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The Trump administration has just shut down the Department of State office that monitors foreign disinformation campaigns. Cutting the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI) hub leaves the State Department, and therefore us as a nation, without any office or part of the budget focused specifically on countering disinformation threats to our country, according to The Guardian (April 17).
Secretary of State Marco Rubio applauded this move to wipe out our protection, accusing the office of "censoring the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving," which is patently untrue, since the office was focused on foreign disinformation campaigns only.
What are the monetary savings for leaving us undefended before the growing threat of worldwide disinformation? Fifty million dollars --pocket change in the US budget. Compare that to the $1.26 billion spent by Iran on propaganda efforts, and the billions spent by China each year, according to the US Dept of State Global Engagement Center.
We live in an era of growing cyber and online disinformation and propaganda warfare. But this administration has decided that we, the people, should not be defended from this new weapon favored by dictators across the world. It makes you wonder about the intentions of this president and whose side he's on.
JAMI MURDOCH
West Milton
Submitted by email