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As Iran’s viral Lego videos, which spread anti-Western narratives through Lego-style animations and rap tracks, reach global audiences, the State Department’s call for diplomats to fight against anti-American propaganda proves incredibly timely.
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In a recent cable, Secretary of State Marco Rubio encouraged U.S. diplomats to partner with military psychological operations experts to combat “anti-American propaganda,” using the social media network X as a key tool. The State Department should heed Rubio’s call and begin taking a proactive rather than reactive approach to combatting enemy propaganda on X. They should also take the fight to platforms popular in hostile nations.
Russia, China, and Iran have long been engaged in an information war against the U.S. They use the information space to spread divisive rhetoric and propaganda, which is central to their strategy of undermining Washington. X, one of the most widely used social media platforms in the world, provides a key vehicle for information warfare, spanning both overt efforts and covert operations.
For years, Kremlin accounts have used memes and internet clap backs in attempts to discredit the U.S. For example, the Russian embassy in the UK tweeted a meme showing a woman telling a police officer at a traffic stop that “the Russians hacked my speedometer,” mocking the idea that Russia could be behind cyberattacks. On another occasion, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs account replied to a CIA job advertisement, thanking the CIA for “promoting the Russian language” and joking that they could put them in touch with likely candidates.
Chinese diplomats have also relied on X for influence warfare. They famously assumed an aggressive “Wolf Warrior” stance in 2017, with Chinese diplomats aggressively attacking the U.S. on X. Examples include Chinese diplomats mocking U.S. disaster relief efforts, denying the Uyghur genocide, insulting world leaders, and falsely claiming that the U.S. Army created COVID-19 and brought it to China.
China has not only smeared America in messages to global English-speaking audiences: it has also launched more targeted, covert influence operations seeking to undermine U.S. interests in foreign countries. China has launched campaigns on X targeting Filipino audiences that disparage the U.S.-Philippine alliance and targeted Latin American audiences, with recent operations claiming U.S. election interference in Honduras.
It is difficult to gauge whether these campaigns achieved their apparent objectives. However, Chinese propaganda, like a Lego animation mocking the U.S. response to COVID-19, has achieved high engagement in the form of likes, views, and shares in the past.
Iran has also launched influence operations on X, with hackers posing as Latinas in Texas and California and using AI-generated images to pose as Americans. Iran also previously created a large network of fake news websites targeting audiences across the globe, several of which also had associated accounts on X. During the recent American and Israeli strikes against Iran, Iranian and politically aligned, pro-Iranian accounts operating out of other countries reportedly launched a massive information war on X and other platforms, disparaging the two countries and fabricating images of successful Iranian strikes.
The US would not be the first Western country to use X to combat adversarial information warfare. In 2023, the French Foreign Ministry launched an account, “FrenchResponse,” aimed at fighting disinformation on X. It commonly uses sarcasm and internet humor to refute claims about France and the EU. A spokesman called it “another string to our bow” in defending French interests in the information space. It contributes to supporting media and the “resilience of French people” to “foreign digital interference.”
The U.S. should follow France’s lead. Embassies, as well as individual ambassadors, should be engaging with disinformation narratives spread by our adversaries and anti-American propaganda on X, debunking misleading narratives and supporting U.S. perspectives.
Information campaigns on X should not be merely a reactive force, responding to enemy provocation. U.S. diplomats should go on the offensive, hitting Russia, China, and Iran where it hurts. U.S. diplomats should craft content for X that exposes what these leaders attempt to hide. Diplomats might, for instance, wage an offensive X campaign exposing how the Russian military is extorting its own wounded soldiers to fuel its flailing war effort. Or they might undercut China’s grand strategic narrative, using both online and offline channels, that its rise is inexorable by pointing out its real estate crisis and projected future population collapse.
Before Congress eliminated the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) in 2024, the GEC had similar capabilities to those outlined in Rubio’s cable, including contracting local experts to combat influence operations. A spokesperson for State mentioned in a comment to the New York Times that the efforts outlined the cable were not intended to replace the GEC. However, the cable shows that State needs similar capabilities to those provided by the GEC.
The cable’s directive to tell America’s story provides guidance that is already part of the charter of Voice of America (VOA) and similar U.S. government broadcasts. Shutting down these broadcasts, which the current administration has attempted, is self-defeating and ultimately inefficient. Any valid critiques of U.S. government broadcasts such as VOA should be used to improve these broadcasts, rather than dismantle them.
Putting the enemy on the back foot will weaken their offensive capability and it can strengthen and support dissident voices within autocratic societies.
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The State Department’s activities on X provide just one channel to build this awareness. With deep country-level expertise and partnerships with prominent locals, the State Department can play a critical role in punching back against adversarial information warfare in foreign countries. And while X is an important platform for U.S. and global English-speaking audiences, the State Department also must maintain a presence on platforms popular in foreign countries, including Telegram, VK, and even Russia’s new MAX platform, and Chinese platforms like WeChat. The State Department may even try to create accounts on Iranian platforms like Eitaa, an Iranian Telegram knockoff.
America should not shy away from exposing the flaws in the corrupt autocratic systems of its adversaries through official diplomatic channels. When China ensnares developing countries in debt traps, or when Russia supports bloody warlords in Africa to access their natural resources, the world should be constantly reminded of these realities, with the State Department increasing their visibility.
Ivana Stradner is a research fellow at FDD and Max Lesser is a senior analyst on emerging threats at FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation
