Firehose of falsehood

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The firehose of falsehood, also known as firehosing, is a propaganda technique in which a large number of messages are broadcast rapidly, repetitively, and continuously over multiple channels (like news and social media) without regard for truth or consistency. An outgrowth of Soviet propaganda techniques, the firehose of falsehood is a contemporary model for Russian propaganda under Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Contents

The Russian government used the technique during its offensive against Georgia in 2008 and Russia's war with Ukraine that started in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea, and it has continued to use it in the 2021 prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It continued to use it as part of its interference in the 2016 United States elections, [1] [2] largely aided by the repetition of Russian falsehoods [3] by Donald Trump, who has made constant lying a key part of his communication strategy. [a] Politicians, governments, and movements in other countries have since adopted the use of the same tactics.

While difficult to counter, the German Marshall Fund, RAND, and military strategists have described techniques to respond to the firehose of falsehood, generally involving preempting it with good information, strategically reducing or removing misinformation, and teaching digital literacy.

Characteristics

The RAND Corporation coined the name "firehose of falsehood" in 2016, describing a technique it observed in Russian propaganda that combines a very large number of communications and disregard for the truth. [9] Partially, it is distinguished from the older Soviet propaganda techniques used during the Cold War by the much larger quantity of messages and channels enabled by the advent of the internet and changes in how people consume news information.

According to research published in Frontiers in Political Science: [10]

When leaders employ a firehose of falsehoods, citizens retreat into cynicism and the belief that the truth is fundamentally unknowable. If the truth is unknowable, reasoned debate is pointless because there are no agreed-upon facts. ... When reasoned democratic discourse is not possible because there are no agreed upon facts, all that is left is the political exercise of raw power.

Use of the firehose of falsehood has been shown to be "consistent with political psychology research showing that epistemic and existential uncertainty motivate the adoption of conservative and authoritarian beliefs." [10]

The immediate aim of the firehose of falsehood technique is to entertain, confuse, and overwhelm the audience and to create disinterest in or opposition to fact-checking and accurate reporting, so the propaganda may be delivered to the public more quickly than better sources. [9] [2] The approach's success flouts the conventional wisdom that communication is more persuasive when it is truthful, credible, and non-contradictory. [9]

According to RAND, the firehose of falsehood model has four distinguishing factors:

  1. It is high-volume and multichannel.
  2. It is rapid, continuous, and repetitive.
  3. It lacks a commitment to objective reality.
  4. It lacks commitment to consistency. [9]

The high volume of messages, the use of multiple channels, and the use of internet bots and fake accounts are effective because people are more likely to believe a story when it appears to have been reported by multiple sources. [9] For example, in addition to the recognizably-Russian news source RT, Russia disseminates propaganda using dozens of proxy websites whose connection to RT are "disguised or downplayed". [11] People also are more likely to believe a story when they think many others believe it, especially if those others belong to a group with which they identify. Thus, a group of operatives can influence a person's opinion by creating the false impression that a majority of that person's neighbors support a given view. [9]

Campaigns

The Russian government has used the "firehose of falsehood" at least as early as its offensive against Georgia in 2008. [9] It has continued to use it in its war with Ukraine, including the annexation of Crimea and the prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [9] [12] There also have been Russian campaigns targeting other "near abroad" post-Soviet states and the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. [9] [1] Firehosing also has been a feature of Russian disinformation campaigns targeting Western Europe and the United States, including as part of the interference in the 2016 United States elections. [1] [2] In 2019, according to the science writer William J. Broad of The New York Times , the propaganda network RT America began a "firehose of falsehood" campaign to convince Americans that 5G phones were a health hazard, even as Putin was ordering the launch of 5G networks in Russia. [13]

According to the author and former military intelligence officer John Loftus, Iran has been using similar methods to incite hatred against Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Israel. He claims that some fake news that is attributed to Russia, actually was planted in the Western press by Iran. [14] During Indonesia's 2019 presidential race, the incumbent, Joko Widodo, accused Prabowo Subianto's campaign team of disseminating hateful propaganda aided by foreign consultants and cited "Russian propaganda" and the "firehose of falsehood" model. [15]

According to Mother Jones magazine editor Monika Bauerlein, the firehose technique is increasingly being used against the press by American politicians. She warns readers to expect an increase in the use of several related tactics: the lawsuit threat, the "fake news" denial, and the ad hominem attack. [16]

