate, forcing its closure.

While dismantling this cooperative security apparatus, the U.S. government has mounted a significant pressure campaign against the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). According to reporting from Tech Policy Press, U.S. officials have framed the sweeping platform regulations as “foreign censorship” targeting American tech companies. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has designated the EU’s digital regulations as a foreign trade barrier and threatened tariffs, directly linking digital policy to trade. The same State Department that oversaw the GEC’s dissolution is now dispatching officials to communicate U.S. reservations about the DSA, demonstrating a complex policy where the US pressures EU on platform regulation while stepping back from joint security efforts.

AI’s Disinformation Arsenal Unleashed

The decision to abandon coordinated anti-disinformation efforts comes at a technologically perilous moment. Experts have documented that generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) now function as powerful threat multipliers for disinformation campaigns, lowering the barrier for creating high-quality, multilingual propaganda at an unprecedented scale. Technology companies are already detecting these threats; OpenAI, for instance, uncovered and suspended accounts linked to a suspected Iranian influence operation.

By dismantling human-led analytical centers like the GEC, the U.S. withdraws from anti-fake news agreements precisely when adversaries gain access to more sophisticated automated weapons. This creates a transatlantic rift, as the EU moves toward systemic regulation while the U.S. actively undermines that approach. The result is a leadership vacuum, forcing European nations to shoulder a greater security burden and placing more responsibility on private tech companies whose priorities are not always aligned with national security.

Checkmate in the Information Battlefield

The U.S. State Department’s termination of anti-disinformation pacts represents a landmark strategic decision with far-reaching consequences. It marks the culmination of a domestic political battle that has effectively ended a critical international security program. When viewed alongside the concurrent U.S. pressure campaign against the EU’s Digital Services Act, the move signals a definitive U.S. pivot away from collaborative international governance of the digital space. This retreat creates a dangerous void as AI technologies enhance the very threats the GEC was designed to counter, ceding the initiative to authoritarian regimes. How will European allies and the private sector adapt to this absence of U.S. leadership in combating increasingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns?