In contemporary society, propaganda has been an integral part of communication throughout history, serving as a powerful tool for shaping opinion and influencing both political and social outcomes. Călin Hentea, a publicist and historian of propaganda, defines the concept of propaganda as deliberate dissemination of inaccurate, exaggerated, or fabricated information
that favors a political cause or player.
In today’s rapidly evolving world, the evolution of technology has significantly transformed the power of communication and media. The ways in which individuals connect, share information and shape public discourse are in a constant state of flux and largely susceptible to propaganda, particularly through social media platforms. which have created new avenues and
reach for disseminating propaganda.
Throughout history, sophisticated propaganda techniques, such as fake news, deep fakes, and targeted advertisements, to influence public opinion and voter behavior have been deployed –patterns that have demonstrated that language can easily be weaponized against others and mobilized to incite others into action. Dehumanization of a target audience is a puzzling
phenomenon.
During the Rwandan genocide, in 1993, a radio station known as Radio
Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) went live, and broadcasted “inflammatory rhetoric and extremist views” to the thousands of Rwandans; the Hutus identified the Tutsis with Cockroaches, fuelling the genocidal extermination of thousands of Rwandans.
In a similar theme Nazi propaganda likened the Jews to rats, but also portrayed them as ‘poisoners of culture’, swaying and manipulating millions of Germans to turn against the Jewish people. In the Soviet Union, the Stalinist regime called opponents vermin yet put them on show trials. Within the United States dehumanization has a rooted revolving history: American chattel enslavement of Black Americans between 1776 to1865; the 1932-1972 Tuskegee Airmen experiments on 600 Black men who were not advised on the real nature of the research study; the forced sterilization of majority of Black women across 32 states by Eugenics boards from
1932-1966.
These are just a snapshot of incidents of how dangerous propaganda can be against targeted populations. They reveal tensions in the way in which dehumanizers perceive, portray and treat victims and further highlights how such ideologies distort human relations to such an extent that it allowed people to view other human beings as fundamentally different from themselves.
In recent U.S. politics, certain words have become charged with an atmosphere of hate and division, heightened by the migration crisis and amplified by the gravity of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Politicization of immigration is an ever-evolving complex issue, and has profound consequences not only for immigrants but all ethnic and racial minority groups. A consistent headline in the Trump campaign, the use of derogatory rhetoric, most notably referring to immigrants as ‘animals’ or recently spreading the baseless claims of ‘immigrants eating domestic pets’ during the 2024 presidential debate last week, further demonstrate how language can be used to dehumanize a certain group of people, destroy credibility and foster a wave of anti-immigration hate.
Political propaganda is not a new phenomenon; however, it plays a vital role in shaping the narrative. By controlling the agenda propagandists can shape the parameters of public debate around policy issues, often leading to policy decisions that reflect the interests of those in power rather than the public good. The strategic use of emotive language, imagery, and misinformation can manipulate public sentiments and polarize communities. This tactic leaves hefty implications on democratic process, governance, and social cohesion.