As Election Day approaches, Americans would do well to remember they are targets of disinformation campaigns. Here's what they could look like, and what's being done about them.
China’s campaign from the 1950s to eradicate schistosomiasis, or ‘snail fever’, has been lauded ever since.
US National Library of Medicine
Many people who participate in disinformation campaigns are unwitting accomplices and much of the information they spread is accurate, which makes it all the harder to identify the campaigns.
Michael Pack at his confirmation hearing in Washington, September 2019.
VOA
New research shows that journalists tend to only resist government interference when they fear it will seriously damage their career prospects’.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) shakes hands with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Beijing on November 6, 2019. Also present is Élisabeth Borne, Minister of the Ecological and Inclusive Transition (left).
Ludovic Marin/AFP
China’s attempts to promote its actions and model of governance while discrediting the EU are not a short-term response to the pandemic, but part of a long-term strategy to build its international power.
President John F. Kennnedy personally bid the first Peace Corps volunteers farewell.
AP Photo/William J. Smith
Wendy Melillo, American University School of Communication
The agency's earliest ad campaigns emphasized youthful idealism, patriotism and travel opportunities. That was an easier sell than urging Americans to enlist in an anti-communist operation.
An analysis of the expressions used by Donald Trump to designate Covid-19 sheds light on his political calculations and on the evolution of his relationship with China in recent weeks.
The death of coronavirus whistleblower Dr Li Wengliang led to a backlash against China's policy of information control. Now the state is trying to control that too.
Who’s manipulating what you know before you vote?
AntonSokolov/Shutterstock.com
Members of the research team that wrote the software that unmasked thousands of Twitter bots explain the next phase of their work: getting the public involved in the fight against disinformation.
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.
Global Scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC and Hopkins P Breazeale Professor, Manship School of Mass Communications, Louisiana State University