Fake identities and fake news on social media is a serious issue, which must be resolved. How will Americans be able to identify propaganda or fake news on social media? The problem is complicated, however solvable. America is a global leader in communication technology and will have to address and solve this serious social issue. We must be the nation that leads in combating cyber warfare, propaganda and misinformation campaigns.

Propaganda as defined is ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and spread in order to help a cause for a political leader or government.(Marian) (Chapman) Propaganda is fake news, or untruthful in every respect.

Russia has launched propaganda warfare to disrupt and destroy American democracy. Cyber propaganda affected the 2016 election.(Lomas) We will eventually learn the whole story when Robert Mueller, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Council concludes his investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

The indictment of numerous Russian agents by Robert Mueller proves Americans are being attacked by Russian propaganda or fake news. The indicted defendants and their co-conspirators created hundreds of social media accounts impersonating real and fake Americans. Americans were and still are inundated with Russian propaganda on the Internet, although the companies are now under federal pressure to identify, remove, and defend the public from cyber propaganda and miss-information campaigns.(Todd)

Propaganda is the most insidious type of warfare, attempting to alter our perception of democracy and government.(The Story) Propaganda is used by Russia, to promote their agenda, and ideology by causing division, disruption and chaos within another nations society. Russia has been using propaganda for years and will continue to do so, unless we educate our public how to identify propaganda and our government finds a way to prevent cyber propaganda in the future.(Todd) 

Russians studied American demographics for red and blue states, religious views, economic status, racial views American reactions to political rhetoric, and much more than anyone would believe. Russian research helped them zero in on certain sectors, or regions of our country for their propaganda campaigns. (Russian) (Parlaplano) Internet research helped the Russians find most of their information. As well, many people believe the Russians had help from American citizens.

Russia has five objectives in their social media campaigns: undermine citizen confidence in democratic governance; erode trust between citizens, elected officials and democratic institutions; foment and exacerbate divisive political fractures; popularize Russian policy agendas within foreign populations; create general distrust or confusion over information sources by blurring the lines between fact and fiction.(Parlaplano) Russia’s influence campaign and propaganda has caused havoc and weakened democracies throughout Europe and the United States; all done without force.

Voters will never admit they were affected by propaganda, or that they were influenced by what they might have read and heard regarding the presidential candidates before the 2016 election. It may be insulting to one’s intelligence to say they were influenced by Russian propaganda, even if they were unwilling influenced. ( Ropeik) (Todd) (Chapman)  People instinctively will deny being fooled, or influenced in anyway. Instead of exploring the facts and truths for personal validation of an issue in accordance with one’s values, these types of personalities will dig in harder to stand by their initial choices. Those who voted for President Trump have no intention of changing their convictions about a president who has been named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Russian investigation. It doesn’t matter to these voters how obviously corrupt this current President has proven to be. Many Evangelicals have denounced their Christian values to support President Trump regardless of his anti-Christian actions and behavior.

Evangelicals have been called out for rejecting their Christian values because of their support for a corrupt president and his administration. Support of the Trump agenda, no matter how totally mean and anti-Christian will continue because they believe he will advance their own agenda to abolish abortion rights for women and destroy all LBGT rights gained during the Obama administration. It is preposterous to believe removing human rights from this sector of our society is justifiable or in keeping with true Christian values.

Dan Kahan, principle researcher into the phenomenon of “Cultural Cognition”, found people will identify strongly with groups that validate their own beliefs and position on issues.(Todd) Kahan’s research, along with that of many others conclude that the more challenged our views are, the more we fight to defend them. Tribal unity is established under these polarizing social conditions. (Todd) Most of us believe this behavior irrational and uninformed, however tribalism can produce behaviors of science denial, immorality, and genocide. Humans have evolved to stick with their tribes out of fear of change and feeling they are under attack, or threatened.

President Trump has done everything possible to support Tribalism through his contentious rhetoric. Instead of trying to unify our country, Trump has done the opposite by feeding his political minority base with lies, deception and Russian propaganda. Trump defense of Russia with regard to meddling in the 2016 election is a lie and a form of propaganda, which only helps Putin accomplish his agenda. The minority base will defend their position regardless how immoral or destructive.

How do we as a nation fight this type of cyber warfare is the question for all of us. I believe public education is key to resolving this serious issue. If the public is educated to understand the serious implications of cyber propaganda and how to recognize propaganda on the Internet, we will have a chance to succeed.

Presently, this type of public education has been promoted in the eastern European countries of Latvia, Estonia.(Todd) These countries have citizens with native ties to Russia that make this type of education even more critical. Their fight against Russian propaganda has lasted since WWII and doesn’t end. Recently these countries have seen an incredible rise in Russian propaganda as Putin tries to infiltrate and influence its neighbors on the border. (Todd)

Social media corporations must remove all propaganda as soon as identified. (Lomas) Identification of propaganda must become a top priority to secure information being published through social media and all other platforms that advertise.

Advertisement is another way propaganda travels into your mind.Usually, advertisements are used to promote goods and services. We should worry when advertisements promote political agendas.Propaganda may be so subtle that a person wouldn’t necessarily recognize it.

Political propaganda is used to influence the public on political agendas.

Propaganda, or fake news has promoted national division, or tribalism within our society.  In a multicultural society the impact of tribalism is profoundly destructive and dangerous. National division may cause a civil war, as it has in the past. Tribalism is a potential threat that will divide our nation if not addressed during these uncertain times.

 

Work Cited

Chapman, James. “Review Article: The Power of Propaganda.” Journal of Contemporary  History, vol. 35, no. 4, 2000, pp. 679–688. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/261067.

Lomas, Natasha, “fake-news-is-an-existential-crisis-for-social-media” techcrunch,           02/2018, (www.techcrunch.com)

Merriam-Webster, Dictionary, Propaganda, 2018, Web

Parlaplano, Alicia, Lee C. Jasmine, The Propaganda Tools Used by Russians to Influence the   2016 Election, new York Times, Feb 16, 2018, (www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/16/us/politics/russia-propaganda-election-2016.html )

Ropeik, David, “How-risky-is-it-really”, How tribalism-makes-risky-world-even-   more-dangerous, Psychology Today, May15,2012, (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-risky-is-it-really/201205/how-tribalism-makes-risky-word-even-more-dangerous)

“The Story of Propaganda”, American Historical Society, 2018, (www.historians.org/about- aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/what-is-propaganda/the-story-of-propaganda)ToddPa

Todd C. Helmus, Elizabeth Bodine-Baron, Andrew Radin,Madeline Magnuson, Joshua Mendelsohn, William Marcellino,Andriy Bega, Zev Winkelman, “Russian Social Media Influence”, “Understanding Russian propaganda in Eastern Europe”, Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2018 RAND Corporation, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-0-8330-9957-0 (www.rand.org)

“Russian-Black-Propaganda-is-a-Vast-Effort-to-Destabilize-the-US-and-Topple-NATO” Paranoid Factoid, Dailykos, Feb. 19, 2017,  (www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/19/1634798/-Russian-Black-Propaganda-is-a-Vast-Effort-to-Destabilize-the-US-and-Topple NATO)

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by Anya Morgan 10-24-2018