Marco Rubio Explains to Ben Shapiro Why He Shut Down State Department’s Censorship Office

Secretary of State Marco Rubio just delivered a critical blow to the bloated and weaponized censorship machine hiding within the U.S. State Department and he’s not apologizing for it.

In a recent interview with Ben Shapiro, Rubio explained why he shut down the Global Engagement Center (GEC), an agency that started out fighting terrorism and ended up fighting free speech.

“It metastasized and metamorphosed into a government-run entity that was targeting political speech in America,” Rubio said. “Labeling it disinformation and silencing it all paid for by American taxpayers.”

Originally created by Barack Obama in 2011 to counter terrorist propaganda, the GEC was later rebranded and repurposed to combat so-called ‘misinformation’ on social media. What started as a counter-terror tool quickly morphed into a Big Brother-style censorship operation one that increasingly targeted conservative outlets, political dissidents, and inconvenient truths.

Rubio, echoing sentiments many on the right have long shared, said the agency’s actions would now be investigated for abuse of power.

“We’re going to be in the business of promoting free speech in America and around the world.”

The GEC reportedly partnered with outside groups like Global Disinformation Index and NewsGuard, which then blacklisted conservative outlets like The Daily Wire and The Federalist, labeling them as “risky” and dissuading advertisers from working with them. The goal? Financially cripple dissenting voices.

In fact, The Daily Wire, The Federalist, and the State of Texas are now suing the GEC, alleging it worked to “render unprofitable, disfavored press outlets” through taxpayer-funded censorship operations.

This isn’t a conspiracy theory it’s a proven pattern. The GEC pushed social platforms to deplatform conservative voices, suppress content that questioned the government narrative (like the COVID-19 lab-leak theory, now backed by the CIA), and interfere with the flow of information in an election year.

“By 2020, it became a big movement to go after voices inside of American politics,” Rubio explained. “And begin to label people.”

The agency even set up shop in Silicon Valley, embedding itself into the tech censorship ecosystem, bypassing bans on domestic operations by simply funneling money to private third parties.

Though the GEC was technically shut down after it hit its statutory sunset, the Biden administration tried to quietly rebrand and relaunch it under a new name with many of the same people. But House Republicans refused to reauthorize its funding, ending one of the worst examples of weaponized bureaucracy in recent memory.

Rubio’s takedown of the GEC sends a strong message the days of government-sponsored censorship are over. And in the Trump-Rubio administration, free speech is not just defended it’s restored.

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