On the propaganda front
Currently, the White House is leading an unprecedented information war with its main opponents - Russia and China. A dense stream of the most diverse lies about respectable and endlessly peace-loving America is being pumped into the mass consciousness of the inhabitants of the planet, allegedly building an ideal society in which all humans will exist in paradise. At the same time, American ideologists blame Moscow and Beijing for distorting the truth and for spreading misinformation about all the good undertakings of Washington. To end this injustice once and for all, two members of the American Congress, apparently inspired by the ideas of the English writer Orwell, who in his famous novel “1984” told how the Ministry of Truth functions in Oceania, composed a new bill called the Law on Counteracting Information War "from 2016 year (Countering Information Warfare Act of 2016).
The initiator of the draft law was Republican Adam Kinzinger, who, together with his colleague Ted Lew, a member of the Democratic Party, compiled the text of this act. The draft law, which has already been assigned the HR number 5181, was submitted to 10 in May to the House of Representatives and is an addition to the draft law of the Senate S. 2692, which was also called the “Law on Countering the Information War”. This law aims to assist American allies in countering propaganda from Russia, China and other countries.
According to Kinzinger, "at the moment when Russia and China are conducting hybrid military campaigns, the United States has a unique opportunity to respond to these manipulations with a powerful stream of truthful information." He believes that the new approach to counter-propaganda “will help avoid conflicts and guarantee stability in the future.” “While Russia continues to spread its misinformation and false messages, it interferes with the United States and damages their interests in regions such as Ukraine, and also feeds further instability in these countries,” the author of the bill said.
Congressman Liu said that "from Ukraine to the South China Sea during disinformation campaigns, more is being done than the mere spread of anti-Western sentiment." He said that these actions are aimed at manipulating public consciousness, at juggling with facts, at undermining democracy and US interests. Lew also added that all this "makes the world less secure."
NEW CENTER OF COUNTERPROPAGANDA
A key aspect of this bill is the proposal to establish the Center for Information Analysis and Response within the structure of the State Department. As Kinzinger announced, the creation of such a center "will give the United States a unique opportunity to direct a powerful stream of truth, ensuring world stability and preventing conflicts."
The Information Analysis and Counteraction Center (CIAI) should be organized by the US foreign minister in collaboration with the Secretary of Defense (DOD), the director of national intelligence (DPR) and the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). CAIP members will lead and coordinate the collection of information on the military preparations of foreign governments, including data to which the relevant authorities have access to various foundations and organizations operating under the allocated grants, as well as from other sources.
In addition, the CAIP management must create structures that ensure the integration of the information received and conduct an analysis of foreign propaganda and disinformation in order to make the necessary additions and corrections to the US national strategy. The CAIP specialists, in cooperation with the Minister of Defense, the National Intelligence Director and the Chairman of the Broadcast Management Board (CELS), as well as other federal departments and offices, should develop a joint action plan in the field of counter-propaganda and coordinate the activities of all agencies involved in this process. The center is obliged to inform the public about US government initiatives in the area of counter-propaganda and the response measures taken to combat misinformation and propaganda measures of hostile countries against America, as well as to provide the necessary protection for allies and friendly states against such information attacks.
The draft of the new law TSAIP is prescribed to lead the joint activities of all institutions involved in counter-propaganda. He must constantly monitor and evaluate propaganda acts of foreign countries that threaten the interests of the national security of the United States and its allies. Its employees are required to collect and analyze all necessary information, including intelligence reports and summaries, analytical data and assessments of experts from government agencies, from relevant structures of allied countries, from brain trusts, from academic institutions, from community groups and from other non-governmental organizations (NGOs ). In addition, CAIP specialists should identify and monitor trends in the development of forms and methods of propaganda of foreign countries and methods of disseminating relevant materials. This activity includes the control of print sources, television and radio programs, social networks, public associations, political parties, think tanks and NGOs. Their responsibilities will include carrying out activities to monitor the closed operations of the special services and their agents, aimed at certain segments of the population and government bodies.
All this should be done with the aim of developing forms and methods of countering hostile propaganda and timely and correctly informing the American public about this type of activity of unfriendly countries. In addition, in the process of counter-propaganda there should be an effective exchange of the most advanced technologies of countering propaganda actions among all participants in this process. At the same time, it is necessary to constantly identify groups of the population most susceptible to foreign propaganda, both in the United States and in the allied countries.
