State Dept. Directive Signals Shift From Counter-Disinfo to Cognitive Warfare
After attacking and dismantling U.S. counter-disinformation capabilities, the Trump administration has just formally rolled out a new initiative to combat “anti-American” propaganda through the State Department, in coordination with military psychological operations units and Elon Musk’s social media platform X.
In a new directive released last week, the State Department instructed American embassies and consulates worldwide to develop strategies to counter foreign “anti-American propaganda” by recruiting local influencers and coordinating — “as appropriate” — with military units specializing in information and influence operations, often referred to as “psyops.”
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The directive, issued under Marco Rubio, specifically mentions leveraging X and its Community Notes feature as a vehicle for state-sponsored campaigns aimed at pushing back against disinformation and propaganda, particularly from countries like Russia, China, and Iran, which the State Department identified as direct threats to national security. While the U.S. has long used diplomacy and information operations to shape public opinion abroad and push back against foreign malign influence, the new directive indicates a shift in the approach to those activities — one that not only breaks down the wall between civilian and military information operations, but also looks a lot like cognitive warfare.
Related Knowledge Center: Digital privacy and data security
If you’re online, you’re generating a constant stream of information about yourself — sometimes voluntarily, sometimes unwittingly — that is assembled and used to craft your online experience. And generate wealth for data brokers. Meanwhile, designers and managers of the digital infrastructure on which the world depends are engaged in a never-ending effort to thwart attempts, by both criminal enterprises and state actors, to exploit vulnerabilities in those systems.
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