Politics
Former officials dispute claims of domestic censorship in leaked State Department files
Ex-GEC leaders say released documents show no evidence of targeting Americans, while the State Department prepares new overseas counter-propaganda initiatives.
The short version
- Former high-ranking officials at the State Department's former Global Engagement Center (GEC) say leaked agency files contain no evidence that the foreign-focused office engaged in domestic censorship of Americans.
- The documents were publicly released by State Department Undersecretary Sarah Rogers after she initially provided them to conservative online data analyst Jennica Pounds.
- The dispute follows the 2024 defunding and 2025 dissolution of the GEC after Republicans alleged it was complicit in suppressing conservative domestic speech.
- Internal proposals show the State Department is planning new foreign influence operations, including an $11 million campaign targeting Chinese propaganda in Southeast Asia.
Key facts
- State Department Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers published leaked files from the shuttered Global Engagement Center after providing them to conservative analyst Jennica Pounds.[The Guardian]
- Former GEC leaders Daniel Kimmage and Carrie Goux stated that the leaked material contains no evidence that the center turned its tools against American citizens.[The Guardian]
- The GEC lost its funding in 2024 and was disbanded in 2025 following Republican-led claims that its financial support for third-party entities, such as the UK-based Global Disinformation Index, contributed to domestic political censorship.[The Guardian]
- Jennica Pounds disclosed after the leak that she had been hired in July as a special government employee for the Department of Defense.[The Guardian]
- A State Department proposal shows plans for an $11 million, multi-year campaign by the US Mission to ASEAN to train and pay social media influencers in Southeast Asia to counter Chinese propaganda.[The Guardian]
- A May 2026 State Department filing showed an office requesting information from commercial vendors for software to track open-source data, map propaganda networks, and detect deepfakes.[The Guardian]
What remains uncertain
- The Department of Defense has not responded regarding whether an online database tracking US members of the Democratic Socialists of America created by Jennica Pounds falls within her official scope of government work.[The Guardian]
- The State Department declined to answer specific questions regarding the influencer program, the leaked files, or whether counter-influence operations are expanding into other regions.[The Guardian]