INFO WELLS TURNS UP
As already noted, the proposed law is in addition to the draft law S. 2692, introduced by Republican Senator Rob Portman and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy 16 in March of this year. According to Portman, the law will expand the ability of the United States to counteract foreign propaganda and disinformation and will help organizations and various communities in allied and friendly countries to defend themselves against the propaganda effects of hostile foreign countries.
In a recent speech at the Atlantic Council Research Center in Washington, Portman announced to the audience that the United States is not fully taking the necessary measures to counteract foreign propaganda and disinformation that today dominate the information space and destabilize the situation in the world. According to the parliamentarian, Russia, China and other countries are trying to manipulate facts and control information "to achieve their national goals, often at the expense of the interests and values of American allies."
This bill, which covers a wide range of counter-propaganda issues, provides for the creation of a Center for analyzing information and responding to the efforts of foreign governments in the information war. Portman expressed his surprise at the fact that currently there is no separate organization within the structure of the US government that at the national level would develop, integrate and synchronize the implementation of a comprehensive government strategy to counteract foreign propaganda and disinformation.
The draft law states that such a center should be created. Its specialists will process and distribute "fact-based review and analytical materials to combat propaganda and misinformation against the United States, its allies and partners." He also noted that Russia annually spends about 400 million dollars to finance only the Washington bureau of the round-the-clock channel RT, while the White House only requested 768 million for the next fiscal year for the operation of all national broadcasting structures around the world.
The draft law provides for the creation of a special fund to assist in training journalists, issuing grants and contracts to NGOs, public organizations, research centers, private sector companies, the media, and independent experts with experience in identifying and analyzing the latest trends in disinformation methods used foreign services. The bill also calls for special attention to be paid to students and public leaders who apply for participation in exchange programs of the State Department and reside in countries that are heavily influenced by misinformation and propaganda campaigns of foreign countries.
Chairman of the Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev noted that “American colleagues decided to seriously take up the“ streams of truth ”that America should bring down to the rest of the world so that it would accept the American point of view as the only possible truth. According to him, this “is very similar to the practice of the former USSR with its sophisticated counter-propaganda system.” “Then this system in the USA was called directly contradicting the principles of freedom of speech and pluralism of opinions,” the senator stated.
Now it is even difficult to imagine what flows of deliberate lies and tampered facts from the suggestion of the White House, which is building the totalitarian planet, will bring down American propagandists in the writing of fables to the world community if the zealous overseas parliamentarians succeed in pushing through this law.
The initiator of the draft law was Republican Adam Kinzinger, who, together with his colleague Ted Lew, a member of the Democratic Party, compiled the text of this act. The draft law, which has already been assigned the HR number 5181, was submitted to 10 in May to the House of Representatives and is an addition to the draft law of the Senate S. 2692, which was also called the “Law on Countering the Information War”. This law aims to assist American allies in countering propaganda from Russia, China and other countries.
According to Kinzinger, "at the moment when Russia and China are conducting hybrid military campaigns, the United States has a unique opportunity to respond to these manipulations with a powerful stream of truthful information." He believes that the new approach to counter-propaganda “will help avoid conflicts and guarantee stability in the future.” “While Russia continues to spread its misinformation and false messages, it interferes with the United States and damages their interests in regions such as Ukraine, and also feeds further instability in these countries,” the author of the bill said.
Congressman Liu said that "from Ukraine to the South China Sea during disinformation campaigns, more is being done than the mere spread of anti-Western sentiment." He said that these actions are aimed at manipulating public consciousness, at juggling with facts, at undermining democracy and US interests. Lew also added that all this "makes the world less secure."
NEW CENTER OF COUNTERPROPAGANDA
A key aspect of this bill is the proposal to establish the Center for Information Analysis and Response within the structure of the State Department. As Kinzinger announced, the creation of such a center "will give the United States a unique opportunity to direct a powerful stream of truth, ensuring world stability and preventing conflicts."
The Information Analysis and Counteraction Center (CIAI) should be organized by the US foreign minister in collaboration with the Secretary of Defense (DOD), the director of national intelligence (DPR) and the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). CAIP members will lead and coordinate the collection of information on the military preparations of foreign governments, including data to which the relevant authorities have access to various foundations and organizations operating under the allocated grants, as well as from other sources.
