The Chinese government has a multi-pronged approach to quell the protests –building support among business elites, putting pressure on companies and ramping up its misinformation campaigns.
As younger Chinese become increasingly addicted to their mobile devices, the government’s propaganda offices have had to rethink their strategies.
Roman Pilipey/EPA
To stay relevant, the Chinese Communist Party is rethinking its approach to propaganda. The reviews are decidedly mixed, but overall, younger Chinese seem drawn to the messaging.
When protesters took to the streets in Hong Kong, China’s state media had several tactics for how to describe it: some outlets ignored it, while others railed against ‘extremists’.
Jerome Favre/AAP
Pro-Beijing media used different messages to target specific audiences inside and outside China during the Hong Kong protests, but each had the same goal – putting the right spin on the news.
Trump’s poll numbers went up after high levels of Russian troll activity, though Clinton’s didn’t go down.
AP/Mary Altaffer, Chuck Burton
An analysis of social media troll activity during the 2016 election campaign shows that exposure to Russian propaganda may have helped change American minds in favor of Republican candidate Trump.
In recent years, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp papers have become more politically aggressive, adopting the openly partisan approach of British tabloids.
Jason Reed/AAP
New research reveals how News Limited was secretly established in the early 1900s by a mining company for the express purpose of disseminating ‘propaganda’.
He’s calling – but will you answer?
Russian Presidential Executive Office
The Mueller report reveals that some U.S. citizens helped Russian government agents organize real-life events, aiding Russia’s propaganda campaign. Don’t be like them.
Over the last hundred years, there have been at least three major waves of ‘progressive’ education in Ontario. Here, Premier Doug Ford with Finance Minister Vic Fedeli after presenting the 2019 budget at the legislature on April 11, 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
The Progressive Conservative government’s call to modernize education invokes long-standing rhetoric about progressive education in paradoxical ways.
Too many people are spurning democracy and being seduced by propaganda, fake news and political strongmen. This First World War poster shows a giant Gibson Girl as the symbol of democracy, punching a German soldier resembling Hindenburg.
(Shutterstock)
Many citizens are searching for certainty and control in uncertain times. But that means too many are spurning democracy and being seduced by fake news and political strongmen. Democracy needs our help.
Winston Churchill projected British ‘qualities’ to Europeans during World War II.
Gimas via Shutterstock
Terry Thompson, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
European countries, especially the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have confronted Russian disinformation campaigns for decades. The US can learn from their experience.
What dangerous experiences lurk behind the use of this trackpad?
Amy Walters/Shutterstock.com
The initial aim of the 1937 Foreign Agents Registration Act was long forgotten: the prosecution of Nazis for interfering with American democracy. But that law is startlingly relevant to the US now.
Beware the strings attached to social media and smartphone use.
VAZZEN/Shutterstock.com
Without much delay, Facebook and Twitter could make significant changes to limit political manipulation and propaganda. Will they? And will users ask it of the social media giants?
The Iffy Quotient measured misinformation on social media in the run-up to the recent elections. Facebook has gotten better at combating untrustworthy links, but Twitter still struggles.
Forged documents were used by the US government 100 years ago to justify hostile actions against Russia. All but one US newspaper accepted the government’s propaganda. The lessons for today are stark.
Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia, Bulgaria, painted overnight on February 24 2014 by unknown activists in solidarity with anti-Russian protests in Ukraine.
Wikimedia Commons
Richard Forno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Russian hackers are coupling old propaganda strategies with new technologies to attack and exploit not just computers and stored data, but how people think.
Global Scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC and Hopkins P Breazeale Professor, Manship School of Mass Communications, Louisiana State University