WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st October, 2018) The US government has dedicated $40 million toward countering so-called propaganda from foreign countries such as China, Russia and Iran, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino told reporters on Tuesday.
"In the end of September, the Global Engagement Center obligated $40 million to support initiatives that counter disinformation propaganda spread by foreign countries," Palladino said. "This funding will support a variety of efforts to counter Russian, Iranian and Chinese disinformation and propaganda."
Palladino said the initiatives to combat foreign disinformation include deploying technology to provide early warnings, identifying susceptible audiences, and working with local social media influencers to produce content.
The endeavor will also focus on developing the technical skills of civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, and journalists to "shed light on the spread of disinformation," he added.
Separately on Tuesday, the Pentagon announced in a press release that it transferred $20 million to the same State Department center, which is also tasked with coordinating US counterterrorism messaging to foreign audiences.
The center was created in March 2016 for the purpose of countering messaging from the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia). Former US President Barack Obama signed the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act that expanded the Global Engagement Center's mandate to counter messages from state actors like Russia and China.
The United States has introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia over the two nations' disagreements on the internal conflict in Ukraine and Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 US election, allegations which Moscow has repeatedly denied.
