OOTC: Weaponization of Information
L. Joy is back in the Office of the Citizen and for this lesson for our next lesson. She is focusing on how propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation work as tools of political control, and how a high-speed, low-literacy information ecosystem can keep people reacting instead of organizing. To get deep into this lesson, she brings Dr. Michelle Taylor back to the front of the class.
L. Joy lays out some definitions to help us name what we are seeing: propaganda which is messaging designed to shape beliefs and behavior by triggering emotion; misinformation which is false information shared without intent to harm; disinformation which is false information shared deliberately to manipulate, divide, and suppress participation. She adds that the point isn’t always to make you believe something forever, it’s simply to make you hesitate, distrust institutions, and end up in the most dangerous civic sentence of all “What’s the point?”
Dr. Taylor adds how the culture has shifted from learning to consumption, explaining how essays became think pieces, artists and writers became content creators, and how the internet trained us to scroll, repost, and react instead of read, reflect, and reason. Together, they argue that this flattening isn’t harmless. The danger is that it erodes critical thinking, devalues creative labor, and makes communities more vulnerable to manipulation.
L. Joy and Dr. Taylor also challenge how civic engagement messaging can unintentionally reinforce voter suppression especially when leaders repeat doubt-filled language instead of telling the truth in a way that builds agency. The goal isn’t to gaslight people about real suppression or administrative failures, it’s to respond with honesty and strategy to help people understand the process, fight errors, and stay engaged beyond a single election cycle. Underneath it all is a core principle which is care. Real civic leadership doesn’t abandon people if they’re not “ready” yet—it stays close, teaches, and builds capacity.
Do Now
Before you repost, screenshot, forward, or “share” anything political do this 3 Question Check Before You Share:
Where did this come from?
Not who posted it but where did it originate from? Who made it?
What do they want me to feel?
Rage? Fear? Shame? Hopelessness? Pride? Resentment? What’s the emotional trigger?
What do they want me to do next?
Share it? Attack someone? Give up? Distrust the system? Take a specific action?
Golden Rule: If you can’t answer all three, don’t share it.
Democracy can’t survive if we treat information like fast food.