150 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, PL. 114-328, Section 1287, Enacted Dec. 23, 2016. The GEC’s state-sponsored propaganda mandate includes Russia, China, North Korea,
and Iran, with different teams dedicated to each.
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Nahal Toosi, ‘‘Tillerson Spurns $80 Million to Counter ISIS, Russian Propaganda
Politico, Aug. 2, 2017.
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Nahal Toosi, ‘‘Tillerson Moves Toward Accepting Funding for Fighting Russian propaganda
Politico, Aug. 31, 2017. Committee Staff Discussion with GEC Officials (2017). disinformation efforts that target the US. and its interests.
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However, alack of urgency and self-imposed constraints by the current State Department leadership has left the effort in limbo. Launched in March 2016, the GEC is the latest in a line of State Department attempts to coordinate interagency counter-messaging efforts.
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Recognizing the severity of the disinformation threat and the additional resources needed to counter it, Congress increased the GEC’s budget by nearly threefold by enabling the State Department to request up to $60 million a year from the Department of Defense (DoD), and gave the GEC new hiring and grant-making authorities. GEC officials planned to use about half of those new funds on countering Kremlin disinformation, and a quarter of the new funds to increase the organization’s data science capability currently the GEC works across four lines of effort messaging partnerships,
content planning, government coordination, and data analysis. But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was slow to approve the additional funding, with one of his top aides reportedly concerned that the extra money would anger Moscow.
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After coming under pressure from Congress, Tillerson eventually approved $40 million, but inexplicably rejected another $20 million that could have been used to counter Russian disinformation.
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The GEC was also hamstrung by the Department’s hiring freeze, kept in place by
Tillerson, which prevented the hiring of new personnel to meet the office’s expanded mandate and mission.
In the State Department, the GEC reports to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, a position for which the Trump Administration waited nearly eight months to announce a nominee. As of publication of this report in January 2018, the Administration has yet to fill the Special Envoy and Coordinator of the GEC, suggesting that the Administration does not consider the
GEC’s new mission of countering foreign state propaganda a priority. The Administration’s lackadaisical approach to staffing these positions and providing leadership to US. efforts to fight Kremlin disinformation stands in sharp contrast to the accelerating nature of the threat. As one GEC official put it, every week we spend on process is a week the Russians are spending on operations.’’
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The GEC has a critical role to play in closing the gaps in the US. government’s efforts to counter the Kremlin’s disinformation operations. New funding and grant-making authorities delegated to the GEC should be used to support existing, effective organizations in Russia’s periphery engaged in monitoring disinformation,
promoting media literacy, and producing objective news content and investigative journalism. These organizations would benefit greatly from additional funding that would enable them to expand operations and reach larger audiences. To ensure that the GEC is fulfilling its objectives and funds are used as intended, Congress must be vigilant in monitoring the GEC’s progress and effectiveness if
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151 Two offices in the State Department conduct audience research around the world to inform public diplomacy messaging efforts The Office of Opinion Research, located within the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and the Office of Policy,
Planning, and Resources, located within the Office of the Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. The Department of State also launched a Russian-language Twitter feed into enable US. diplomats to share official statements directly with Russian-speaking audiences (some analysts report that this Twitter account only appeals to a very limited audience. Government Accountability Office,
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