Tag: propaganda

Stop Weaponizing Everything!!!

Jan Marco Müller, the European Commission official who drafted the EU’s new science diplomacy framework, just said the quiet part out loud: “Science diplomacy is not about being nice to each other.”

Yes, it is, dumbass. That was the whole point.

For centuries, science diplomacy worked precisely because it allowed ordinary human beings to humanize one another on neutral ground while governments were busy failing.

My good friend, Norman Neureiter, former science advisor to the Secretary of State, defined science diplomacy as “an intentional effort to engage with other countries where the relationship is not good otherwise. The science allows you to deal with non-sensitive issues that both sides can work on together for the good of all.”

That was true for science. It was true for sports. It was true for music, academia, medicine, and cultural exchange more broadly. These were spaces where ordinary people from hostile societies could interact as human beings rather than abstractions, propaganda categories, or geopolitical chess pieces.

During the Peloponnesian War, Greek city-states suspended hostilities during the Olympic truce (ἐκεχειρία) so athletes could compete together despite ongoing conflict. During the Cold War, Soviet and American scientists collaborated through the WHO to eradicate smallpox because viruses, unlike diplomats, do not care about ideology. Apollo-Soyuz demonstrated that rival superpowers could cooperate in space even while pointing nuclear weapons at each other on Earth. The 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union became more than hockey. Millions of ordinary people on both sides suddenly saw the “enemy” as talented, emotional, funny, proud, exhausted, flawed, and recognizably human.

Even music mattered. In 1987, while the Cold War was still very real, my undergrad’s Peabody Conservatory Symphony Orchestra went to Moscow and Leningrad. The orchestra did not solve geopolitics, but simply engaged with Soviet music students, argued about phrasing, drank together, traded jokes, and discovered that the terrifying enemy looked remarkably like us.

In the 1950s, at the height of McCarthyism and Stalinism, Soviet scholars were welcomed at Columbia University. One of them was Alexander Yakovlev, who later became one of the principal intellectual architects of glasnost and perestroika under Gorbachev – a transformation I wrote about in my earlier piece, “The Marketplace of Ideas Works Only If We Leave the Doors Open.”

Today we do the opposite. We close Confucius Institutes, crack down on foreign funding, and impose severe student visa restrictions out of fear of foreign government influence. Yet at the very same time, we are dramatically expanding U.S. government control over science and education, allowing political appointees to override peer review, giving agencies the power to terminate grants at any time if they no longer serve current political priorities, and restricting collaborations and publishing with foreign scientists.

All of it reflects the same underlying assumption: that American students and scholars are apparently too naive or too fragile to encounter foreign propaganda without immediately succumbing to it.

Keep reading

Iranian Opposition News Outlet Got $800 Million In Debt Relief: Report

An $870m debt-relief deal suggests that Iran International, an Iranian opposition outlet, has ties to Saudi Arabian investors, according to a Financial Times report on Thursday. The links stem from documents related to a debt-for-equity swap that Iran International conducted in December to shore up its finances. Iran International has spent hundreds of millions of dollars since its founding in 2017 by British-Saudi investors, the FT reported.

According to the report, Iran International’s parent company, Volant Media UK, has lost more than $550m over the past five years, and it owes related entities about $645m. Those numbers came from documents that the FT reported as covering the financial year ending December 2024.

Iran International says it is the “most popular Persian speaking foreign based news channel in Iran”.It employs 700 people and broadcasts into Iran from London via satellite, radio and social media outlets.

Iran International has been accused by critics of promoting “regime change” in Iran and advancing the position of the former shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, for a return to power. The outlet has long denied links to Israel or Saudi Arabia.

Iran International reported heavily on protests that struck Iran at the beginning of this year, sparked by a cost-of-living crisis brought on, in part, by US sanctions.

In January 2025, the news site reported that more than 36,500 people were killed in a crackdown on protests. Those numbers were significantly higher than those estimated by the US and other western-based human rights groups.

US President Donald Trump cited casualty numbers similar to those reported by Iran International days before launching a war on Iran on February 28, but did not disclose where he had gotten the death toll number.

Keep reading

Disney Begs FCC to Label Far-Left Propaganda Show ‘The View’ as “Bona Fide News” So They Can Handpick Democrat Candidates and Silence Republicans – FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Asks the American People to Weigh In

Disney-owned ABC is now petitioning the Federal Communications Commission to officially declare the screeching harpies on The View as “bona fide news,” giving the daytime talk show a free pass to platform Democrat politicians while blackballing Republicans and dodging equal time rules that apply to every other broadcaster.

