The Laundering Problem: Why Intent Does Not Matter

The key problem in counter disinformation work is that most skilled propagandists launder the same untruths through many different voices. If you, unknowingly, repeat a misleading unit of information that I designed, then, according to conventional definitions of Disinformation, you are innocent. You are merely misinforming. Russian propagandists know this so they design lies, plant them in media outlets on the edge of our culture, and depend on these lies being picked up unknowingly and spread eventually into legacy media outlets in the very centre of our culture. The essential untruth of the informational unit has not changed.

Source: Look for the Mana in the Meme!

This is why Tool 8 focuses on the meme, not the messenger. Lies get laundered through innocent voices. The person who repeats the lie may be genuinely well-meaning. But “the essential untruth of the informational unit has not changed.” The Ethical Discipline test assesses the information itself — is it true? — not the person who sent it. This is what makes the Disinfolklore method superior to conventional disinformation/misinformation frameworks.

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