Skip to main content

Viral: Montage on the internet

A Bulgarian police officer and a protester in Singapore, or, an old lady in Argentina and "Loukanikos" - the dog that gained global publicity for participating in demonstrations in the center of Athens: What do they have in common?

All of them appeared in photos showing that they participated through various ways in conflicts after the anti-government demonstrations in Venezuela. Nicolas Maduro opposers were uploading photos of police brutality from all over the planet very fast, in order to promote their positions. Many of these photos became, as it is known, viral, which means that they have been reproduced very fast on the internet, in such extent that, they reached the reportage of a CNN journalist.

The fact that, none of these photos were forged through picture processing programmes, but only pictures from other countries were used, made propaganda much more effective (although many people wondered why Venezuelan police officers wear fur hats, or, have Asian-type eyes, or, hold shields with the word "police" in Greek language on them).

Only two decades ago, the misleading use of photos could be spread at this speed only through the mainstream media of the planet. The famous cormorants of Brittany which were appeared to be drowning in Persian Gulf oil lakes by CNN, and photos of the supposed mass graves in Timișoara-Romania, were only the most known examples of the dominant misinformation.

Today, however, social media secure that such counterfeiting of reality can start by any internet user to flood the planet. Usually, the most serious propagandists avoid such practices as they can be easily uncovered (an exception is the Greek PM's advisor, George Mouroutis, who, in order to prove that a SYRIZA gathering was not successful, uploaded photos of an empty square on twitter). However, even the most blatant examples of fraud usually meet their target, which is to create the desirable impression.

Theoretically, the answer to this problem would be someone to condemn such incidents, blame the irresponsible journalism of citizens and give credit to professional journalism, or probably not?

A more careful examination of photographs and videos (modified or not) which usually become viral on the internet, proves that the vast majority of them are in alignment with the ideological line of the mainstream media each time. Not a single photograph has been circulated globally showing prosperity in Venezuela. On the contrary, false pictures of empty shelves in supermarkets spread like a virus every time there is a government crisis in Caracas. Also, false stories against Muslims usually spread rapidly, although such stories against Christians are almost absent.

A characteristic example is a picture, a few years ago, showing the little bridesmaids in a wedding in Gaza. The caption on this photograph described Muslims as paedophiles funded by Hamas to marry little girls - a fraud also reproduced by a Greek newspaper.

Many people consider the official propaganda mechanisms of governments and big organizations responsible for the fact that, false news that reproduce the dominant ideology in international matters become more frequently viral, and in many cases, this is not far from reality. For example, a video that millions of people saw recently, concerning the situation in Ukraine has been directed by Ben Moses (creator of the movie "Good Morning, Vietnam"), who is connected with American government executives and organizations like National Endowment for Democracy, funded by the US Congress. This video shows a beautiful young female Ukrainian who characterizes the government of the country as "dictatorship" and praise some protesters with the neo-nazi symbols of the fascist Ukranian party Svoboda on them.

However, behind complicated explanations which can be dangerously connected to conspiracy theories, there is probably a more simple explanation: social media still reproduce, to a great extent, the mainstream storytelling, which is shaped by the state mechanisms - school and mainstream media - reflecting economic elites that control them. The scene, of course, is very different now than only five years ago.

The challenge of the mainstream media domination by the journalism of citizens and by new ways for revealing information like WikiLeaks, has brought impressive changes. However, it seems that, those who believed that technology alone would be enough to change rules in information, neither this time have proved right.

Key parts from the article by Aris Chatzistefanou on infowar

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tech CEOs admit they want AI monopoly: US plans to block China's competition & 'steal' engineers

Geopolitical Economy Report   Big Tech oligarchs in Silicon Valley fear competition from Chinese AI companies like DeepSeek, so they're working with the US government to cut off competitors. Billionaire Donald Trump backer Peter Thiel admits they want monopolies, arguing "competition is for losers". Ben Norton explains. 

Trump BETRAYS MAGA & “America First” Over Gaza!

The Jimmy Dore Show  

We asked DeepSeek if China will fully decouple from US dollar - Here is the answer we got in 19 secs

globinfo freexchange     The exact question was: Will China fully decouple from US dollar? The analysis we got in just 19 seconds is pretty impressive:   The question of whether China will "fully decouple" from the U.S. dollar is complex and hinges on geopolitical, economic, and strategic factors. While China has been actively diversifying its financial systems and reducing reliance on the dollar, a complete decoupling in the near term appears unlikely. Here's a balanced analysis: 1. Trends Toward Reduced Dollar Dependence De-dollarization Efforts : China has promoted the use of its currency, the  renminbi (RMB) , in international trade and finance. Initiatives like bilateral currency swaps (e.g., with Russia, Argentina, and others), the  Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) , and the digital yuan (e-CNY) aim to reduce dollar dependency. Commodity Trade : China increasingly settles energy and commodity trades (e.g., with Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia) ...