This is the same network that spent years pushing nonstop Trump Derangement Syndrome, COVID hysteria, and every woke agenda item under the sun, and now they want the government to rubber-stamp their partisan operation as legitimate “news” journalism? Give us a break.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, one of the few adults left in Washington fighting back against Big Tech and Big Media gatekeepers, just exposed the whole scheme in a blistering public statement that perfectly captures the hypocrisy:

Disney has filed a petition with the FCC asking the agency to declare that The View is exempt from the statutory equal opportunities requirements that would otherwise apply to broadcast shows.

Disney argues that The View qualifies as “bona fide news” under the law, comparing itself to Meet The Press or Face The Nation.

Therefore, Disney argues, it can have one partisan candidate for office on The View while denying equal opportunities to all others.

The FCC is now seeking public comment on Disney’s request to be labeled as “bona fide news.”

Is The View a “bona fide news interview program”?

Under FCC case law, tv shows do not qualify as “bona fide news” if their decisions are based on partisan purposes, such as an intention to advance or harm an individual’s candidacy.

As the Public Notice observes, Congress originally passed the equal opportunities law to prevent media gatekeepers from deciding the outcome of elections. The law, even when it applies, does not prohibit anyone from having any candidate appear on any show. Rather, Congress intended it to empower voters with more information and encourage more speech.

Keep reading

How Jeffrey Goldberg weaponized Jewish trauma to pave the way for war with Iran

America’s decision to go to war with Iran is best understood not as a response to uranium enrichment levels, regional power balances, or any coherent strategic objective, but as the product of a narrative shaped by historical trauma and moral absolutism. In that narrative, Iran is not a state with interests; it is the latest embodiment of an ancient threat to the Jews.

This deliberate replacement of empirical reality with the mythology of eternal Jewish victimhood is what I call “Hasbara Culture.” It relies on erasing historical context and replacing it with a single, sacred narrative. In the book Victimhood Discourse in Contemporary Israel, the scholar Ilan Peleg captures the psychological mechanics of this alternative reality:

“To put it crudely, there is a sense in Israeli collective victimhood that all the traditional enemies of the Jewish people are, in the final analysis, one and the same… Pharaoh = Haman = Acashverosh (Ahasuerus) = Khmelnsytsky [sic] = Hitler = the Mufti of Jerusalem = Yasser Arafat… There is a frequent, dominant tendency to collapse these victimizers into one, symbolic, and simplistically a-historic anti-semetic ‘being.’”

Other than Benjamin Netanyahu, no one is more responsible for the ultimate success of the Hasbara Culture worldview than Jeffrey Goldberg, the Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, and a former Israel Defense Forces soldier who later chronicled his service in his memoir, Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide.

Keep reading

Chicago Resident Goes Off-Delivers Powerful Rebuke of Democrats Using ‘Voting Rights Act of 1965 Propaganda’: “You sick in the head and more sicker in your spirit”

Chicago resident Jessica Jackson called out Chicago Cook County Commissioners Tara Stamps and Dr. Kisha McCaskill for claiming Black voting rights are under attack by using “Voting Rights Act of 1965 propaganda” to fearmonger voters, all while ignoring the crisis impacting Black communities in the county.

The grassroots organization “Chicago Flips Red” shared her powerful remarks and noted on X, “Since 2020, nearly 2,500 homeowners have lost their properties and the equity tied to those homes through delinquent property tax sales. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the practice unconstitutional years ago, yet families are still fighting for accountability, transparency, and relief.”

“Jackson also raises concerns about property theft tied to Cook County probate court practices, unlawful demolitions without due process, and generational wealth being stripped from longtime residents under the watch of local government.”

“Our argument: politicians continue using historic civil rights language during election season, but stay silent when Black families lose homes, land, inheritance, and wealth through government systems operating in their own backyard.”

Ms. Jackson said during her remarks, “The reality is this: Black people’s voting is not in danger, and you know it’s not, and you know it’s not. I’m 63 years old. I’ve been voting since I was 18. I have never had a problem voting.”

“Now, that may apply to my mother and father. It applies to my grandparents. Surely it does. And in fact, because it does, every single person in this room, including that Jewish lady that just got up and talked, need to really be thanking us. Really need to be thanking us for giving y’all the right to vote, for giving y’all the right to be here instead of sitting up here manipulating the Voting Rights Act like something’s getting ready to happen to our right to vote when you know that’s not true.”

“So now you all going to drag Black people in here, definitely some senior citizens, and going to have them come up here and talk about how they ‘scared to vote’.”

Keep reading

As Evidence Mounts of Dogs Raping Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Prisons, NYT’s Isabel Kershner Revives Unverified October 7 Rape Narrative

Isabel Kershner, a longtime correspondent for The New York Times whose sons have reportedly served in the Israeli military, is facing growing scrutiny over her latest reporting on alleged October 7 sexual violence claims — particularly as renewed attention falls on documented abuse and sexual violence agaisnt Palestinians inside Israeli detention facilities.

