Information control is essential for any dictatorship or
tyrannical government to control the hearts and minds of a people. But
what are the ways they do so?
White Propaganda: White Propaganda is propaganda that
makes a country, a group or organization look positive or beneficial. It
can be used to make a losing side look like it is winning by manipulating
perceptions. This also affects the enemy (or dissidents) as it makes them
feel as if their efforts seem useless. So when a government spins
information to make things look better than they really are it is white
propaganda.
Black Propaganda: The opposite of the white version,
Black Propaganda is about demeaning the enemy. It makes them less human
and viler than they may actually be. So when the Japanese portrayed
Americans as beasts and us Americans the same way it was a form of Black
Propaganda. This form of propaganda was used by the Nazi's to demean the
Jews, the Gays, and the disabled as well. Obviously this is all about portraying
countries, groups or people in a negative light.
Censorship: Censorship is where certain
information is purposely withheld from public knowledge. This can be done
by the government, or even groups or people. Here it is about preventing
information that may counter the narrative being put forth by a government.
So any information that may display a negative light on the government,
or make them look like hypocrites will be withheld. Other forms of this
may be used to ensure that particular morals are upheld. Similar to how
in the Cold War a censorship office in the United States prevented displays or
information that was either "obscene" or purported the ideology of
the Communists. In this way, they could prevent the "corruption"
of the people.
Disinformation: The most powerful form of
information control, it combines propaganda, censorship and an element of storytelling
to control information. So basically it is the creation of a believable
story line and supported by the three aforementioned forms of information
control (sometimes with planted evidence or information) in order to either
make things look positive or negative, or to steer the population in a certain
direction and away from what the group controlling the narrative deems undesirable.
For instance in WWII the Pope hid Jewish families in the Vatican, to hide
them from the Germans. But a disinformation campaign by Joseph Stalin's
intelligence agencies portrayed the Pope as complicit to Hitler’s extermination
of the Jews. Truth was that the Vatican had so many Jews being sheltered
that they were living on the Vatican steps and in the hallways. But until
recently with information slowly being declassified everyone believed the
disinformation that Stalin had put out to turn people away from the church and
lean toward atheism which the communist government espoused.
Conclusion: As you can see, information control
is powerful. It can mean the rise and fall of nations and reputations.
Any government, group and organization can pull this off. Think of
how little we knew about the stock market crash in 2007/2008. They
withheld information and used propaganda until they could no longer withhold
the information. Mudslinging during election campaigns is propaganda as
well with a small dose of disinformation depending on how creative the opponent
can be. So all I can tell you is trust but verify for you are not getting
the full story in school or from the media in the first place, but spinets of
information that they can cram in. So who knows how much more there is to
a story or to history that we are not being told. Always remember, to do
your own research and break out of the box that these con artists want you to
stay in.
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