❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Trump White House has ended international agreements tied to combating “disinformation” initiated under the former Biden government.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Donald J. Trump, the former Biden government, Global Engagement Center (GEC), and over 20 nations in Europe and Africa.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Agreements were voided at the beginning of September 2025; partner nations were informed last week.
🎯IMPACT: Partner nations must now decide whether to continue without U.S. coordination.
The Trump administration has finally moved to withdraw the United States from a number of international agreements signed under the former Biden government aimed at combating so-called “disinformation” on the Internet and in the media. Critics of the agreements have long contended that the anti-disinformation operations—often overseen by opaquely funded and ideologically driven non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—are actually conduits for political censorship.
One of the products of the agreements was the U.S. Department of State’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), which Secretary of State Marco Rubio shuttered in March. While the end of the GEC ended—for the most part—the U.S. federal government’s direct role in the international disinformation agreements, it remained a partner in the global framework.
However, according to European officials, partner governments were informed last week that the United States would no longer take part in the international cooperative framework. While 22 countries signed on to the former Biden government’s global censorship initiatives, the exit of the U.S. from the agreements under the Trump White House leaves their future in doubt.
The National Pulse reported in late May that Secretary Rubio announced a new policy blocking U.S. entry for foreign officials and their families involved in censoring Americans or interfering with U.S. tech companies. These new visa restrictions target foreign judges, bureaucrats, regulatory officials, and others orchestrating censorship efforts—some of which operate under the former Biden government’s international framework.
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