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 Seal of the United States Department of State | |
| Bureau overview | |
|---|---|
| Dissolved | May 28, 2019 |
| Superseding bureau | |
| Jurisdiction | Executive branch of the United States |
| Employees | 458 (As of 2013[update])[1] |
| Annual budget | $55 million[2] |
| Parent department | U.S. Department of State |
| Website | Official website |
TheU.S. Department of State'sBureau of International Information Programs (IIP) supported the department's public diplomacy efforts by providing and supporting the places, content, and infrastructure to influence foreign audiences. It was headed by theCoordinator for International Information Programs. IIP was one of three bureaus that reported to theUndersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. TheBureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and theBureau of Public Affairs were its sister bureaus. On May 28, 2019, IIP merged with theBureau of Public Affairs into theBureau of Global Public Affairs, and the duties of IIP Coordinator merged into the duties of theAssistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs.[3]
When the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 abolished theUnited States Information Agency (USIA) on October 1, 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the then newly createdBroadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), and its non-broadcasting information functions were given to the then newly createdUnder Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. The Bureau of International Information Programs was created as a part of this restructuring.[4]
According to the bureau's page on the Department of State website, IIP "provides and supports the places, content, and infrastructure needed for sustained conversations with foreign audiences to build America's reputation abroad".[5]
Physical and virtual places include over 700American Spaces around the world,[6] as well as a large social media community that numbers over 12 million followers. Content includes publications, video, and U.S. expert speakers, who engage foreign audiences both in person and through virtual programs. An example of this is the Arabic-languageTwitter channel @USAbilAraby. IIP managed the infrastructure for all embassy and consulate websites, translations of public remarks by the President and Secretary, and maintains internal websites with resources for use by public diplomacy officers for overseas programs.
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The Bureau of International Information Programs provided public diplomacy materials and support in three primary areas:
IIP operates the department's embassy and consulate websites (http://usembassy.gov) in over 60 languages. IIP also supports embassy social media efforts with Facebook pages and Twitter sites in six languages.
IIP also operates an interactive web-chat platform that links foreign audiences to U.S. subject matter experts, opinion-makers, community leaders, and government officials in more than 800 programs each year. In September 2014, the bureau launched a new social sharing platformShareAmerica to distribute public diplomacy content.
American Spaces exemplify the United States commitment to a core tenet of democracy: the citizen's right to free access to information. Hosting more than 16 million visits each year, American Spaces supports public diplomacy by creating a place for in-person engagement with foreign audiences. Over 700 Spaces are hosted in embassies, schools, libraries, and other partner institutions in 169 countries. They provide information about United States' policy, culture, and values as well as study in the United States. They also support English language learning and activities for alumni of international visitor programs.
IIP creates and curates content that provides context and information on U.S. foreign policy topics in a variety of formats ranging from video to print publications to audiobooks, reaching more than one billion people a year. Much of this content, along with transcripts of the Secretary's and President's speeches, is available to embassies in multiple languages. IIP also produces more than 125 video products each year and recruits more than 650 speakers annually, including Supreme Court justices, renowned authors, innovators, scholars, entrepreneurs, journalists, and sports figures who connect directly with more than 160,000 people in local markets via in-country and virtual events.
IIP has an advanced analytics capacity to measure output, campaign performance, perform audience analysis and track over 2,000 Department of State social media properties.
Macon Phillips served as IIP coordinator from 2013 to 2017.[7]
The Counter Misinformation Team or Counter Mis-information Team (CMT), headed by Todd Leventhal, was part of the Bureau of International Information Programs. CMT was originally formed to counterSoviet misinformation during theCold War.[8] and was tasked with responding to allegedmisinformation anddisinformation about theUnited States government. It was discontinued at the end of theBush administration.
In an attempt to debunk9/11 conspiracy theories, CMT released "The Top September 11 Conspiracy Theories"[9] report on August 28, 2006.[10]