Explaining the Challenge: From Persuasion to Relativisation

Abstract

The purpose of the chapter is to describe the concepts of propaganda and disinformation, their development, and how they relate to each other. Other connected concepts, such as fake news, misinformation, disinformation campaigns, psychological and information operations, and influence operations, are introduced and put into the context of the aim of this edited volume. In the last part of the chapter, changes in society, media and the information environment are introduced; what the Internet—and especially social media—brought to the area of propaganda and disinformation, and how all the understanding and functional level of propaganda and disinformation have changed in the so-called post-truth era.