← Back to catalogue
Research draft

propaganda

vr.tr.propaganda · ACT.ACT

Let an agent explain propaganda neutrally, help people recognise persuasion and manipulation techniques, and attribute characterisations of specific material to sources rather than labelling actors itself.

Thing Registry Activities and processes

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

Let an agent explain propaganda neutrally, help people recognise persuasion and manipulation techniques, and attribute characterisations of specific material to sources rather than labelling actors itself.

Communication used to influence the attitudes or actions of an audience, often by selectively presenting facts, appealing to emotion or using misleading claims, produced by states, parties, movements or other organisations.

What it is for: A topic in media literacy, history and political communication.

It can be recognise common propaganda techniques; check claims against independent sources; study historical propaganda with scholarly context; distinguish propaganda from other persuasion.

Distinguishing features

Aims to shape attitudes or actions

Often one-sided

Can be true, misleading or false

Label is itself contested

What it looks like

Posters, broadcasts, social media posts, films, leaflets and speeches.

How it is recognised

Emotional appeals and simple slogans

Selective or false claims

Advertising and public information campaigns overlap but differ

Related models

is a kind of - category

communication

is related to - related concept

disinformation

is countered by - response

media literacy

overlaps - related practice

advertising

In practice

Families and kinds

state propaganda

wartime propaganda

political campaign messaging

computational propaganda

counter-propaganda

Standards and regulation

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 20

Electoral advertising rules

EU Digital Services Act risk rules

Failure modes and hazards

Agents labelling contested material as propaganda without attribution

Amplifying harmful messaging

False balance

Also called

negative campaigningcanvassingclaim monetiformeAixafem el feixismecross-Strait propagandaBalloon campaigns in Koreapropaganda of successwar propagandaprivacy washingCommunity of Interest LetterAI washingpropaganda against other countrycomputational propagandapropaganda in World War IslopagandaPropaganda in UkraineFidesz propagandaallegation of homosexualityatrocity propagandastate-sponsored Internet propagandapropaganda of the deedWhite slave propagandaspace propagandadisinformationpropaganda in Russiapolitical sloganliberpunkcorporate propagandapropaganda in the Soviet UnionZhonghua minzuopenwashingantisemitic tropeHasbarahomophobic propagandapropaganda through mediagrey propagandapropaganda in the United Statesanti-religious propagandafalse flagcommunist propaganda

+42

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Source repository Registry entry point

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

Techniques Recognising.

Techniques can be learned.

Methods

Common techniques.

Methods

Techniques.

  1. Which persuasion techniques, such as name-calling or bandwagon appeals, appear here? definition
  2. Which media literacy resources explain them? provenance

Claims

Checking.

Claims

Checking claims.

  1. Can the key claims be verified in independent sources? provenance
  2. Have fact-checkers assessed them? provenance
Attribution Neutral handling.

Labels are contested.

Label

Who calls it propaganda.

Label

Attribution of labels.

  1. Who characterises this material as propaganda, and on what evidence? provenance
  2. Do others dispute the characterisation? provenance

Balance

Avoiding false balance.

Balance

Balance.

  1. Is established evidence presented without false balance? boundary
  2. Are views attributed rather than asserted? boundary
History Past campaigns.

History teaches.

Examples

Historic cases.

Examples

Historic cases.

  1. How do historians describe this propaganda campaign? provenance
  2. Which archives hold examples? provenance

Context

Harmful content.

Context

Harmful content.

  1. Is hateful historical material shown only with scholarly context? boundary
  2. Is its reproduction necessary? boundary
Limits Agent conduct.

Agents should not produce it.

Production

No manipulation.

Production

Production limits.

  1. Does the request seek deceptive content or coordinated inauthentic campaigns? boundary
  2. How should the agent decline? action

Reporting

Platforms.

Reporting

Reporting.

  1. How can coordinated disinformation be reported to a platform? action
  2. Which rules apply? provenance

What the second pass must settle

  • Should historical campaigns be separate entries?
  • How should characterisations be attributed?
  • How should fact-checks be linked?
Draft as JSON