Propaganda is the True Ruling Power of Our Country

An under-reported facet of U.S. government spending lies in government influence operations.

In the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, concerns about foreign disinformation and its potential impact on electoral integrity sparked a new focus on social media’s role in information dissemination.

This led to the emergence of various initiatives, including disinformation think tanks, government task forces, and university centers, all aimed at studying and combating alleged mis- and disinformation.

However, these efforts soon expanded beyond foreign influence to include domestic American speech, raising significant First Amendment concerns.

The Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), a consortium of disinformation academics led by Stanford University’s Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO), emerged as a key player in this landscape.

Created in the summer of 2020 at the request of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the EIP worked directly with federal agencies to monitor and censor Americans’ online speech leading up to the 2020 presidential election.

In November 2023 Congress published:

The report describes the activities of the EIP in censoring social media platforms during the 2020 Presidential election at the direction of Homeland Security:

But as American citizens, including candidates in these elections, attempted to exercise their First Amendment rights on these platforms, their constitutionally protected speech was intentionally suppressed as a consequence of the federal government’s direct coordination with third-party organizations, particularly universities, and social media platforms.

The report describes the EIP as:

…a consortium of “disinformation” academics led by Stanford University’s Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) that worked directly with the Department of Homeland Security and the Global Engagement Center, a multi-agency entity housed within the State Department, to monitor and censor Americans’ online speech in advance of the 2020 presidential election…the EIP provided a way for the federal government to launder its censorship activities in hopes of bypassing both the First Amendment and public scrutiny.

So, the EIP also includes government agencies, such as:

• CISA: DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
• GEC: Department of State Global Engagement Center (recent DOGE target)
• FITF: FBI Foreign Influence Task Force

The government justifies this censorship as combating the alleged rise in foreign influence mis- and disinformation, but this activity goes well beyond counter-propaganda efforts to outright suppression of free speech, and begs the question, what else might be lurking in the shadows of the Federal Influence Budget (FIB)?

Shining A Light In The Dark

Recent estimates are that the Federal Influence Budget (FIB) is approximately $21 billion annually.

Within this $21 billion, an estimated $2–3 billion (per speculative AI modeling) may fund fabricated content rather than truthful messaging. So there are two dynamics here, fabricating content, and suppressing truthful content.

This includes covert disinformation campaigns, manipulated media, and psychological tactics aimed at shaping global and domestic narratives.

While exact figures are unverifiable due to classified budgets, watchdog groups and leaked reports — such as 2016 disclosures about Pentagon-funded fake news targeting ISIS — hint at the scale of such activities.

Out of an estimated $21 billion federal influence budget, around $2 to $3 billion possibly spent on fabrications rather than valid information.

Made In The Shade

Military doctrine classifies propaganda into three categories:

1. White Propaganda: Openly sourced, transparent, and truthful.
2. Gray Propaganda: Source-ambiguous content blending fact and fiction.
3. Black Propaganda: Deliberate falsehoods with concealed origins.

While white propaganda prioritizes transparency, gray and black tactics, such as the CIA’s “Operation Mockingbird,” erode trust — a concern as agencies increasingly leverage digital platforms to sway audiences.

Though some spending serves legitimate aims (e.g., disaster response communication), the lack of oversight for covert programs raises alarms.

The existence of covert government influence operations is not a new phenomenon. Most ‘Conspiracy Theorists’ believe Operation Mockingbird, the CIA program that recruited journalists to spread propaganda during the Cold War, continues today.

A lesser-known example of the potential reach of these operations is the Lookout Mountain Air Force Station, which operated from 1947 to 1969 in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles.

Known as Wonderland, its primary purpose was to produce classified films documenting nuclear tests, but its location in a hub of 1960s counterculture has led to speculation about its potential influence on popular culture and the ‘hippy’ movement.

Laurel Canyon was home to influential musicians like Jim Morrison, David Crosby, and Joni Mitchell during this period. The juxtaposition of a secret military installation and a thriving music scene has fueled theories about possible government involvement in shaping cultural narratives.

This historical context illustrates that government influence operations have a long history and can take unexpected forms. It sets the stage for understanding how these tactics have evolved in the digital age, where social media platforms have become the new battleground for shaping public opinion.

Through this historical lens, consider why MTV music television uses a NASA astronaut motif.

Social Media: The New Battleground

Our time and attention has shifted away from traditional media to social media. We are spending more hours per week glued to apps on our phones than any other medium. This is fertile ground for government propagandists.

Most people have questioned the legitimacy of some accounts on social media. We’ve all had that thought “I wonder if this is a real person?”

How many of today’s podcasters, tik-tokers, and “influencers” are, in reality, state actors? Controlled “assets”.

In today’s environment, it’s safe to assume that some percentage of the people we engage with on social media are not who they purport to be, beyond the obvious porn-spam bots. It’s understandable that people want anonymity, but what about state actors?

Hiding behind false personas is the opposite of government transparency and social media has become a fulcrum of modern influence operations.

Platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and even Medium, can enable governments to disseminate narratives at unprecedented speed and scale — but they also open doors for covert disinformation campaigns, and even highly targeted campaigns. In this realm, AI enabled propaganda tools are a ‘force multiplier’.

Most people have questioned the legitimacy of some accounts on social media. We’ve all had that thought “I wonder if this is a real person?”