In addition, the CAIP management must create structures that ensure the integration of the information received and conduct an analysis of foreign propaganda and disinformation in order to make the necessary additions and corrections to the US national strategy. The CAIP specialists, in cooperation with the Minister of Defense, the National Intelligence Director and the Chairman of the Broadcast Management Board (CELS), as well as other federal departments and offices, should develop a joint action plan in the field of counter-propaganda and coordinate the activities of all agencies involved in this process. The center is obliged to inform the public about US government initiatives in the area of counter-propaganda and the response measures taken to combat misinformation and propaganda measures of hostile countries against America, as well as to provide the necessary protection for allies and friendly states against such information attacks.
The draft of the new law TSAIP is prescribed to lead the joint activities of all institutions involved in counter-propaganda. He must constantly monitor and evaluate propaganda acts of foreign countries that threaten the interests of the national security of the United States and its allies. Its employees are required to collect and analyze all necessary information, including intelligence reports and summaries, analytical data and assessments of experts from government agencies, from relevant structures of allied countries, from brain trusts, from academic institutions, from community groups and from other non-governmental organizations (NGOs ). In addition, CAIP specialists should identify and monitor trends in the development of forms and methods of propaganda of foreign countries and methods of disseminating relevant materials. This activity includes the control of print sources, television and radio programs, social networks, public associations, political parties, think tanks and NGOs. Their responsibilities will include carrying out activities to monitor the closed operations of the special services and their agents, aimed at certain segments of the population and government bodies.
All this should be done with the aim of developing forms and methods of countering hostile propaganda and timely and correctly informing the American public about this type of activity of unfriendly countries. In addition, in the process of counter-propaganda there should be an effective exchange of the most advanced technologies of countering propaganda actions among all participants in this process. At the same time, it is necessary to constantly identify groups of the population most susceptible to foreign propaganda, both in the United States and in the allied countries.
INFO WELLS TURNS UP
As already noted, the proposed law is in addition to the draft law S. 2692, introduced by Republican Senator Rob Portman and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy 16 in March of this year. According to Portman, the law will expand the ability of the United States to counteract foreign propaganda and disinformation and will help organizations and various communities in allied and friendly countries to defend themselves against the propaganda effects of hostile foreign countries.
In a recent speech at the Atlantic Council Research Center in Washington, Portman announced to the audience that the United States is not fully taking the necessary measures to counteract foreign propaganda and disinformation that today dominate the information space and destabilize the situation in the world. According to the parliamentarian, Russia, China and other countries are trying to manipulate facts and control information "to achieve their national goals, often at the expense of the interests and values of American allies."
This bill, which covers a wide range of counter-propaganda issues, provides for the creation of a Center for analyzing information and responding to the efforts of foreign governments in the information war. Portman expressed his surprise at the fact that currently there is no separate organization within the structure of the US government that at the national level would develop, integrate and synchronize the implementation of a comprehensive government strategy to counteract foreign propaganda and disinformation.
The draft law states that such a center should be created. Its specialists will process and distribute "fact-based review and analytical materials to combat propaganda and misinformation against the United States, its allies and partners." He also noted that Russia annually spends about 400 million dollars to finance only the Washington bureau of the round-the-clock channel RT, while the White House only requested 768 million for the next fiscal year for the operation of all national broadcasting structures around the world.
The draft law provides for the creation of a special fund to assist in training journalists, issuing grants and contracts to NGOs, public organizations, research centers, private sector companies, the media, and independent experts with experience in identifying and analyzing the latest trends in disinformation methods used foreign services. The bill also calls for special attention to be paid to students and public leaders who apply for participation in exchange programs of the State Department and reside in countries that are heavily influenced by misinformation and propaganda campaigns of foreign countries.
Chairman of the Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev noted that “American colleagues decided to seriously take up the“ streams of truth ”that America should bring down to the rest of the world so that it would accept the American point of view as the only possible truth. According to him, this “is very similar to the practice of the former USSR with its sophisticated counter-propaganda system.” “Then this system in the USA was called directly contradicting the principles of freedom of speech and pluralism of opinions,” the senator stated.
Now it is even difficult to imagine what flows of deliberate lies and tampered facts from the suggestion of the White House, which is building the totalitarian planet, will bring down American propagandists in the writing of fables to the world community if the zealous overseas parliamentarians succeed in pushing through this law.
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