Several publications have characterized the communication strategy of Donald Trump as a firehose of falsehood. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] His use of the firehose technique during the June 27, 2024, debate broadcast by CNN was noted by analysts such as Heather Cox Richardson, [8] who labeled Trump's performance as Gish Galloping and Dan Froomkin, [17] who provided not only his similar analysys, but that of many others. The technique has also been used by activists, such as by the anti-vaccine movement to spread debunked theories about the supposed dangers of vaccination. [18] According to cybersecurity company Recorded Future, the technique has been used by the Chinese government in an attempt to undermine the credibility of BBC in response to the BBC reporting on the persecution of Uyghurs in China. [19]

Countermeasures

Conventional counterpropaganda efforts are ineffective against this technique. As researchers at RAND said, "Don't expect to counter the firehose of falsehood with the squirt gun of truth." They suggest:

Researchers at the German Marshall Fund suggest, among other things, being careful not to repeat or amplify the original false claim; repeating a false story, even to refute it, makes people more likely to believe it. [20] Security expert Bruce Schneier recommends teaching digital literacy as part of an 8-step information operations kill chain. [21] In "How We Win the Competition for Influence" (2019), military strategists Wilson C. Blythe and Luke T. Calhoun stress the importance of consistent messaging. They compare information operations to other weapons used by the military to target an enemy and achieve a desired result: "The information environment is an inherent part of today's battlefields." [22]

Another way to combat disinformation is to respond quickly as events unfold and to be the first to tell the story. An example of this occurred in February 2018, when Syrian pro-regime forces began shelling Syrian Democratic Forces near Khasham and coalition forces responded in self-defense. The Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) immediately published a news release entitled "Unprovoked attack by Syrian pro-regime forces prompts coalition defensive strikes." In response to the news, reporters from around the world flooded the CJTF–OIR with queries, which allowed CJTF–OIR to establish the facts before Russian news outlets could spin the story as they had in 2017. [22]

As part of its involvement in the Syrian civil war, Russian state media published a number of stories in November 2017 claiming that coalition forces were purposely allowing Islamic State fighters to escape from Abu Kamal, Syria. The stories included a so-called "satellite image" which was later found to be a screen capture from a video game. [22]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Trump's use of firehose technique [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic deceptions and media manipulation tactics to advance political, military, or commercial goals. Disinformation is implemented through attacks that "weaponize multiple rhetorical strategies and forms of knowing—including not only falsehoods but also truths, half-truths, and value judgements—to exploit and amplify culture wars and other identity-driven controversies."

A big lie is a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth primarily used as a political propaganda technique. The German expression was first used by Adolf Hitler in his book Mein Kampf (1925) to describe how people could be induced to believe so colossal a lie because they would not believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously". Hitler claimed that the technique had been used by Jews to blame Germany's loss in World War I on German general Erich Ludendorff, who was a prominent nationalist political leader in the Weimar Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RT (TV network)</span> Russian state-controlled international television network

RT, formerly Russia Today, is a Russian state-controlled international news television network funded by the Russian government. It operates pay television and free-to-air channels directed to audiences outside of Russia, as well as providing Internet content in Russian, English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Portuguese and Serbian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RT America</span> Part of the RT TV network that folded in 2022

RT America was a U.S.-based news channel headquartered in Washington, D.C. Owned by TV Novosti and operated by production company T&R Productions, it was a part of the RT network, a global multilingual television news network based in Moscow and funded by the Russian government. The channel said it reached an audience of 85 million people in the United States, but this figure is disputed. It was distributed through select cable providers, over-the-top services, a live stream through its website, and three low-power digital subchannels. Since the channel's closure, viewers who tune into the cable channel or their live stream are being shown a live feed of an RT International broadcast instead.

Ruptly GmbH is a Russian state-owned video news agency specializing in video-on-demand, based in Berlin, Germany. It is a subsidiary of the Russian state-controlled television network RT. Ruptly owns the media channel Redfish and is the major shareholder of the digital content company Maffick. Its chief executive is Dinara Toktosunova. Upon Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the company faced a staff exodus. In January 2023, Toktosunova was sanctioned by Ukraine.

Sputnik is a Russian state-owned news agency and radio broadcast service. It was established by the Russian government-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya on 10 November 2014. With headquarters in Moscow, Sputnik maintains regional editorial offices in Washington, D.C., Cairo, Beijing, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro. Sputnik describes itself as being focused on global politics and economics and aims for an international audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State propaganda in the Russian Federation</span> Propaganda promoting views, perceptions or agendas of the Russian federations government

The propaganda of the Russian Federation promotes views, perceptions or agendas of the government. The media include state-run outlets and online technologies, and may involve using "Soviet-style 'active measures' as an element of modern Russian 'political warfare'". Notably, contemporary Russian propaganda promotes the cult of personality of Vladimir Putin and positive views of Soviet history. Russia has established a number of organizations, such as the Presidential Commission of the Russian Federation to Counter Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of Russia's Interests, the Russian web brigades, and others that engage in political propaganda to promote the views of the Russian government.

