Category Archives: propaganda

The Real Problem of Disinformation

According to the UK Government, which has set up a dedicated Counter-Disinformation Unit, there is a ‘danger that hostile actors use online disinformation to undermine our democratic values and principles’. The US Department of Homeland Security has elevated disinformation to … Continue reading

Posted in disinformation, media, propaganda, UK Government, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Who says there is a climate emergency?

To be clear: the question is not who says we should be concerned about climate change – which is something there is wide agreement on – but who has been promoting this specific idea, which has been repeated in headlines … Continue reading

Posted in environment, propaganda, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Spies’ Charm Offensive: Insulting Our Intelligence?

In recent times, the heads of British spy agencies have taken to the media and social media to engage in Public Relations activities,[1] advertising particularly their role in protecting the public against ‘disinformation’. But what should the public make of … Continue reading

Posted in constitutional politics, disinformation, free intelligence, Intelligence and Security Services, media, political philosophy, propaganda, UK Government, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Questioning The Official Story About Official Stories: A Role for Citizen Investigations

Official stories, according to the official story about them, are (nearly) always true. The ‘nearly’ gets mentioned just because, on rare occasions, an official story is acknowledged to have been wrong, as, for instance, with Iraq’s falsely alleged weapons of … Continue reading

Posted in conspiracy theory, disinformation, media, propaganda, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Giorgio Bianchi at UNSC: “What game are we playing? Do we want World War III?”

The Italian journalist Giorgio Bianchi was invited to participate in a meeting organized at the United Nations Security Council on 6 May 2022. The theme of the meeting was human rights violations in the Ukrainian Donbass area. Here is a … Continue reading

Posted in disinformation, guest blog, human rights, journalism, media, propaganda, Ukraine, Uncategorized, war | 3 Comments

A UK Crackdown on Academic Freedom?

This week in Parliament a UK government minister promised ‘we will crack down on it hard’ referring to academics sharing information from Russian sources and articulating views like the one in my tweet: ‘As long as we’re still able to … Continue reading

Posted in free intelligence, international institutions, journalism, media, propaganda, Russia, UK Government, Ukraine, Uncategorized, war | 7 Comments

“Fact Checkers” irresponsibly dispute safe injection advice

“Fact Checkers” have denounced as “misleading” a claim recently aired by Jimmy Dore (self-styled ‘jag-off comedian in a garage’ somewhere in the US, and usually on the right side of history). Dore was presenting a warning given by John Campbell … Continue reading

Posted in disinformation, health, propaganda, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

The CIJA Sting from the Perspective of International Justice

The recent CIJA sting on Paul McKeigue revealed a serious lapse of judgement on his part. But what it reveals from the perspective of international justice is immeasurably more significant: a rift between CIJA and the international legal community it … Continue reading

Posted in BBC, disinformation, global justice, international institutions, journalism, media, OPCW, propaganda, Russia, Syria, UK Government, Uncategorized, war, White Helmets | 5 Comments

Diagnosing Disinformation: a reply to Wilson and Starbird

Author’s note: This article was originally due to appear in Misinformation Review, the Harvard-based journal that published the piece it responds to. The editorial board accepted the article for publication, but because of the challenging nature of my critique, they … Continue reading

Posted in disinformation, free intelligence, media, political philosophy, propaganda, Syria, Uncategorized, White Helmets | 6 Comments

How We’re Misled About Syria: UK Propaganda and the BBC

Previous posts about misleading Syria coverage – from MSF, Amnesty International, Channel 4 and George Monbiot of the Guardian – used the past tense in their title. However, this one is current. At the time of writing, the BBC is … Continue reading

Posted in BBC, disinformation, media, propaganda, Syria, UK Government, Uncategorized, war, White Helmets | 15 Comments