Public scrutiny intensified following a recent report by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times detailing allegations of severe abuse against Palestinian detainees at Sde Teiman prison, including claims involving sexual violence and the use of dogs against prisoners, including minors. Kristof’s report helped push allegations long documented by human rights organizations into mainstream American discourse.

Yet as renewed attention focused on Palestinian detainees, Kershner published new reporting reviving disputed and unverified October 7 rape allegations attributed to Hamas. Critics argue the timing reflects a recurring media pattern: whenever scrutiny intensifies around Israeli abuses against Palestinians, major Western outlets redirect attention toward unverified claims against Hamas to justify Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

At the center of Kershner’s latest reporting is Cochav Elkayam-Levy, one of the most heavily promoted sources behind claims of Hamas sexual violence. Elkayam-Levy and her organization became central to Western media coverage after October 7, with outlets and political leaders worldwide presenting her as a leading authority on the allegations.

However, Israeli media later reported accusations that Elkayam-Levy and her commission had misled donors, exaggerated evidence collection efforts, and spread misinformation related to October 7 claims. The controversy surfaced shortly after she received the prestigious Israel Prize.

Despite repeated disclaimers acknowledging that rape allegations could not be independently verified, outlets including CNN, BBC, Associated Press, and The New York Times amplified the narratives globally. The allegations quickly became central to political messaging used to justify Israel’s assault on Gaza.

Kershner’s own role has fueled further debate about conflicts of interest in Western reporting on Israel and Palestine. Years earlier, she publicly acknowledged that her children had served in the Israeli military, prompting criticism from media watchdogs who argued that major outlets often blur the line between reporting and national alignment in coverage of Israel and Palestine. 

Keep reading

Covert NATO initiative turns film into anti-Russia battleground

A scandal has erupted over covert NATO conferences with the Western entertainment industry. Leaked documents reviewed by The Grayzone show how NATO has sought to infiltrate film and TV for decades, with UK intel operatives taking the lead.

On May 3, The Guardian revealed that NATO has held a series of secret meetings with film directors, screenwriters and TV producers in cities from Paris to Los Angeles. The disclosure suggests NATO is seeking to employ the entertainment industry in its propaganda operations as a European war looms.

To date, NATO’s “conversations” with scriptwriters have reportedly “inspired, at least in part” three separate unstated projects, which are already in development. At a forthcoming London summit, NATO operatives are set to meet with screenwriters tied to the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB). In email correspondence, the union told its members the event will focus on the “evolving security situation in Europe and beyond.”

Organizers claim NATO was “built on the belief that cooperation and compromise, the nurturing of friendships and alliances, is the way forward.” The alliance is actively seeking to influence film and TV projects extolling this mantra, stating, “even if something so simple as that message finds its way into a future story,” as a result of the meeting, “that will be enough.” 

But collusion between NATO and the entertainment industry has a well-established history. Over recent decades, NATO has covertly sought to employ film and television creatives as psychological operations specialists, while influencing popular culture. A core driver of this push has been Chris Donnelly, a veteran British Ministry of Defence and military intelligence operative, who led alliance expansion into Central and Eastern Europe during the 1990s.

Donnelly later developed the Integrity Initiative to cultivate support for conflict with Russia through covert networks of influential pro-war pundits and operatives. Hidden behind a seemingly legitimate think tank called the Institute for Statecraft, the Integrity Initiative only became known to the public after independent outlets like The Grayzone reported on leaked emails from Donnelly revealing its existence.

In leaked documents discussing NATO expansion, Donnelly stated, “What I needed in the 1990s and did not have” was a major international public relations firm to “scale up successful activities to have real impact,” and achieve “essential behavioural change” in audiences. To address the problem, he proposed “advertising campaigns on TV promoting change, a TV soap opera looking at the problem of corruption” and other innocent-seeming cultural products aimed at enhancing NATO control.

Keep reading

Arcadia mayor Eileen Wang admits acting as Chinese spy, running fake news website with ex-lover in shocking plea deal

The former mayor of Arcadia resigned after admitting to acting as an illegal foreign agent of China in a federal plea deal unsealed on Monday.

Eileen Wang agreed with prosecutors that she worked with the People’s Republic of China to boost propaganda with a fake news website on US soil between 2020 and 2022. She was elected to Arcadia City Council in November 2022 — the city is within LA County.

Wang worked with her then fiancé, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, on a web site called “U.S. News Center,” which claimed to be news source for Chinese Americans, according to court documents.