Zuckerberg changes camp in the capitalist civil war, joins the Musk-led oligarchy

globinfo freexchange   It was Mark Zuckerberg this time that decided to change camp in the capitalist civil war, in order to join the Musk-led oligarchy under the oncoming presidency of oligarchy's puppet.   The move by Meta to end its third-party fact-checking program and move to a so-called community notes model, has been justifiably widely interpreted as an attempt by Zuckerberg to ingratiate himself with the incoming Trump administration, which has long denounced the moderation policy as censorship with a left-wing bias.   From the first moments in his interview with Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg attempted to justify his previous policy regarding censorship practices in Facebook, claiming that he was receiving high pressure from the Democratic party to do so! The ex-liberal billionaire oligarch made an impressive 180 degrees turn, claiming that he knew that there was something wrong with the specific policy and that he tried to fight back against the pressure to imple...

“Controversial” Singer Iyah May Goes Viral For Lyrics About Vaccines & Gaza!

The Jimmy Dore Show  

Hamas Intends to Uphold Agreement, Senior Official Tells Drop Site in 30-Minute Interview

In an exclusive interview with Drop Site News , a senior Hamas official said that the group intends to uphold its side of the “ceasefire” deal—despite claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he received assurances from both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump that Israel can resume its war against Gaza after the first phase of the agreement. “We are committed to this deal. We will exert the maximum efforts to give this deal a chance to succeed. We are looking for how to prevent the war again, how to protect our people. We will do the best to protect this deal,” said Dr. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau. “What kind of side deals they have done, this is their business. But what I can say here: the American administration led by Biden, we consider complicit—directly complicit—in the genocide.”   [...]   Naim said that Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, as well as other resistance groups, are prepared to resume fighting if Is...

In France, Ordinary Consumers Fund Tax Breaks for the Wealthy

Emmanuel Macron’s government gave tax breaks for France’s wealthiest while counting on purchase taxes paid by ordinary consumers. Now saying it has a budget hole to fill, his administration is again expecting working-class people to pick up the bill.   by Marlon Ettinger Part 1 President Emmanuel Macron picked François Bayrou as France’s new prime minister earlier this month, despite his lack of any parliamentary majority. Bayrou’s appointment on December 13 came just over a week after his predecessor Michel Barnier’s government was felled by a no-confidence vote proposed by the Left and joined by the far right, after Barnier tried to force through his budget without having the numbers in the National Assembly.  The most likely outcome now is that Bayrou, who comes from a party called the Democratic Movement, will reimpose last year’s budget by decree. The National Assembly has already assented to continuing last year’s budget by an emergency vote. France’s in many ways undemo...

Global South States Resist Israeli Impunity Over War Crimes

During its genocidal campaign in Gaza, Israel has repeatedly flouted the rulings of international courts. While Western states indulge Israeli impunity, a coalition of states backed by left-wing parties is spearheading action to hold Israel to account.  by Harrison Stetler Part 1 Representatives of nine Global South countries convened in the Hague last Friday to launch a coalition that will apply collective pressure on Israel over its gross violations of international law. The founding members of the Hague Group include the governments of Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal, and South Africa. Their initiative aims to establish a common platform to enforce “coordinated legal and diplomatic measures,” including sanctions, in retaliation for the Israeli state’s fifteen-month-long invasion of Gaza, its decades-old occupation of the West Bank, and its blocking of the creation of a Palestinian state. “This is a group for collective action. Collective act...

Raffi Berg: BBC Middle East Editor Exposed as CIA, Mossad Collaborator

A senior BBC editor at the center of an ongoing scandal into the network’s systematic pro-Israel bias is, in fact, a former member of a CIA propaganda outfit, MintPress News can reveal. Raffi Berg, an Englishman who heads the BBC’s Middle East desk, formerly worked for the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Broadcast Information Service, a unit that, by his own admission, was a CIA front group. Berg is currently the subject of considerable scrutiny after thirteen BBC employees spoke out, claiming, among other things, that his “entire job is to water down everything that’s too critical of Israel” and that he holds “wild” amounts of power at the British state broadcaster, that there exists a culture of “extreme fear” at the BBC about publishing anything critical of Israel, and that Berg himself plays a key role in turning its coverage into “systematic Israeli propaganda.” The BBC has disputed these claims.   by Alan Macleod    Part 5 - A Worldwide Network   Whatever the v...

A deal delayed, dreams destroyed

The Grayzone   Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate discuss the Gaza ceasefire deal, the real history of US and Israeli obstructionism, and efforts to hold the authors of Gaza's destruction accountable - including Blumenthal's questioning of Tony Blinken at the Secretary of State's final presser.