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Re:China increases spending 500% to influence America by colordrops on Monday May 17, 2021 @02:41PM (#27186655)
You're only noticing the obvious Chinese propaganda. They've probably got bot networks that are using AI to generate responses that you'd never distinguish as Chinese.
Re:China increases spending 500% to influence America by courtf on Monday May 17, 2021 @08:11PM (#27189890)
Absolutely. And there is still value in propaganda that is recognizable as propaganda. The meta game has as many layers as an onion, and one piece of propaganda can serve multiple purposes. Maybe a particular piece is obvious to spot, but the ultimate goal might not be so obvious. Idiots will fall for anything, but tricking the intelligent isn't as hard as we'd like to think either.

Perhaps it is possible to subtlety influence a narrative by representing it poorly in obvious propaganda, sort of like negative space a painting. And the more time people spend trying to unravel the knot of lies and half-truths, the better. The propagandists win when we are arguing about their nonsense rather than seeking truth directly.

As soon as you think you can spot the propaganda, they've got you, as they can manipulate the presentation at any time.

Re:China increases spending 500% to influence America by colordrops on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @03:13AM (#27191994)
For sure, anything can be propaganda. Wouldn't be surprised if unwitting people are being used by software that corrals and funnels ideas into influencers without their knowledge, and without even full understanding by the people who wrote the software.