But in reality the pair were carrying out Beijing’s orders through the site.

Wang and Sun “executed directives” from the Chinese government, posting propaganda designed to boost China, all while reporting back to their masters with screenshots showing how many people viewed the stories, according to the plea agreement.

In one case, Wang’s spymaster ordered her to post a PRC-authored essay denying the existence of genocide and forced labor in the Xinjiang region, the plea deal states.

“There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ in any production activity, including cotton production. Spreading such rumor is to defame China, destroy Xinjiang’s safety and stability,” wrote Wang’s master, according to the plea agreement.

Wang complied and her handler wrote back, “So fast, thank you everyone.”

In another case, Wang’s PRC boss commended her on page views received by a certain piece of propaganda. Wang wrote back, “Thank you leader”.

Wang pled guilty to the federal charge at her arraignment in downtown Los Angeles on Monday afternoon. She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

LA’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Essayli, said this is not the first time China has been caught trying to exert its influence in the United States.

“Ms. Wang is just the latest to act as an agent for the PRC and it should terrify Americans that she was able to rise to the highest levels of local office in her city,” Essayli said.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Wang admitted that that she acted under the control of Chinese officials to promote propaganda in the U.S.

Prosecutors in 2024 charged Sun with conspiracy and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.

Keep reading

AI Is Losing The PR Battle And The Consequences Could Be Huge

Lately, when watching high-profile sporting events like the NBA Playoffs, you may have noticed a rash of commercials for artificial intelligence (AI) companies. While average commercials strive to show off new products or services or recruit new customers, these AI commercials seem to have a different primary objective. They seem to target goodwill.

Heartwarming commercials show families bonding over AI-generated memories, where AI brings life to old family photos. Emotional voice-overs promise connection, creativity, and even nostalgia. These AI companies are trying to sell people a good reputation.

This strategy should tell us something. Companies don’t often spend millions trying to make you feel good about their brand unless they know, deep down, that you don’t trust it.

Despite hundreds of billions of dollars pouring into AI development, the industry is quietly losing the battle for hearts and minds. And sentimental advertising is not doing much to fix this problem.

Rare Bipartisan Agreement on AI

A new national survey from Marquette University Law School should give the AI industry serious pause. According to the poll, roughly 70 percent of Americans believe artificial intelligence will do more harm than good for society. Even more striking, the skepticism cuts across party lines.

Poll Director Charles Franklin put it bluntly: “It really is striking … there’s pretty much bipartisan skepticism … That’s an awful lot of partisan agreement, where we normally see Republicans and Democrats on opposite ends.”

In today’s political climate, bipartisan agreement on anything is rare. On AI, however, Americans seem united, just not in the way Silicon Valley might hope.

Worse yet is the fact that this poll supports similar findings on AI skepticism from numerous other surveys. A particularly damning NBC News poll from last month showed that AI’s net favorability rating ranked lower than nearly every other topic.

Keep reading

Iran Has Nuclear Energy, Not Nuclear Weapons

Last week, on May 5, 2026, President Trump told a group of young children in the Oval Office that “we have to make a journey down to Iran to take the nuclear weapon. They would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks.”

Trump also told the children, “Iran with a nuclear weapon…maybe we wouldn’t all be here right now… I can tell you, the Middle East would have been gone. Israel would have been gone. And they would have trained their sights on Europe, first, and then us.”

According to the White House website, Trump warned Iran against having nuclear weapons on 74 occasions prior to the war.  Since the war began on February 28, 2026, Trump has discussed Iranian nuclear issues in at least 20 documented public appearances, based on the Senate Democrats’ Trump transcript archive and Roll Call’s Factbase transcript database.

Some of Trump’s more pointed claims:

About six weeks into the current war, on April 16, 2026, Trump said Iran “would have had a nuclear weapon within one month” if the U.S. had not used B-2 bombers to strike Iranian civilian nuclear energy facilities during the June 2025 war on Iran.

About one month after the war began, Trump said on March 27, 2026, “the Iranian lunatics refused to cease their pursuit of nuclear weapons” after the June 2025 war.

And on February 24, 2026, just four days before starting the current war in Iran, Trump said that Iran was “warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program, and in particular nuclear weapons, yet they continue. They’re starting it all over…”.

Trump’s statements go beyond saying ‘Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.’ He has repeatedly claimed that Iran was weeks away from having one, that U.S. strikes stopped Iran from obtaining one, and that Iran was trying to rebuild or continue a nuclear weapons program.

But Trump’s claims are not supported by the record. In fact, official statements from U.S. intelligence, the State Department, the IAEA, and others state that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon, is not currently building one, and does not seek to build one.

Keep reading