Astroturfing
 Astroturfing  (Statecraft, propaganda)   | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Propaganda |
| Interest of | HBGary |
| Rolling out of fake grassroots movements | |
Astroturfing is the use of a fake grassroots organisation to make others believe that a broad concensus of support exists for a desired policy agenda. It may or may not have developed in the field of advertising, but it can serve as a tool to anyone with enough founding to get their own message across (smaller agendas with the help of social media and sock puppet accounts will not even cost much).
Astroturf in a nutshell, according to Sharyl Attkisson, is:
"to try to convince you there’s widespread support for or against an agenda when there’s not."[1]
Identifying which is an original viewpoint and what is not can get difficult when there is to much interference involved.
Contents
Science
| Astroturf and manipulation of media messages TEDx University of Nevada |
An appropriate example for astroturfing in science is the effort to push for the acceptance of Water/Fluoridation in the early 20th century, for which the Kettering Laboratory, the University of Rochester and the Mellon Institute were instrumental to deliver the message that fluoridation does have health benefits and no risks.
Foundation funding
- Full article: Foundation funding
- Full article: Foundation funding
While not as direct as building up an organization that serves to specifically promote a standpoint, foundation funding can in a way have a similar effect on a grander scale over a longer period of time.
Selected Examples
An example for a foundation that offers funding to help to create movements or public support that would otherwise may not be as substantial or noticeable is the Open Society Foundation.
Technical solutions
In 2011 it was reported that HBGary Federal was contracted by the US government to develop astroturfing software which could create an "army" of multiple fake social media profiles.[2][3]
Examples
| Page name | Description |
|---|---|
| 38 Degrees | British Avaaz. |
| Center for Medicine in the Public Interest | "nonprofit, non-partisan" big pharma astroturf |
| Conservative Inc. | "Big Con enforce the guidelines of Big Tech and punish conservatives on their behalf" |
| Patriot Front | American white nationalist group that bears many hallmarks of an FBI entrapment operation, setting the stage for a false flag terrorism event |
| Sock puppet | A person or online persona whose actions are controlled by somebody else. |
| Tiananmen | A Chinese mass protest in hundreds of cities turned violent. Questions remain about the sequence of events, CIA involvement and the scope of the aftermath after a media blackout occurred as media were mentioning threats of civil war to be increasing. Chinese media banned the mentioning of the event entirely, while atrocity stories are trotted out regularly by Western corporate media to maintain an enemy image. |
Related Document
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:Not All Propaganda is Equal | Article | 30 May 2012 | Barrett Brown |
An official example
| Name |
|---|
| Best for Britain |
