Propaganda- “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.”
I found this topic to be appropriate during these trying times. Since the world is in the middle of a pandemic, we rely on the news for a lot of our information regarding the spread of Covid-19. The news in Jacksonville, Florida where I live has started using the phrase “facts not fear”
I know that during these times, we can quickly fact check what is being put out there by utilizing the CDC, WHO, and NIH. However, while the media may not be spreading as much propaganda as they did during world war I and world war II but I would have to say Facebook as begun to take over, covering the propaganda. A recent report from the University of Oxford showed that Facebook is the most common platform for governments to spread “fake news.”
It shouldn’t come as much as a surprise that Facebook is at the heart of Propaganda issues in this time period. While Facebook itself is attempting to crack down on so-called “fake news,” I bet you could scroll through your Facebook right now and read at least one fake article.
While society today may not refer to it as propaganda anymore and just call it “fake news,” it is just another way that propaganda is only spreading.
References:
Chuck, E. (2019, November 22). ‘Greatest propaganda machine in history’: Sacha Baron Cohen slams Facebook, other social media companies. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/greatest-propaganda-machine-history-sacha-baron-cohen-slams-facebook-other-n1089471
Hanbury, M. (2019, September 27). Facebook is the most popular social network for governments spreading fake news and propaganda. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-disinformation-campaigns-new-oxford-study-2019-9
Propaganda. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/propaganda