Fake news websites are websites on the Internet that deliberately publish fake news—hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be real news—often using social media to drive web traffic and amplify their effect. Unlike news satire, these websites deliberately seek to be perceived as legitimate and taken at face value, often for financial or political gain. Fake news websites monetize their content by exploiting the vulnerabilities of programmatic ad trading, which is a type of online advertising in which ads are traded through machine-to-machine auction in a real-time bidding system.

Fake news websites target United States audiences by using disinformation to create or inflame controversial topics such as the 2016 election. Most fake news websites target readers by impersonating or pretending to be real news organizations, which can lead to legitimate news organizations further spreading their message. Most notable in the media are the many websites that made completely false claims about political candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, as part of a larger campaign to gain viewers and ad revenue or spread disinformation. Additionally, satire websites have received criticism for not properly notifying readers that they are publishing false or satirical content, since many readers have been duped by seemingly legitimate articles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fake news</span> False or misleading information presented as real

Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue. Although false news has always been spread throughout history, the term fake news was first used in the 1890s when sensational reports in newspapers were common. Nevertheless, the term does not have a fixed definition and has been applied broadly to any type of false information presented as news. It has also been used by high-profile people to apply to any news unfavorable to them. Further, disinformation involves spreading false information with harmful intent and is sometimes generated and propagated by hostile foreign actors, particularly during elections. In some definitions, fake news includes satirical articles misinterpreted as genuine, and articles that employ sensationalist or clickbait headlines that are not supported in the text. Because of this diversity of types of false news, researchers are beginning to favour information disorder as a more neutral and informative term.

"Crucified Boy" is a reference to an anti-Ukrainian fake news story spread by Russian state-owned Channel One on July 12, 2014.

<i>Palmer Report</i> American liberal fake news website

The Palmer Report is an American liberal fake news website, founded in 2016 by Bill Palmer. It is known for making unsubstantiated or false claims, producing hyperpartisan content, and publishing conspiracy theories, especially on matters relating to Donald Trump and Russia. Fact-checkers have debunked numerous Palmer Report stories, and organizations including the Columbia Journalism Review and the German Marshall Fund have listed the site among false content producers or biased websites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Bartlett</span> Canadian activist and blogger

Eva Karene Bartlett is an American Canadian activist, commentator, and blogger who has propagated conspiracy theories in connection to the Syrian civil war, most notably the disproven allegation that the White Helmets stage rescues and "recycle" children in its videos.

<i>The Grayzone</i> US-based fringe news website and blog

The Grayzone is an American news website and blog described as fringe and far-left by numerous sources. It was founded and edited by American journalist Max Blumenthal. The website was initially founded as The Grayzone Project and was affiliated with AlterNet until early 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian information war against Ukraine</span>

The Russian information war against Ukraine was articulated by the Russian government as part of the Gerasimov doctrine. They believed that Western governments were instigating color revolutions in former Soviet states which posed a threat to Russia.

The Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory is a series of false allegations that Joe Biden, while he was vice president of the United States, improperly withheld a loan guarantee and took a bribe to pressure Ukraine into firing prosecutor general Viktor Shokin to prevent a corruption investigation of Ukrainian gas company Burisma and to protect his son, Hunter Biden, who was on the Burisma board. As part of efforts by Donald Trump and his campaign in the Trump–Ukraine scandal, which led to Trump's first impeachment, these falsehoods were spread in an attempt to damage Joe Biden's reputation and chances during the 2020 presidential campaign, and later in an effort to impeach him.

A truth sandwich is a technique in journalism to cover stories involving misinformation without unintentionally furthering the spread of false or misleading claims. It entails presenting the truth about a subject before covering misinformation, then ending a story by again presenting truth. Margaret Sullivan summarized it as "reality, spin, reality — all in one tasty, democracy-nourishing meal".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disinformation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine</span>

As part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian state and state-controlled media have spread disinformation in their information war against Ukraine. Ukrainian media and politicians have also been accused of using propaganda and deception, although such efforts have been described as more limited than the Russian disinformation campaign.

