The big lie about misinformation

U.S. government and corporate-owned media giants have once again mounted accusations of foreign election interference, this time in the upcoming presidential election. U.S. intelligence agencies allege that Russia, Iran and China are waging “disinformation campaigns” that disrupt what they call “liberal parliamentary democracy.”

In 2016, the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) reported that the Russian government had intended to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign while promoting Donald Trump’s. Prosecutors found inadequate evidence to hold Russia or Trump accountable.

The IC published a report in August 2024 that accused Iran of disseminating misinformation online, stating that it will impact the upcoming election. According to the report, “Iran and Russia have employed these tactics not only in the United States during this and prior federal election cycles but also in other countries around the world.”

The National Intelligence Council (NIC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) have been monitoring China’s alleged interference heavily since 2020. The NIC reported in 2021 that China did not deploy influence efforts in the 2020 presidential election, because China focuses on local and midterm elections; the FBI backed up this claim.

On May 6, CNN platformed these concerns, stating that Chinese intelligence officials had issued directives to “intensify efforts to influence U.S. policy and public opinion in China’s favor” as well as “magnify U.S. societal divisions.”

‘Malinformation’ or anti-U.S. truth?

A recent internal memo from USAID revealed that the U.S. government is increasingly worried about the online spread of malinformation – which USAID described as meaning information that is factually correct but taken out of context – that is, it inspires anti-U.S. sentiment. USAID considers malinformation the most threatening form of information on the internet.

Maliformation bans apply to anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist, pro-communist, and pro-Palestinian narratives online.

Russia, Iran, and China have been blamed for successfully stimulating class consciousness among working-class youth in the United States. The consequences of these accusations and scapegoating of the three countries is alarming. U.S. residents who call out Vice President Kamala Harris’ complicity in the genocide of Palestinians as reason to not vote for her are mislabeled as Russian bots and are often banned by social media corporations.

This contrived panic provoked by charges of foreign election interference is beginning to have implications beyond internet censorship. The Uhuru 3, members of socialist pan-African parties, were convicted on one of two criminal charges on Sept. 13.

City prosecutors in Tampa Bay, Florida, accused the Uhuru 3 of conspiring with the Russian government. The Uhuru 3 are revolutionary socialists who distribute revolutionary literature and run for local offices.

The United States government is unrivaled worldwide in the sheer number of foreign interference operations. The U.S. and its agencies have invaded, sanctioned, intervened in elections and/or waged disinformation campaigns in nearly every country worldwide, including its allies, and especially if the foreign government defends its sovereignty instead of submitting to Western capitalist hegemony.

For example, the U.S. government and corporate media have accused President Nicolás Maduro of committing fraud in the recent Venezuelan election. Washington then seized a Venezuelan airplane that was used to transport government officials, claiming it was being used to break sanctions.

The claims about malinformation also come as the U.S. House of Representatives passes a $1.6 billion package that will spread anti-China propaganda in the Global South. The United States government is blaming foreign countries for the domestic contempt they’ve created for their own rule.