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Propaganda 101
I have never really believed that all those who support Trump are bad people and I have tried to understand them and usually I have failed, walking away and thinking, yes, they are bad people.
Now, I think I do understand them and I have a new found empathy for Trumpers, as contradictory as that may sound. It does not mean that I agree with the racist, xenophobic, anti-science, anti-Semitic, hate mongering tone of the Trump campaign and many of its followers.
It means that educated people, let alone those with minimal education, can so easily be fooled with the current wave of sophisticated technology added with the widespread dissatisfaction with government.
Circumstances are perfect for the disinformation and hate campaigns, otherwise historically known as propaganda, to flourish. Not only are they slick with techniques that could convince a well-intended polar bear to move to Florida but they also come at a time when many people are quarantined, and bathe themselves in the digital world as they have sharply cut down on human contacts and subsequently, have fewer people to talk to who might have different opinions.
There is a research platform known as the Media Manipulation Casebook and it will turn your head around to read how sophisticated miscreants can convince the average person with average or sub-average attention that those polar bears indeed do want to buy condos in Miami Beach.
Here are some of the latest and most effective methods of spreading mis- and dis-information in a way that appears totally legitimate and spreads so easily into mislead but welcoming arms. You may not get through it all but consider that when you think about those with less education who are being duped and who have no idea about the meaning of keyword squatting, viral sloganeering or a dozen other nefarious techniques that are invading their brains.
Keyword Squatting
Keyword squatting involves creating online content around a specific search-engine-optimized term so as to determine the search results of the term. When people search for these terms, they are returned to squatted accounts and content where they can be manipulated around a narrative.
One example cited by the casebook is known as “Targeted Harassment: The Ukraine Whistleblower,” where manipulators encouraged participants to share the name and photos of an alleged whistleblower before legitimate platforms like Facebook or Twitter intervened. By keyword squatting, people were directed to content that would further give false credence to the alleged whistleblower.
Viral Sloganeering
Viral sloganeering is the use of short, catchy phrases intended to deliver persuasive, disruptive messaging to highlight social wedges, and sow divisions along political or cultural lines by capturing social media attention, provoking media coverage, and sometimes garnering institutional responses. The divisive phrases are used on and offline, spread virally through memes, hashtags, posters, and videos.
Current examples of viral sloganeering include “Lock Her Up” (aimed at Hillary Clinton), “Send Her Back” (aimed at Ilhan Omar),3 and “Quarantine is when you restrict movement of sick people. Tyranny is when you restrict the movement of healthy people.”
Muddy the Waters
This tactic involves distributing conflicting information ito cloud public perception of an individual, group, or topic, making the target subject more complex or confusing.
A classic was the “Republic of Florida’ hoax involving the Feb. 14, 2018, murder of 17 students and teachers at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, was later apprehended but before he was officially identified, speculation and false identifications of the shooter circulated online. During this period of confusion, a hoax targeting journalists led to a misidentification, naming Cruz as a member of a small white nationalist militia.
Forgery
An example was Omar Navarro, a candidate for congress in December 2017, who instigated a media manipulation campaign including forgery, to denigrate his political opponent, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. Navarro’s campaign exploited prejudice and wedge issues through a forged letter, fake participants and right-wing influencers online.
Impersonation
Over the course of three years, pranksters and right wing extremists instituted a meme war against Black activists and communities online in an effort to sow confusion, discredit authentic support and suppress voter turnout for the Democratic Party.
Butterfly Attack
Throughout 2017, pranksters and extremists created so-called “butterfly accounts” to discredit the antifascist movement in the U.S., taking advantage of available and official- sounding Twitter handles and public confusion about antifascists to spread narratives about antifa violence and drive wedges between antifascists, Black Lives Matter activists and liberals.
These butterfly attacks used keyword squatting to capture attention during breaking news events, and tactically adjusted over the course of the year.
Inspired by the fake “Boston Antifa” page, political users began making more parody antifa accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to dupe the left and trick people in the very forums where the campaign was being planned.
Distributed Amplification
An example was “Plandemic,” a 26-minute trailer video about coronavirus conspiracy theories that went viral in May 2020 because of distributed amplification. In response to its high viewership, major social media platforms moderated “Plandemic” and prepared for the full-length video. The platforms’ efforts slowed the spread of indoctrination.
As word (and links) continued to spread, NBC News reported that Plandemic “has been shared by celebrities, including the comedian Larry the Cable Guy, NFL players and Instagram influencers with millions of followers.”
Recontexualized Media
Recontextualized media is any image, video, or audio clip that has been taken out of its original context and reframed for an entirely different purpose or narrative frame. While cheap fakes, more broadly, alter the media, recontextualized media uses unaltered images, video, or audio but presents them in a new or false context according to the manipulators’ agenda.
During the early protests against the murder of George Floyd in June 2020, many recontextualized images spread on social media. One showed an image from the TV show “Designated Survivor” but claimed it was from a Black Lives Matter protest; another photo of a McDonald’s burning in 2016 was reframed as though it was from a current protest.
Misinfographics
Misinfographics are infographics with false or misleading information. In some cases, they may also be classified as a forgery when they borrow an existing organization’s brand aesthetics and logo in order to make it seem as if the content was coming from the organization. For example,the #SaveTheChildren hashtag within QAnon uses misinfographics to publicize human trafficking statisitcs.
Evidence Collages
An evidence collage is a collection of screenshots and text that is assembled into a shareable document and presented as evidence. Evidence collages are timed with breaking news events, and are meant to influence both the general public and journalists and preempt authoritative reporting. They also suggest civilian research, which itself can lead to the dissemination and propagation of unverified information.
Cheap Fake
A cheap fake is altered media that has been changed through conventional and affordable technology. Social media examples of cheap fake techniques include photoshopping (including face swapping), lookalikes, as well as speeding and slowing video. A cheap fake is easier to produce than a deep fake, which requires advanced technology and machine learning.
For more on the casebook, go to mediamanipulation.org or email manipulation@hks.harvard.edu.