\u00a0Introduction: Propaganda and Disinformation in Health Care and Elsewhere
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\u00a0We used to write about propaganda<\/a> and disinformation<\/a> used to promote health care goods and services (stealth marketing<\/a> But back in the day, the notion of propaganda and disinformation as a real threat to health care, much less our democratic process and society as a whole, was pretty radical.\u00a0 That was then.\u00a0 By 2019 we were writing about a\u00a0\u00a0a new (ab)normal<\/a> And in 2023, propaganda and disinformation are in the headlines all the time.\u00a0 But it is still important for health care professionals and the public at large to appreciate the mechanisms of both, and how to mentally defend against them.\u00a0 In 2023, despite the headlines, the propagandists and disinformationists are not slowing down.\u00a0 So it’s time to review how they operate again. Let me present a recent example that caught my eye.<\/p>\n Who Cares if Hunter Biden owned a Real Laptop?<\/b> \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As Elon Musk’s Twitter gets increasingly raucous, the propaganda and disinformation that appear therein has gotten back to basics, providing some stark examples of the techniques used.\u00a0 For example, see this 5 word Tweet from Rep Elise Stefanik (R-NY), a Harvard educated Congresswoman<\/a> who has become a prime booster of Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop is real.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n What could it mean? Is there a debate going on whether Hunter Biden (the son of President Biden) owns a laptop? Who would care?<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, it turns out that there is a very big controversy, promoted by people who support Trump, about whether some aspects of a laptop ostensibly once owned by Hunter Biden suggest that both Bidens are unethical, corrupt, or worse.\u00a0 For example, Washington Post reporters tried to analyze<\/a> the controversy and the various questions raised about the provenance of the allegedly incriminating data:<\/span><\/p>\n 217 The It’s clear there was no clear chain of custody spanning Hunter Biden, the laptop, its hard drive, the data on that hard drive, and the data eventually given to the Washington Post.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the significance of this electronic data and the strengths of any arguments about the behavior of Hunter Biden, President Biden, or other people based on it are very unclear.<\/p>\n So what was the point of Rep Stefanik’s stark statement (and many others like it)?<\/p>\n The Red Herring Logical Fallacy<\/b><\/p>\n One simple explanation is that Rep Stefanik et al were employing the Red Herring Logical Fallacy.\u00a0 One definition of this fallacy<\/a> is:<\/p>\n Attempting to redirect the argument to another issue to which the person So this is like the many other examples of the use of logical fallacies to advance self-serving arguments about health care, policy, or other issues that we have discussed<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reflexive Control<\/b><\/p>\n However, Rep Stefanik’s 5 word assertion may actually be part of something more sophisticated.<\/p>\n It may be part of a larger strategy of reflexive control.\u00a0 Discussions of reflexive control used to mainly appear in fairly esoteric places, eg in considerations of military and intelligence strategies, game theory, etc. Here is some background from the Georgetown Security Studies Review from 2017<\/a>:<\/p>\n With confusion swirling around ‘alternative facts,’ the effects of Reflexive control is a ‘uniquely Russian’ concept based on maskirovka<\/em>, This concept has a long history in Russian military strategy, with \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n campaigns), and advocate for policies favorable to private health care
\norganizations (stealth health policy advocacy<\/a> and stealth lobbying<\/a>).\u00a0 Some stealth marketing, lobbying and
\npolicy advocacy campaigns encompass not just propaganda, but disinformation<\/a>.\u00a0 For example, consider the health insurance company campaign to derail the Clinton administration’s attempt at
\nhealth reform as described by Wendell Potter in Deadly Spin<\/a><\/i> (look here<\/a>).\u00a0
\n The tactics employed in that campaign included: use of front groups and
\n third parties (useful idiots?); use of spies; distractions to make
\nimportant issues anechoic; message discipline; and entrapment
\n(double-think).<\/p>\n
\n that includes propaganda and disinformation in the service of hostile
\nauthoritarian foreign states meant to disrupt more democratic
\ngovernments, whatever the cost in human health and lives.<\/p>\n\n
\n gigabytes of data provided to The Post on a portable hard drive by
\nRepublican activist Jack Maxey. He said the contents of the portable
\ndrive originated from Hunter Biden\u2019s MacBook Pro, which Hunter
\nreportedly dropped off at a computer repair shop in Wilmington, Del., in
\n April 2019 and never reclaimed.<\/p>\n
\n vast majority of the data \u2014 and most of the nearly 129,000 emails it
\ncontained \u2014 could not be verified by either of the two security experts
\nwho reviewed the data for The Post. Neither found clear evidence of
\ntampering in their examinations, but some of the records that might have
\n helped verify contents were not available for analysis, they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n doing the redirecting can better respond. While it is similar to the avoiding the issue<\/a><\/i> fallacy, the red herring <\/i>is a deliberate diversion of attention with the intention of trying to abandon the original argument.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
\ndisinformation and Russian meddling are just beginning to take hold.
\n This phenomenon may be new to American politics, but it\u2019s an old
\nstrategy in the Kremlin. To understand and combat the effects and goals
\nof disinformation, we must understand the concept of reflexive control
\nand how it fits into greater Russian strategy.\n<\/p>\n
\n an old Soviet notion in which one ‘conveys to an opponent specifically
\nprepared information to incline him\/her to voluntarily make the
\npredetermined decision desired by the initiator of the action’.
\n That is, reflexive control is a sustained campaign that feeds an
\nopponent select information so that the opponent makes the decisions
\nthat one wants him\/her to. Methods of reflexive control include
\nspreading false information, leaking partial information at opportune
\nmoments, and projecting a different posture of oneself than what may
\nactually be the case.
\n The goal of reflexive control is to \u2018control\u2019 the \u2018reflex\u2019 of the
\nopponent by creating a certain model of behavior in the system it seeks
\nto control.
\n The most fundamental way to do this is to locate the weak link in the
\nsystem and exploit it through moral arguments, psychological tactics, or
\n appeals to specific leaders\u2019 character.<\/p>\n
\nthe Soviet and Russian Armed Forces studying reflexive control at both
\nthe tactical and operational levels.
\n Reflexive control has also long been taught at various Russian military
\n schools and training programs, and is codified as Russian national
\nsecurity strategy in the Gerasimov Doctrine. Today, reflexive control is a key component in Russia\u2019s idea of hybrid warfare.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n![](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgYzMtRu2bXSLkUHk0sNWwkfofNPHzNjgdFapXysCAvVxIdLJ6NGgqGkH8Gr8uKlVrbwcv0kl8HTnofgMauhQVU5wNgk5xdzI6G-lwtsL_mluO1RdNcSqIpzpR5QZ-L87LODlnv3IYO0SPejOJi7OTJ46AzxOfi9Jer3JmYtdW4MaP7IL1c_Bw\/s320\/USSRonGlobe.jpg\")
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