Debunking Propaganda

An Anti-Propaganda Resource

“Social media allows you to reach virtually anyone and to play with their minds.”
-Uzi Shaya, former senior Israeli intelligence officer

Before we debunk propaganda, we need to know what propaganda is.

Propaganda is information of a biased or misleading nature that is used to influence public opinion for ideological, political or commercial purposes. It achieves this by targeting and appealing to the emotions and beliefs of the public. Propaganda is often one-sided and manipulative and thus spreads because of the absence of context. 

Propaganda is extremely dangerous. In this resource, we state 5 reasons why you must not share propaganda.

   

1. Propaganda affects our mental health : 

Consuming or interacting with too much propaganda affects our mental health severely. For example, misinformation on Covid-19 had many adverse effects on the mental health of the public.

2. Propaganda affects the way we approach situations and make decisions through passive manipulation : 

Propaganda is framed in such a way that it disrupts our thinking process ever so slightly. It does this through passive psychological manipulation. It can make one cynical. It can make one choose the choices they wouldn’t before.

3. Propaganda consists of false information and fake claims which can’t be verified : 

Most propaganda is biased personal opinion rephrased as information. It uses fake claims and testimonials to sway public opinion.

4. Propaganda can result in numerous negative outcomes, such as hate speech : 

If the propaganda targets an individual or a group of persons, speaking about them negatively, it can result in outcomes such as hate speech towards the recipient. 

5. Sharing propaganda just serves the purpose of benefitting the cause of influencing public opinion wrongly : 

Propaganda relies on the public for its spread. The more the people engage with propaganda, the more it spreads. Therefore, it’s best not to engage and interact with propaganda.