US State Department directs embassies to counter foreign propaganda using Elon Musk’s X platform and military psychological ops
Consensus Summary
The US State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio issued a classified cable on March 29 directing all American embassies and consulates to launch a global campaign against foreign propaganda, explicitly naming Elon Musk’s X platform as a key tool. The directive, obtained by the Guardian, instructs diplomats to collaborate with the US military’s Psychological Operations unit (MISO) to counter disinformation campaigns from Iran, Russia, and China. The cable outlines five strategic goals, including countering hostile messaging and elevating pro-US voices locally, while emphasizing the use of X’s Community Notes feature to combat disinformation without infringing on free speech. Notably, the EU had previously fined X €120 million for deceptive practices, raising questions about the platform’s reliability. The US is positioning its embassies and cultural hubs as distribution centers for independent media and free speech zones, a shift that combines traditional diplomacy with military psychological operations—a rare public alignment of these efforts. The move follows the dismantling of previous US programs focused on countering foreign influence under the previous administration.
✓ Verified by 2+ sources
Key details reported by multiple sources:
- The US State Department issued a cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 29 directing all American embassies and consulates worldwide to launch coordinated campaigns against foreign propaganda
- The cable endorses Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) and its Community Notes feature as an ‘innovative’ and ‘crowdsourced’ tool to counter disinformation without compromising free speech or privacy
- The directive instructs embassies to work alongside the US military’s Psychological Operations unit (MISO, formerly Psyop) to address disinformation
- The cable highlights Iran, Russia, and China as state actors conducting sophisticated disinformation campaigns targeting US allies in Europe, Asia, and Latin America
- The US is at war with Iran, which operates one of the world’s most sophisticated state disinformation apparatuses
- The cable outlines five broad goals: countering hostile messaging, expanding access to information, exposing adversary behavior, elevating pro-US local voices, and promoting ‘telling America’s story’
- The EU fined X €120 million ($137.5 million) under the Digital Services Act for deceptive practices, with further investigations ongoing into its AI tools and recommendation algorithms
Points of Difference
Details reported by only one source:
- The cable suggests embassies should recruit local influencers, academics, and community leaders to carry counter-propaganda messaging to make narratives feel locally organic
- The cable explicitly instructs embassies to use ‘prominent, flag-forward branding’ to visibly mark US-funded aid and programming
- More than 700 ‘American spaces’ (cultural centers, libraries, and exchange hubs) are to be repositioned as platforms for uncensored information and promoted as free speech ‘zones’
- The cable references the dissolution of the FBI’s foreign influence taskforce and the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference hub under the previous administration
Contradictions
Conflicting information between sources:
- No contradictions found between the two Guardian articles provided
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