Propaganda and Persuasion

Schatto‐Eckrodt

et al. 2023

Social Media + Society

Social media platforms, such as Instagram, are regularly misused for spreading covert (Islamic) extremist propaganda. Affect and emotion are central tools used in extremist propaganda, but there is little research into the combined employment of different social media elements, such as hashtags, visuals, and texts, in the context of propaganda. This study contributes to closing this gap. Using the German group Generation Islam as a case study, we examined the group’s Instagram activity ( N = 1,187 posts) over the course of 2 years. To reflect the platform users’ logic, we (a) examined affect in hashtag networks in which users can come across propagandistic content, (b) employed deep learning to examine the emotional valence transmitted in the visuals, and (c) used automated linguistic analysis to describe collective action cues contained within the texts. The results are novel, as they provide nuanced insights into extremist propaganda’s employment of affect and emotions across Instagram’s affordances.

Section: Islamic Extremist Online Propagandamentioning

confidence: 99%

Behind Blue Skies: A Multimodal Automated Content Analysis of Islamic Extremist Propaganda on Instagram

Schatto‐Eckrodt

et al. 2023

Social Media + Society

“…However, propaganda has with time been associated with negativity because of its historical function of fuelling fear, hypocrisy and ignorance (Taylor, 2003). Jowett and O'Donnell (2012) argue that propaganda is a communication that attempts to achieve a response to further the preferred intention of the sender of the message.…”

Section: Propaganda and The Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

Military Propaganda and Disinformation: How Issah Mobila’s Murder was Spun in the Media

Sayibu

2023

JCOMM

Purpose: The study investigates the use of propaganda in the media by Ghana’s military in the media coverage of the murder of Issah Mobila in military custody in Ghana’s northern town of Tamale. Mobila was murdered in 2004 by the military after his arrest by the civil police with an allegation of possession of arms that he intended to use to cause post-election violence in Tamale. Even though the military earlier denied the murder, an autopsy report confirmed that the deceased was murdered in military custody. A military inquiry report indicted some seven soldiers, two of whom were later jailed by a Fast Track High Court in Accra. Methodology: The study employed qualitative research design to generate data through interviews. Internet sources and published works on military brutalities of civilians in Africa were also used. Local media coverage of the event was extensive and radio phone-in programmes witnessed condemnation and anger from the people regarding the manner Mobila was tortured and killed in military custody. Findings: The study found that the military command in Tamale deployed propaganda techniques in order to evade responsibility for the death of Mobila in its custody. It also found that local media coverage of the event was biased and did not conform with the tenets of objectivity. Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The study which is the first on propaganda and military murder of a civilian in military custody in Ghana recommended the training of journalists in detecting propaganda frames in reporting so as to obviate biased reportage in conflict situations.

“…Propaganda is the management of attitudes-the tendency to act according to a definite pattern of judgments-collectively by manipulating important symbols (Lasswell, 1927). Propaganda is an attempt to spread social and political values to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and change behavior as desired (Jowett & O'Donnell, 2006;Kenez, 1985). According to Huang (2015), this is the general premise on which almost any theory of political propaganda (Lippmann, 1922;Lasswell, 1927).…”

Section: Political Propagandamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a technique, propaganda is often associated with something negative rather than something positive. Propaganda developed after World War II, where the names of Adolph Hitler and Josef Goebbels were associated with propaganda, which was then juxtaposed with words such as 'lies,' 'deception,' 'manipulation,' 'mind control,' and 'indoctrination' (Jowett & O'Donnell, 2006). Goebbels himself used propaganda as a tool of political agitation (Lasswell, 1930).…”

Section: Political Propagandamentioning

confidence: 99%

Propaganda and Political Memes on Social Media in the 2019 Indonesian Presidential Election

Aminulloh

Qorib

Fianto

et al. 2022

JIWP

Political memes colored the 2019 Indonesian presidential election campaign on social media. Political memes have become one of the propaganda strategies to influence public opinion to gain political support from the public before the presidential election. This study aims to analyze and understand political memes as a medium of political propaganda in the 2019 Indonesian presidential election. This study uses critical discourse analysis to uncover the meaning behind the text. The data collection technique uses documentation in the form of political memes of the two presidential candidates, both in images and political symbols scattered on social media in the January – March 2019 period. Furthermore, the data will be analyzed using Fairclough's critical discourse analysis model to find out the meaning of the text. This study indicates that social media plays an essential role in political communication in the 2019 presidential election campaign. Social media is a cheap and fast means of spreading political memes that reach potential voters widely and massively. Through political memes, Joko Widodo often talks about having links with the Indonesian Communist Party. Meanwhile, Prabowo Subianto is often spoken of by his political opponents as a supporter of the caliphate in Indonesia. These political memes are used as political propaganda to construct or deconstruct political presidential candidates' discourse and build or damage the reputation of presidential candidates to influence public opinion.