Telling Propaganda from Legitimate Political Persuasion

Origgi, Gloria; Godber, Amelia

doi:10.1017/epi.2023.10

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…12 Other accounts of propaganda also stress its epistemic defectiveness. For instance, Klemperer (1957Klemperer ( /2013, Herman and Chomsky (1988), Marlin (1989), Walton (1997), andGodber andOriggi (2023). Comparing these accounts with Ross's (2002) goes beyond the scope of this paper.…”

Section: Ross's Initial Modelmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Comparing these accounts with Ross's (2002) goes beyond the scope of this paper. Let us note, however, that Godber and Origgi (2023) have no objections against Ross's account besides the fact that it may be too vague -in particular concerning the scope of "epistemic defectiveness". We hope that the elucidations we present below can contribute to making it more precise.…”

Section: Ross's Initial Modelmentioning

confidence: 96%

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The defectiveness of propaganda

Bonard,

Contesi,

Marques

2024

The Philosophical Quarterly

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We argue that political propaganda is a negative phenomenon, against a recent strain of philosophical theorizing that argues that political propaganda can sometimes be neutral or even positive. After an exploration of the sense and connotation of the word ‘propaganda’ in ordinary use and in the scholarly literature, we discuss Ross's initial account of propaganda as an epistemically defective form of political communication. We claim that, with some refinements, it is an explanatorily useful analysis. We then assess two prominent attempts that aim at classifying legitimate cases of public communication as cases of propaganda, namely Ross's revision of her previous model and Stanley's influential account. We show that some of the cases in contention are problematic and that the arguments the authors offer for classifying other non-problematic cases as propaganda are inconclusive. We also argue that the idea of considering legitimate public communication as propaganda is unmotivated.

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Section: Ross's Initial Modelmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Ross's Initial Modelmentioning

confidence: 96%

The defectiveness of propaganda

Bonard,

Contesi,

Marques

2024

The Philosophical Quarterly

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Decoding persuasion: a survey on ML and NLP methods for the study of online persuasion

Bassi,

Fomsgaard,

Pereira-Fariña

2024

Front. Commun.

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The proliferation of digital communication has profoundly transformed the landscape of persuasive discourse. Online platforms have amplified the reach and impact of persuasive techniques. However, they have also enabled the rapid spread of manipulative content, targeted propaganda, and divisive rhetoric. Consequently, a wide range of computational approaches has emerged to address the multifaceted nature of digital persuasion, to detect and mitigate its harmful practices. In light of this, the paper surveys computational methods for detecting persuasive means in digital communication, focusing on how they integrate humanistic knowledge to operationalize this construct. Additionally, special emphasis is placed on models' explainability, a pivotal aspect considering these models are used by institutions to influence societal interactions. For the analysis, two primary perspectives in persuasion are defined: linguistic and argumentative. The linguistic approach analyzes specific textual features, allowing for highly accountable algorithms based on explicit rules. The argumentative approach focuses on broader persuasive mechanisms, offering greater scalability but often resulting in less explainable models due to their complexity. This tension between model sophistication and explainability presents a key challenge in developing effective and transparent persuasion detection systems. The results highlight the spectrum of methodologies for studying persuasion, ranging from analyzing stylistic elements to detecting explicitly propagandist messages. Our findings highlight two key challenges in using these algorithms to tackle societal issues of persuasion misuse: the opacity of deep learning models and the absence of a theoretically grounded distinction between vicious and virtuous persuasion. To address these challenges, we propose integrating social sciences and humanities theories to enhance the effectiveness and ethical robustness of persuasion detection systems. This interdisciplinary approach enables a more nuanced characterization of text, facilitating the differentiation between vicious and virtuous persuasion through analysis of rhetorical, argumentative, and emotional aspects. We emphasize the potential of hybrid approaches that combine rule-based methods with deep learning techniques, as these offer a promising avenue for implementing this interdisciplinary framework. The paper concludes by outlining future challenges, including the importance of multimodal and multilingual analysis, ethical considerations in handling user-generated data and the growing challenge of distinguishing between human and AI-generated persuasive content.

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Telling Propaganda from Legitimate Political Persuasion

Cited by 2 publications

References 24 publications

The defectiveness of propaganda

The defectiveness of propaganda

Decoding persuasion: a survey on ML and NLP methods for the study of online persuasion

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