Russian disinformation campaigns have occurred in many countries. For example, disinformation campaigns led by Yevgeny Prigozhin have been reported in several African countries. Russia, however, denies that it uses disinformation to influence public opinion.

<i>NewsFront</i> (website) Crimean disinformation website

NewsFront is a website based in Russian occupied Crimea, described by the United States Department of the Treasury as "a Crimea-based disinformation and propaganda outlet...particularly focused on supporting Russia-backed forces in Ukraine." According to owner Konstantin Knyrik, however, NewsFront is fighting an "information war" against unfair attacks on Russia. NewsFront describes itself as "a news agency that runs news in ten languages including Russian, German, English, Bulgarian, Georgian, French, and Spanish."

References

  1. 1 2 3 Caryl, Christian (5 April 2017). "If you want to see Russian information warfare at its worst, visit these countries". The Washington Post .
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kakutani, Michiko (2018). "The Firehose of Falsehood: Propaganda and Fake News". The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump. Crown/Archetype. pp. 94–104. ISBN   9780525574842.
  3. 1 2 3 Clifton, Denise (3 August 2017). "A Chilling Theory on Trump's Nonstop Lies. His duplicity bears a disturbing resemblance to Putin-style propaganda". Mother Jones .
  4. 1 2 Brian Stelter (30 November 2020). "'Firehose of falsehood:' How Trump is trying to confuse the public about the election outcome". CNN .
  5. 1 2 Maza, Carlos (31 August 2018). "Why obvious lies make great propaganda". Vox .
  6. 1 2 Zappone, Chris (12 October 2016). "Donald Trump campaign's 'firehose of falsehoods' has parallels with Russian propaganda". The Sydney Morning Herald .
  7. 1 2 Harford, Tim (6 May 2021). "What magic teaches us about misinformation". Financial Times .
  8. 1 2 Richardson, Heather Cox (28 June 2024). "June 27, 2024". Heather Cox Richardson. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Paul, Christopher; Matthews, Miriam (2016). "Russia's "Firehose of Falsehood" Propaganda Model". RAND Corporation . doi: 10.7249/PE198 . JSTOR   resrep02439 . Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  10. 1 2 Dunwoody, Phillip T.; Gershtenson, Joseph; Plane, Dennis L.; Upchurch-Poole, Territa (9 August 2022). "The fascist authoritarian model of illiberal democracy". Frontiers in Political Science . 4. doi: 10.3389/fpos.2022.907681 . ISSN   2673-3145.
  11. ↑ Kramer, Franklin D.; Speranza, Lauren D. (1 May 2017), Meeting the Russian Hybrid Challenge: A Comprehensive Strategic Framework, Atlantic Council, p. 9, JSTOR   resrep03712.5
  12. ↑ Kenneth R. Rosen, 'Kill Your Commanding Officer': On the Front Lines of Putin's Digital War With Ukraine, Politico Magazine (15 February 2022).
  13. ↑ Broad, William J. (12 May 2019). "Your 5G Phone Won't Hurt You. But Russia Wants You to Think Otherwise. RT America, a network known for sowing disinformation, has a new alarm: the coming '5G Apocalypse.'". The New York Times .
  14. ↑ "Iran Is Faking the Fake News". Ami Magazine . 22 May 2019.
  15. ↑ Sapiie, Marguerite Afra; Anya, Agnes (4 February 2019). "Jokowi accuses Prabowo camp of enlisting foreign propaganda help". The Jakarta Post .
  16. ↑ Bauerlein, Monika (December 2017). "The Firehose of Falsehood". Nieman Lab .
  17. ↑ Froomkin, Dan, CNN fails the nation: Biden's performance was inept. But Trump’s incessant lying would have been the other major takeaway from the debate if the moderators had done their jobs. , Press Watch, June 28, 2024
  18. ↑ Firehosing: the systemic strategy that anti-vaxxers are using to spread misinformation by Lucky Tran, The Guardian, 7 November 2019
  19. ↑ "China Aims Its Propaganda Firehose at the BBC". Wired . 10 August 2021.
  20. ↑ Tworek, Heidi (1 February 2017). "Political Communications in the 'Fake News' Era: Six Lessons for Europe". German Marshall Fund : 8. JSTOR   resrep18898.
  21. ↑ Schneier, Bruce (24 April 2019). "Toward an Information Operations Kill Chain". Lawfare .
  22. 1 2 3 Blythe, Lt. Col. Wilson C. Jr.; Calhoun, Lt. Col. Luke T. (May 2019). "How We Win the Competition for Influence". Military Review .
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