THE LANGUAGE AND DISINFORMATIONS (1)

Sun Tzu (孫子, Sūn Zǐ) in „The art of War“ in several parts, writes about the use of various techniques in the war and conquest of the enemy:

„The whole secret is in confusing the enemy, so that he will not be able to understand our true intention“. 

A very important role, in the “strategy of confusion,” conceptualized as such, have language and communication. That is why disinformation is one of the most common use of language as a weapon, or means of fighting with “The Other”, in its various forms (“The Other” as a different-minded, an enemy, an opponent, a member of another race, religion, ethnicity, a different-minded person, etc.). Language is used as a verbal weapon in many everyday situations and through various language forms, such as commandments, insults, curses, comparisons, labeling, metaphors, stylistic figures, and so on.

Disinformation experiences its true development in the modern era and has a central role in the struggle for power, supremacy and interests in both military and peacetime conditions. As part of an organized propaganda activity, disinformation is a designed and planned manipulation, with continuous impact and has a great potential to cause harm.

Disinformation, after its massive and permanent use in World War II, and for which the term “military propaganda” was most often used, continued to be used intensively during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The word “disinformation” officially appeared for the first time in 1949 in the dictionary of the Russian language by Sergei Ozegov and is interpreted as “an act of misleading, using false information”, with examples often referring to “disinformation of the public opinion in capitalist countries”. Disinformation is an often used method not only as a “military weapon” but as a communication technique in many areas, from political communication to trade and business.

Interesting historical data related to Macedonia is the decision of the People’s Committee of the City of Skopje on 30 June 1951 to send Panko Brashnarov out to: “Re-education and social work in Goli Otok for a period of 2 years” because “he violated the public order and peace, and invented and spread false news, which disturbed the peace of the citizens.” This case is related to the internal turmoil caused by tensions between the then Yugoslav federation and the Soviet Union.

Disinformation aims at “creating an illusion or masking false information as true” (Philippe Breton, La Parole Manipulèe, 2000). Once you are lured to disinformation, its key goal is to unconditionally believe it. It is clear that disinformation is effective when it is not recognized as false information. We have seen in the previous reports that misinformation can be concealed and infiltrated through the communication context and accepted narratives. The third key level in which disinformation operates is language in its everyday use.

George Orwell in his novel „1984” popularized the idea that “through changes in language, you can change people’s consciousness”. Through a series of linguistic, and linguistic and logical techniques, disinformation enters into everyday communication and manages to sneak in as true and reliable information. That is why, the biggest challenge of disinformation is their initial and timely recognition. 

Below is a list of some of the most used manipulative techniques of this type, which can serve for easier recognition of disinformation:

NAMING – Imposing or denying an argument or idea through a manipulative naming. Most often, this technique is called LABELING, where mostly abusive and offensive names are used for the purpose of personal or group disqualification. The catalog of such names is quite rich: traitor, mercenary, novice, nationalist, snitch, quinsling, sexist, xenophobe, and many others.

As additional sub-techniques, the naming can be extended to the whole name group (the “friend of X”, “collaborator of X”), to attach it in the form of an attribute (“nervous X”, “incapable X”) or to be associated through a verb (plundering, destroying). The purpose of the manipulative labeling is to open up space to attach disinformation to the text in a convincing way.

Combined with a particular label, it is easier to spread disinformation, which in this context sounds convincing and logical. Naming is closely related to the manipulative technique of “ad hominem” attack, which disqualifies an idea or argument, through disqualification of the one who represents the idea or expresses the arguments.

REPLACEMENT OF RELATED WORDS – This technique is used when words with similar or related meaning are replaced in order to change the meaning of the whole statement or the text and falsely present a particular situation. For example, in the analyzed case in this service for “The Statement of the President Pendarovski for Almakos“, from the original interview, the description of a certain situation (the procedure is in progress) is interpreted in the journal article as “standstill, delay”, and named in the title as „blockage“. The change of words, associated with a particular semantic sign, can be used to completely change the meaning of the information.

Typically, in the sequence of semantically related words, the word with “greater meaning” is used, so the problems and misunderstandings become a CRISIS, an offense or a mistake becomes a SCANDAL, and so on.

FALSE ASSOCIATION – False association of different subjects or concepts by means of some (formal) similarity, relation or arbitrary connection. In the analysis „Migrants Attack Falsely Trough the Media“, the case involving a local homeless person was manipulatively reported as a criminal  act committed by a migrant. Often, a real event (resignation of a deputy minister) is attached to an unfounded speculation (       Albanian is mandatory for all primary school students), which, with repetition in the media, becomes a disinformation. 

GENERALIZATION – An individual case is placed in a negative context and is presented as a regular event.

For example, a case of arresting for charges of violating public order and peace is generally referred to as “behavior of the fascist regime” and “totalitarian state“.

Generalization, as in this case, is combined with the use of expressive negative notions (fascism, dictatorship, totalitarianism, regime, junta) and THREATENING. Language intimidation techniques use strong affective words placed in the context of stereotypes and extended preconceptions. The preconceptions are based on logical errors and superficial performances that are not supported by facts.

DECONTEXTUALIZATION – A certain statement is taken out of its context and its meaning is manipulatively changed.

“The partnership with the United States is successful, efficient and with their help we expect also to achieve the formally biggest strategic goal that we have set in since the 90’s, which is our full membership in NATO by the end of the year,” Pendarovski says. Thus, the EU becomes a secondary goal for him.”

CLICKBAITS – Use of false, bombastic and sensationalistic headlines and claims in order to lure readers and increase the number of visits/clicks on some content. Techniques of this type are numerous, from (1) re-thinking of certain information (the publication of a new video clip of the band “DNA”) that is published as misinformation („Pancho from “DNA” injured in an accident“), through (2) manipulative announcement of selected information and words (An accident avoided in the last moment in the park “CHAIR”) in order to deceive the reader that it is an event in Skopje, without mentioning the true location of the case (Nish: A rubber glove dropped and “buried” children), or (3) manipulative change to a particular metaphorical statement ( Bubevski: SPP held in an artificial coma) in a pompous title (Katica Janeva in a coma, it is uncertain whether they will be pulled out and the consequences).

(To be continued)

Sead Jigal,

For „MOST“.