Disinformation, Misinformation, Intention, and the Global Politics of Malice

• In Event: Gossip, Conspiracy, and Disinformation in World Politics

Abstract

Spreading disinformation or misinformation is a relatively cheap and easy means of acting hostilely in global politics. Current attention is reasonably focused on the way untruths spread through social media, focusing on the weaponization of existing social rifts by enemies operating from within and outside the state and the consequent danger to democracies. The ability to create or amplify lies (claims known by the speaker to be false) and bullshit (claims that have no connection to truth, to use Frankfurt’s term) is a source of power at multiple scales, deployable by individuals, artificial intelligences, and groups, as well as by states and other more ordinary global actors. But the rapid rise of a global politics of malice made possible by new technologies should not obscure the fact that disseminating dis- and misinformation is not a new political practice. It has been used for millennia, as evidenced by Assyrian cuneiform texts, the Hebrew Bible, and Kautilya’s Arthashastra.

The political practice of disseminating falsehoods can be considered a form of soft power because the practice works through attraction: Trickery, seduction, and amusement spark affective attachments that make it easier to believe that the lies and bullshit are credible. Furthermore, disinformation and misinformation are contagious, as those who have come to believe the falsehoods re-spread them. This opens the possibility of accidentally acting hostilely. What does it mean for our understanding of power if incorrect but truly held beliefs are sources of harm? (Also noted: The possibility of harmful truths cannot be ruled out.)

This paper will draw upon examples from contemporary social media and ancient texts and interrogate theories of intention and political speech (inter alia, Pocock and Anscombe) to wrestle with how intention matters for soft power and what that means for a global politics of malice open to all. Is the malign soft power of dis- and misinformation fundamentally different from ordinary soft power? Should intention be included in the assessment of power relations, and if so, how? Can insights from a more nuanced theorization of a global politics of malice suggest ways of taming it?

Author

• Renee Marlin-Bennett, Johns Hopkins University