New Delhi: Amid the ongoing operation against Iran, the US has directed all its embassies and consulates to launch coordinated campaigns against “foreign propaganda,” while working with the American military’s psychological operations unit.
The Guardian obtained the cable on Monday, which highlighted that all the US embassies and consulates were to utilise Elon Musk’s X as an “innovative” tool to propagate Washington’s narrative.
The cable, duly signed by Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, laid down a set of instructions on how the embassies can push back “against the foreign efforts to undermine American interests abroad.”
This development comes when Washington is engaged in a military operation against Tehran, “whose government has for decades operated one of the world’s most sophisticated and prolific state disinformation apparatuses.” This also includes China and Russia, which are operating on the sidelines to influence the US and its allies across the world.
“These campaigns seek to shift blame to the United States, sow division among allies, promote alternative worldviews antithetical to America’s interests, and even undermine American economic interests and political freedoms,” the cable says.
According to The Guardian, the cable stated five objective goals to target disinformation campaigns. This includes countering hostile messaging, expanding access to information, exposing adversary behavior, elevating local voices who support US interests, and promoting what it calls “telling America’s story.”
The cable further instructs to recruit local influencers, academics, and community leaders to push Washington’s narrative while carrying out counter-propaganda messaging. This is intended to make the American narrative more logical and organic, compared to any state-funded PR programme.
“Using digital platforms, state-controlled media, and influence operations, they pose a direct threat to US national security and fuel hostility toward American interests,” the cable added.
As per the cable, all the American missions worldwide are directed to work in harmony with the US Department of War’s Psychological Operations unit, also known as MISO (Military Information Support Operations).
Sarah B.Rogers, spokesperson of the US State Department, told The Guardian that, “the under secretary for public diplomacy nominated in March had made countering foreign anti-American propaganda a top priority, and that the department would take an assertive stance on this pernicious issue by fully harnessing every tool in our diplomatic toolkit.”
However, the spokesperson declined to give any comments on the collaboration with MISO and cables, which endorse X as a helpful tool against disinformation.
In February, the US State Department presented a separate report to the Congress that identified Code Pink and several other Left-wing activist organisations, which were allegedly promoting Beijing’s propaganda in the US.
The use of propaganda campaigns is very common for countries to influence public opinion. In the past, the US has also deployed such campaigns. However, combining such campaigns with the military’s psychological operations is relatively new.
In contrast to the cable, last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dissolved its foreign influence task force, and the US State Department also disintegrated its Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference hub.
“It is the responsibility of every government official to continuously work to preserve and protect the freedom for Americans to exercise their free speech. That is why today I am announcing the closure of the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference,” Rubio had said in a statement.
According to The Guardian, the cable endorsed X as an “innovative” and “crowdsourced” instrument to weed out the disinformation for “countering anti-American propaganda operations without compromising free speech or privacy.”
In December, the European Union fined X with 120 million euros under its Digital Services Act for breaching transparency obligations, the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers.
Musk was also a special advisor to Trump’s second administration to promote government efficiency through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The cable instructed embassies to ensure the US foreign assistance through visibly branded, directing consular posts and the use of prominent, flag-forward branding, to make Washington’s presence visible.
The US missions were also told to increase positive visibility through international news and independent analysis translated into local languages. As the cable noted, “anti-American propaganda is pervasive or where information is restricted.”
Washington has also established American Spaces, which promote cultural centers, libraries, and exchange hubs for uncensored information and are promoted explicitly as free speech, according to the cable.
(Edited by Tony Rai)