On March 15, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that drastically cut funding for the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the parent company of the United States’ international reporting and broadcasting services, such as the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA). Along with the other associated services, RFA placed hundreds of its staff on unpaid leave due to a lack of funding. Both VOA and RFA are congressionally mandated services funded through USAGM; legal challenges against President Trump’s executive order are currently underway. RFA delivered uncensored, objective news to and about countries like China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. It has been a significant pillar of U.S. soft power and plays a key role in the dissemination of information to underprivileged groups within these countries.
While the domestic legal battle for the fate of RFA, VOA, and their associated services is underway, a different battle is unfolding in the Southeast Asian information sphere. The two outlets’ vital role in presenting differing viewpoints from tightly controlled state-owned media in the more press-restrictive Southeast Asian countries and China made them key contributors to accurate news reporting, spreading awareness of issues that would normally be censored or severely restricted by state-controlled media. Their emphasis on traditional U.S. values, together with their uncensored reporting, earned both outlets the ire of more repressive regimes throughout the region. Opponents in the information sphere portrayed the two outlets as mouthpieces for U.S. propaganda, a negative association that proved hard to shake.
As such, the shutdown of the outlets was met with praise from Chinese outlets, with the state-backed Global Times decrying it as a “lie factory.” RFA was characterized as “malicious” toward China, with glee at the shutdown spreading throughout Chinese social media. Former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen praised its closure, citing the outlet as a significant contributor to fake news, disinformation, distortions, and incitement of chaos. The funding cuts have slashed RFA’s staffing by 75 percent; meanwhile, 1,300 VOA employees were also placed on leave. With the defunding of RFA and VOA, the United States risks ceding more ground to malign actors, such as China and Russia, eager to fill the void left by the United States’ increasingly unpredictable foreign policy.
Impacts of RFA and VOA
VOA, RFA, and other agencies under the umbrella of USAGM serve an audience of 92.5 million people throughout East and Southeast Asia. Through nine different language services, RFA reports on significant issues ranging from human rights abuses, persecution, corruption, and health risks through radio, satellite transmission, broadcast, and the internet. It maintains a significant presence on social media, with more than 43 million followers across Facebook, YouTube, and X. According to USAGM’s 2025 Audience and Impact report, VOA’s 361 million–strong audience experienced 30 percent weekly audience growth. Meanwhile, 98 percent of RFA’s weekly audience considered the information they received as very or somewhat trustworthy. Eighty percent of the audience also believed RFA helped them form opinions on key issues. According to the Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index, VOA accounted for over half of all online interest in foreign radio broadcasters in the region. It is the most popular radio broadcaster in countries like Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, trailed distantly by Russia’s Sputnik network. RFA and VOA are well-trusted sources within these countries that have played a significant role in shaping public opinion. Crucially, RFA and VOA coverage also allows a glimpse into sociopolitical issues throughout Southeast Asia and provides an outside perspective for local audiences in countries with limited press freedoms, ranging from the ongoing conflict in Myanmar to Cambodia’s 2018 elections.
Case Studies on Impact: Myanmar and Cambodia
With dwindling domestic sources of news following the 2021 coup, RFA Burmese played a significant role in providing information independent of junta oversight. Both VOA and RFA experienced increased audience numbers in 2021, offering firsthand accounts of protests in Myanmar and chaos as the public faced the uncertainty of a new military government. RFA also provided a platform for everyday Burmese, as well as lawmakers and activists. When public information on the fomenters of the coup was scarce, RFA and its affiliate outlet BenarNews published background information on the military and civilian leaders involved, as well as distributed lists of detained citizens. After the launch of the Operation 1027 military offensive against the junta by three ethnic resistance organizations in October 2023, the use of virtual private networks in Myanmar skyrocketed. This led to an increase of 500,000 RFA viewers in FY 2024 compared to FY 2023. Despite the junta’s threats against independent journalists and blocked internet access to non-state-affiliated sources, RFA and VOA provided consistent sources of credible reporting. In the aftermath of the shutdown of most RFA services, many Burmese expressed support for its mission and the long-lasting impact of democratic values on the minds of Burmese citizens.
Similarly, in the face of heavy government censorship and the shutdown of independent media outlets in Cambodia under Hun Sen, RFA and VOA played a significant role in reporting on the 2018 and 2023 Cambodian legislative elections. In 2018, Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodia People’s Party claimed a landslide victory and took up all 125 seats in Cambodia’s parliament after the dissolution of the Cambodian National Rescue Party. RFA and VOA pointed to the “flawed” election process that excluded Cambodia’s main opposition party. In 2023, RFA covered another election with curtailed opposition and Hun Sen’s succession plans for Hun Manet. As with RFA Burmese, Cambodians came out in support of the outlets on social media after the announcement of the funding freeze and pointed to RFA and VOA as chief sources of accurate facts in a media environment mostly controlled by the Cambodian government.
Loss of Soft Power?
The return of the Trump administration has brought significant uncertainty to Southeast Asia. Often, regional partners are cautious of the administration’s intentions and unsure of the direction that it may take. Longstanding bipartisan frameworks for cooperation, such as those under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), have been shut down by the administration. Programs ranging from Agent Orange remediation to education and health support vanished overnight. Meanwhile, overtures to the region made under the Biden administration, like the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, will likely fall by the wayside with the Trump administration uninterested in multilateral cooperation and economic development.
The shutdown of USAGM services cuts the United States off from an audience of millions. With reduced funding and staffing, these services will no longer be able to highlight opposition voices, promote U.S. values, or counter state censorship and disinformation. Combined with the shutdown of USAID and the administration’s disinterest in much of the region so far, the United States has few concrete outlets for influence remaining, and its reputation and perceived reliability will suffer. Ongoing legal challenges could certainly bring funding back to USAGM programs; however, reputational damage has already been done. Southeast Asia is often described as “in the middle” of great power competition between the United States and China. While the United States enjoys strong partnerships with countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam that weathered the first Trump administration, the shutdown of these outlets is a significant blow to outreach in countries like Myanmar and Cambodia.
The junta in Myanmar plans to organize a sham election soon, and with fewer reporting voices on the ground, disinformation and censorship will quickly take back lost ground. On-the-ground coverage of the ongoing conflict in Myanmar will be reduced, hindering the capacity of the Burmese people to stay informed. Cambodia, often seen as China-aligned and with few remaining independent news sources, will see its information space lose more ground to state and China-aligned outlets.
The loss of VOA and RFA provides an opportunity for China and Russia to gain ground unchecked. With Chinese disinformation already rampant throughout Southeast Asian cyberspace, the United States will have no choice but to sit out the battle for influence for at least another four years. Should a future administration seek recalibration, it will find itself significantly behind.
Japhet Quitzon is an associate fellow with the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
