This is How Propaganda was Recently Made Legal

In 2016, using the cover of the holidays and distracted attention, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law — just two days before many Americans celebrated Christmas — likely due to the ominously Orwellian language it used that was meant to “counter propaganda and disinformation directed at the United States.”

Although the NDAA’s true purpose is to fund the military, notorious provisions — particularly of the variety which erase yet more freedoms — are often added to the overall legislation. In this case, the propaganda and disinformation provisions mentioned above had been attempted in a stand-alone bill which remains stalled in Congress — partly due to scathing criticism and unpopularity from wary politicians.

While the passage of the NDAA is an annual event that is not surprising in itself, some of the provisions often hidden within the defense-spending bill can be – such as the provision providing for indefinite detention of American citizens without trial or charge, which was included in the 2012 NDAA.

One of the most insidious NDAA provisions to date is called the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act of 2016, it essentially creates a de facto U.S. Ministry of Truth. The corporate mainstream media, aside from cursory reporting on the passage of the defense-spending bill, has generally failed to report on the implications resulting from the included provisions as to keep Americans in the dark about the Information War being waged on them by their own government.

As Zero Hedge reported at the time:

As we reported in early June, "a bill to implement the U.S.’ very own de facto Ministry of Truth had been quietly introduced in Congress. As with any legislation attempting to dodge the public spotlight the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act of 2016 marks a further curtailment of press freedom and another avenue to stultify avenues of accurate information. Introduced by Congressmen Adam Kinzinger and Ted Lieu, H.R. 5181 seeks a “whole-government approach without the bureaucratic restrictions” to counter “foreign disinformation and manipulation,” which they believe threaten the world’s “security and stability.”

Also called the Countering Information Warfare Act of 2016 (S. 2692), when introduced in March by Sen. Rob Portman, the legislation represents a dramatic return to Cold War-era government propaganda battle.

H.R. 5181 would task the Secretary of State with coordinating the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors to “establish a Center for Information Analysis and Response,” which will pinpoint sources of disinformation, analyze data, and — in true dystopic manner — ‘develop and disseminate’ “fact-based narratives” to counter effrontery propaganda.
Interestingly, this reveals that before the discredited mainstream media began regularly droning about “fake news/Russian propaganda”, as a means of gaining more informational control and regaining their positions as informational gatekeepers – which has been essentially destroyed with the advent of social media – the U.S. government was already strategizing a legally underpinned crackdown on any news that dissents from the ‘official’ government line as being “fake news.”

As the text of the new law explains, the center will “support the development and dissemination of fact-based narratives and analysis to counter propaganda and disinformation directed at the United States and United States allies and partner nations.”

Many of the Global Engagement Center’s duties concern targeting disinformation and propaganda being disseminated in other nations; however, it subtly suggests the effort would seek to prevent such content from reaching the United States — thus, domestic actions are, by no means, ruled out.

Indeed, as the law states:

“The Center is authorized to provide grants or contracts of financial support to civil society groups, media content providers, nongovernmental organizations, federally funded research and development centers, private companies, or academic institutions for the following purposes:

• To support local independent media who are best placed to refute foreign disinformation and manipulation in their own communities.
• To collect and store examples in print, online, and social media, disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda directed at the United States and its allies and partners.
• To analyze and report on tactics, techniques, and procedures of foreign information warfare with respect to disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda.
• To support efforts by the Center to counter efforts by foreign entities to use disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda to influence the policies and social and political stability of the United States and United States allies and partner nations.

Ironically enough, all of this propaganda and informational warfare was once shunned by the federal government. The Smith–Mundt Act of 1948 strictly prohibited the US government from propagandizing its own citizens. However, in 2013—again using the NDAA as cover—the government quietly modified the bill allowing for materials produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which used to be only informational weapons against our enemies — to be available within the United States.

When looking at the massive half-truths and utter dismay of government accountability—especially police and military—the reason so many Americans accept it without question becomes entirely clear. They are programmed to.

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