Smith-Mundt Act Authorizes State Department Propaganda Apparatus - Voice of America Expands

President Harry S. Truman signs the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (Public Law 80-402), popularly called the Smith-Mundt Act after sponsor Congressman Karl E. Mundt (R-SD), on January 27, 1948. The Act regulates broadcasting of programs for foreign audiences produced under State Department guidance and creates an information service to disseminate abroad information about the United States, its people, and policies. As a Cold War measure intended to compete with Soviet propaganda primarily in Europe, the legislation authorizes development of Voice of America (VOA) and other international broadcasting capabilities to engage in what Presidents Truman and Eisenhower call a “global struggle for minds and wills.”

Congress declares the Act’s objectives are “to enable the Government of the United States to promote a better understanding of the United States in other countries, and to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.” However, the Act includes provisions prohibiting domestic dissemination of materials produced for foreign audiences, establishing a firewall between foreign propaganda operations and the American public. These safeguards address concerns that the U.S. government might create Nazi-style propaganda or resurrect President Woodrow Wilson’s Committee on Public Information activities.

Amendments in 1972 and 1985 tighten restrictions on domestic dissemination. The 1985 amendment, championed by Senator Edward Zorinsky (D-NE), declares that the United States Information Agency would be no different than an organ of Soviet propaganda if its products were available domestically, adding explicit language: “no program material prepared by the United States Information Agency shall be distributed within the United States.” The Act also prevents the State Department from acquiring a monopoly of broadcasting or other information media, requiring that information activities only supplement private agency dissemination.

The Smith-Mundt Act establishes the legal framework for permanent U.S. government information operations abroad, creating institutional infrastructure for Cold War ideological competition. Voice of America and subsequent State Department broadcasting services expand throughout the Cold War to become significant instruments of American soft power and influence operations. The domestic dissemination ban remains largely intact until the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 allows State Department and Broadcasting Board of Governors materials to be made available within the United States, eliminating the firewall between foreign propaganda operations and domestic audiences. The 1948 Act represents the formal authorization of peacetime government propaganda apparatus, establishing the precedent that information warfare constitutes a legitimate government function requiring permanent institutional capacity and taxpayer funding.