State Department orders global embassy blitz on X to fight ‘anti-American propaganda’

The United States has instructed all embassies and consulates worldwide to initiate coordinated campaigns on the X platform to combat foreign propaganda and “anti-American” narratives.

In a diplomatic cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Guardian, diplomatic posts are further advised to collaborate with the US military’s psychological operations units to address the pervasive challenge of disinformation.

The document outlines an extensive set of protocols for embassy personnel on countering what are described as coordinated foreign efforts designed to undermine American interests abroad.

The cable mandates that embassies and consulates pursue five overarching objectives: neutralizing hostile messaging, expanding access to information, exposing adversary behaviors, amplifying local voices that align with US interests, and promoting what the document terms “telling America’s story.”

To execute these strategies, embassies are directed to recruit local influencers, academics, and community leaders in foreign jurisdictions to disseminate counter-propaganda. This “organic-local” approach is engineered to ensure that US-funded narratives appear homegrown rather than centrally directed from Washington.

“These campaigns seek to shift blame onto the US, sow division among allies, promote alternative worldviews inimical to US interests, and even undermine American economic interests and political freedoms,” the cable states. “By utilizing digital platforms, state-controlled media, and influence operations, they pose a direct threat to US national security and fuel hostility toward American interests.”

Of particular note is the instruction for diplomatic offices to synchronize their efforts with the “Department of War’s Psychological Operations.” This unit is more commonly known as MISO (Military Information Support Operations) or by its legacy designation, Psyop, operating under the jurisdiction of the Pentagon.

A State Department spokesperson told The Guardian that Sarah B. Rogers, the nominee for Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, has designated the countering of foreign “anti-American” propaganda as a “top priority.” The spokesperson added that the department would adopt a “decisive stance against this harmful issue” by “fully utilizing every tool in our diplomatic toolkit.”

The spokesperson did not directly address the specific endorsement of X or the mandate for coordination with military psychological units. The State Department also noted that Rogers had previously drawn scrutiny for a report submitted to Congress that identified Code Pink and several other leftist organizations as vectors for Chinese influence operations within the US.

While the explicit integration of public diplomacy with military psychological operations is rare, US initiatives to counter foreign disinformation are not without precedent. Previous administrations funded such efforts through the Global Engagement Center. However, that center lost its funding shortly before Donald Trump’s return to office, having become a focal point for allegations regarding the censorship of conservative speech.

In the past year, the FBI disbanded its foreign influence task force, and the State Department shuttered its Center for Countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference.

The cable specifically endorses Elon Musk’s X platform—particularly its Community Notes feature—as an “innovative” and “crowdsourced” tool for filtering disinformation to “counter anti-American propaganda operations without compromising free speech or privacy.”

Furthermore, the cable instructs embassy staff to ensure visible branding of US foreign aid. Consulates are directed to use “prominent, flag-forward branding” so that foreign publics clearly understand that assistance or programs originate from the US government.

Consulates and embassies worldwide are also tasked with increasing the accessibility of international news and independent analysis translated into local languages. This directive effectively turns diplomatic missions into distribution hubs for foreign-language media in countries where “anti-American propaganda is prevalent or access to information is restricted.”

Finally, more than 700 “American Spaces”—comprising cultural centers, libraries, and exchange hubs funded by the US government globally—will be repositioned as platforms for uncensored information and explicitly promoted as “zones” of free speech under these new guidelines.