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A way to recognize misleading political propaganda
Richard Stallman, 2024-07-05

I examined an article of disinformation recently, and noted that it presented fragmentary information about several accusations about the same general topic. For each accusation, the information was insufficient to draw any rational conclusion about the point. Then it then jumped to another accusation.

That approach spreads distrust and condemnation by creating suspicion in a general way, without proving any wrongdoing.

After you have read many such messages, you may have an impression that there is a tremendous weight of evidence on their side. (Some of the claims may be false, but you will not have seen refutation of them.)

Meanwhile, you couldn't possibly remember so many fragmentary attacks in detail so as to check if any crucial links in the arguments are missing.

That approach is perfect for disinformation, so disinformationists use it often. You're likely to find it in sites that repeatedly publish disinformation (though there may be some other articles too).

So I suspect that that checking for this sort of approach is a good way to recognize disinformation.

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