WASHINGTON—Federal officials are scrutinizing the U.S. government’s Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty news service, established to promote democratic values abroad, after complaints it has distributed foreign propaganda favorable to authoritarian regimes in Central Asia, according to the network, its employees and an internal State Department memo.

State Department officials sent a six-page memo to the leaders of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty earlier this year criticizing a pro-government stance by the service’s Tajikistan network and urging them to intervene following repeated complaints by U.S. diplomats, network employees and academics specializing in Central Asia. They said the network was providing programming favorable to Tajikistan’s president, Emomali Rahmon, his government and family.

The State Department officials also noted that they had asked the State Department Office of Inspector General to investigate several contracts between the Tajikistan network, called Radio Ozodi, and a broadcast company controlled by a relative of Mr. Rahmon for evidence of corruption and fraud. The contracts were intended to deliver U.S.-backed programming to a wider audience.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty said it too had asked the State Department Office of Inspector General to investigate. Its officials acknowledged the complaints in a statement published online after The Wall Street Journal approached the agency with questions about them. “Earlier this month, RFE/RL asked the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General to investigate,” it said in the statement in late March. “Corrective action will follow any investigation by the OIG, as warranted.” The statement said the Tajikistan service had “failed to live up to RFE/RL standards.”

The Office of Inspector General, which doesn’t confirm or deny whether it is conducting investigations, declined to comment. A State Department spokesman declined to discuss the details of the memo reviewed by the Journal. The official said the State Department had raised concerns with Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.