"Antifa rumors spread on local social media with no evidence" reported mainstream media company NBC.
1992 Virginia Beach radio station does an April fools joke claiming that the local park (a recycled landfill) was going to blow up and caused a bit of a situation as a result.
In 2013 users of Reddit with their infinite knowledge pool of propaganda decided to "help" with the case of the Boston bomber, and instead created a bigger mess than ever needed.
This is not a new problem, lies have always moved quicker than the truth. It's a human phenomenon that we are more interested (collectively) in engaging with things we hate rather than things we love.
The problem now is that it can travel even faster than ever before. A lie can now be amplified instantly to be 'trending' or hashtagged. People will share instinctively because it aligns with their moral compass. It's not a lie if I have justified it to be true.
With AI now the way of the future, it's going to be even more grim.
What is the Cost?
In short this is going to cost everything we have. Our entire countries identity is eroding into a finger pointing middle school fight. There's a sizable piece of the population that celebrates their political adversary getting assassinated. This is a problem that needs to be addressed. How did it get like this?
The elections are constantly under attack as being rigged or manipulated. Every election cycle you can find somewhere in this massive country of people that stopped trusting the process.
Public health is a massive problem for all Americans regardless of their political alignment — but yet we argue with each other rather than hold the politicians we elect accountable.
Domestic Peace hangs on by a short thread as ICE agents slam immigrants to the ground without due process while Antifa encourages pop-shots to be taken at them with sniper rifles.
What in the actual fuck happened, America? Trust is so far gone that we are at each others throats. We must make changes and it must be fast. A functioning society needs the stability to prosper.
To fight it though, we first must know what it is and how they use it against us.
The Glossary You'll Use
Misinformation: False or inaccurate info shared without intent to deceive.
Example: Sharing a years-old wildfire photo as if it's from today because it "looked right."
Disinformation: False info created or pushed to mislead on purpose.
Example: A fabricated "leaked memo" claiming a candidate dropped out, posted to suppress turnout.
Malinformation: True info shared to cause harm by stripping context or targeting someone.
Example: Publishing a public official's home address (doxing) or resurfacing an old quote without the date to smear.
They (media, provocateurs, foreign countries) use these tactics against us in a variety of ways. Propaganda is the sales pitch to push an idea. Psyops will try to mess with how you feel.
The Players and Their Motives
Russia
Russia keeps poking our fault lines to drain U.S. trust and will. Kremlin-linked outfits (like the Internet Research Agency) run troll farms, fake pages, and bot swarms to amplify any event and make division look bigger than it is.
China
China runs the same playbook to bend global opinions its way: state media will set the line, then a web of influencers repeat it to make it feel organic. They also deploy coordinated fake accounts to drown out critics and boost pro-CCP hashtags.
Iran
Tehran's play is to undercut the U.S. and its regional rivals while shoring up the regime at home. They spin up fake news sites, pose as real journalists, and hijack identities to push anti-U.S./anti-Israel narratives.
North Korea
Pyongyang rules by fear with wall-to-wall propaganda at home and shock headlines abroad. They run aggressive cyber ops to steal crypto and hack banks to fund the regime.
From Fringe to Firehose
It starts small: one burner account drops a crazy take in the comment section of a reddit thread. A few more sockpuppets jump in to give it the boost and approval. Then come the bots; automated accounts that like, share, and reply at machine speed to pump the numbers. Now it looks "popular," which invites real people to pile on.
Now comes Astroturfing. This is the organized efforts posing as "grassroots" support. You'll see identical talking points appear in "local groups." The goal isn't debate; it's the illusion of majority.
From there, the network goes cross-platform. A claim born on a fringe site gets quoted by an influencer on X, clipped on TikTok, screenshot on Instagram, discussed on Twitch, then written up by a shitty click-bait "news" blog. That circular loop of 'references' adds a layer of fake legitimacy.
Impact Zones
Democracy
The moderate voter is getting excluded as the extremes seem to be taking over. The wedge between the 2 parties is deeper than it's ever been.
Public Health
When covid happened the wedge was pounded deeper and deeper. People lost their jobs because of the political divide in America back then.
National Security
Some countries and copycats twist the truth to make us doubt ourselves. It's a battle of stories, not soldiers. If we don't question the false story, the false story wins.
Personal Life
Group chats and dinner tables become minefields. People either disengage to stay sane or doom-scroll until they're numb.
Quick Action List
60-Second Verification Checklist
- Source check: Who wrote it? Can you find the original report, dataset, or full video?
- Date & context: Is this recent? Is a clip missing the lead-up or aftermath?
- Evidence scan: Numbers, documents, full quotes — not just vibes.
- Motive map: Who benefits if this spreads? Follow the money/attention.
- Cross-verify: Two solid outlets or experts say the same thing? Good. If not, pause.
With AI being mainstream and accessible now, it's not hard to take a screenshot and ask for verification. AI should be non-biased. Ask for both points of view, ask to debate it.
Free speech stays; manipulation loses. That's the mission. We are allowed to have disagreements with each other but we must never forget that the goal is to make America a better country.
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." — Carl Sagan
