Decoding Propaganda Terminology
An ongoing series exposing the true meanings behind some of the most widely used terminology in the political and cultural discourse.
To better understand politics and culture, we first have to understand how language is often deployed for propaganda. That is what this Decoding Propaganda Terminology series is meant to do.
Disclaimer: I’m sharing many of these terms as I learn about them in real-time.
(If you’d like to contribute, drop your suggestions in the comments section.)
DISINFORMATION/MISINFORMATION:
Commonplace Definition:
“Disinformation” refers to any false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It often employs strategic deceptions and media manipulation tactics to advance political, military, or commercial goals.
“Misinformation” refers to inaccurate, incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information. It is typically not spread with the intent to deceive people.
Decoded Definition:
“Disinformation” and “Misinformation,” together, are terms strategically employed mainly by corporate news and social media organizations, government agencies, third-party “fact-checking” organizations, and the political establishment apparatus to invalidate any information that critically challenges or accurately debunks the establishment’s official narratives.
For corporate media propaganda to work, it needs to stand unopposed. Corporate news and social media organizations, government agencies, third-party “fact-checking” organizations, and the political establishment apparatus know this and hire third-party ‘disinformation’ and ‘misinformation’ experts to regulate and flag any information that challenges, debunks, or deviates from their official narratives as “disinformation” or “misinformation.”
To throw the readers’ or viewers’ scent off of accurate information, say, about election rigging, or efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, or President Joe Biden’s mental and physical fitness to lead, ‘disinformation’ and ‘misinformation’ experts and third-party organizations are tasked with flagging the shared information for censorship and deplatforming, or such that the advertisers that fund/sponsor the individual or entity disseminating the accurate information are pressured to withdraw their financial backing.
As independent journalist Glenn Greenwald puts it:
“[These institutions] are afraid that if the internet is free, they can no longer control how the public votes, how the public thinks, how the public reasons, how the public decides. They know that people have lost trust and faith in [the establishment apparatus]… and for good reason.”
NOTEWORTHY: It’s important to note that information that is generated from within the establishment institutions on the Left is rarely ever flagged as “disinformation” or “misinformation.” Publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, AP News, or networks such as CNN, MSNBC, among others are never flagged for “disinformation” or “misinformation,” even as they are, on a daily basis, the primary culprits! However, those who are constantly flagged for “disinformation” or “misinformation” always happen to be on the centrist or conservative end (see image below). What an interesting coincidence!
This fact alone exposes the farce behind the establishment’s use of the “disinformation” and “misinformation” labels. The terms are not used to point out actual false or inaccurate information according to the commonplace definition. Instead, the terms are utilized as a political and propagandistic cudgel with which to deceive and mislead truth seekers, and silence dissenting voices that exist outside of the establishment Left.
Quick Explainer:
Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald in conversation with independent journalist Lee Fang, on “Misinformation Researcher” Kate Starbird.
UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers does a deep investigative inquiry into the Disinformation industry. What he discovers exposes how third-party “disinformation” and “fact-checking” organizations, with state-backed funding, run the largest censorship cartel online.
See The Term In Use:
Misinformation and disinformation means whatever the establishment tells us it means at the moment they say it
Once again we are in sync. I’m working on a piece about the first amendment