State-backed actors and proxy groups leverage social media to:

• Seed Fabricated Content: Fake accounts, bots, and troll farms mass-produce divisive memes, doctored videos, or misleading headlines.
• Micro-target Audiences: Algorithms allow propagandists to tailor falsehoods to specific demographics, or even individuals.
• Weaponize AI: Deepfakes, voice clones, and AI-generated text blur reality.
• Co-opt Authentic Movements: Hashtag hijacking and astroturfing (fake grassroots campaigns) drown out legitimate discourse.
• Fake Personas: Leaked documents reveal Pentagon proposals to create fake foreign personas on social media to spread pro-U.S. narratives.

Perhaps more troubling than the fabricated content and fake people, is the censored information. The ‘Weaponization’ report describes the suppressed content as: 1) True information 2) Jokes and satire and 3) Political opinion.

One thing the report made clear was the ability to target specific individuals for propaganda and censorship:

The Real World Battleground

These influence operations don’t exist solely in cyberspace. The Pentagon’s “signature reduction” program, a vast undercover force of approximately 60,000 operatives, represents a significant expansion of clandestine military capabilities.

This secret army, which includes soldiers, civilians, and contractors working under false identities both domestically and internationally, engages in various covert activities, including cyber operations.

The program’s online component, involving thousands of operatives using fake personas, could potentially intersect with efforts to monitor and influence social media discourse, such as those described in the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP) report.

This convergence of real world covert military operations and online influence campaigns raises concerns about the extent of government involvement in shaping public opinion and the potential for these programs to impact domestic political discourse, blurring the lines between national security and manipulation of civilian information spaces.

In a recent Joe Rogan podcast, former Department of State official Mike Benz referred to the “Department of Dirty Tricks Truman Show”.

These foreign countries have no idea how many of the things they interact with that are effectively a movie set being constructed by the US State department and it’s sister influence organizations. — Mike Benz

It would be naive to think there aren’t at least a few domestic Truman Shows as well.

The True Cost of Taxpayer-Funded Deception

The previous list of censored individuals and organizations clearly leans conservative, but this blatant disregard of the First Amendment should concern all Americans.

When democracies employ tactics akin to authoritarian regimes, government authority weakens.

Congress investigated and identified “heavy-handed involvement” by the government, and now what? Are there any consequences? Where is the oversight? How will this be prevented in the future?

Unless clear guidelines are defined and enforced it is unlikely anything will change.

The most recently published Weaponization Of Government report (December 2024) is 17,000 pages long, with example after example of abuse.

The true cost of this deceptive invisible government is the continued loss of faith in the ‘real’ government.

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.” 
 ― Edward L. Bernays, Propaganda

For emphasis: Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.

Propaganda
Written by the nephew of Sigmund Freud, outlines . Our world is dominated by political spin and media manipulation. is…amzn.to

Toward Accountability

Influence operations are a geopolitical reality, but their operations demand scrutiny. Taxpayers deserve transparency — such as declassifying budgets for non-sensitive programs — and stricter congressional oversight to curb unethical practices.

The recent DOGE activities are getting a lot of attention. But it begs the question, where was the oversight before? Why does it take a special task force to uncover abuses that Congress should have been preventing?

If the government is fabricating this much propaganda, what other lies could they possibly be fabricating? The answer is ‘anything’.

If the government is censoring free speech on social media platforms, what else could they possibly be censoring? The answer is ‘anything’.

As an example, many have long suspected that QAnon is a government covert influence campaign. If it is, should US citizens pay for that? Should it even exist? Who are they targeting, and why?

The intersection of Propaganda and Psychological Operations, in both the real world and cyberspace, are fertile ground for all kinds of abuse. With no real oversight, anything is possible.

But the real question is who is the power behind the throne?

Obviously the employees of Department of Homeland Security are the ones interacting with the EIP, as documented in the report.

But who is controlling them? And who is controlling the controllers?

This is the bureaucracy that enables the real puppet masters who hide in the shadows.

Executive Action

The Executive Order Restoring Freedom Of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship issued on January 20, 2025, aims to restore freedom of speech and end federal censorship.

Its primary purpose is to secure Americans’ right to engage in constitutionally protected speech and prevent federal entities from unconstitutionally abridging free speech. The order explicitly prohibits federal officers, employees, or agents from using their positions to suppress lawful expression and bans the use of taxpayer resources to facilitate such suppression.

A key component of this executive action is its directive to the Attorney General to investigate government activities over the past four years that may have violated First Amendment rights.

This investigation is intended to identify and correct past misconduct by the federal government related to censorship, potentially impacting programs and partnerships like the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP) that were involved in monitoring and moderating online content.

This is a step in the right direction, but as evidenced previously in this article, election interference is just one aspect of a much larger ($21 Billion annually) government influence operation ecosystem that has been in place for decades.

Comprehensive reform is necessary and will undoubtedly require the involvement of Congress.

Conclusion

Power lies not just in influence but in its responsible use. While persuasion is a tool of statecraft, deception risks the very foundation of governance.

Demanding accountability for how billions of dollars in influence spending are used isn’t just prudent — it’s essential to preserving trust in an era of information warfare.

Congress needs to mandate audits by bipartisan committees and enact digital transparency laws.

The First Amendment is first for a reason — it safeguards the free expression necessary to protect ‘We The People’.

The documented collusion between federal agencies, academic institutions, and technology corporations to systematically suppress lawful speech represents an all too common breach of trust.

If all warfare is based on deception, and the people being deceived are American citizens, who does the government think is the real enemy?

What if, instead of Donald Trump, MTG, or The Babylon Bee, these weapons of influence and censorship are targeted at you? Your timeline algorithmically distorted and filled with state actors, your posts shadow-banned into oblivion.

In an age where several aspects of our real-world lives, livelihoods, and identities are tied to social media, unaccountable shadowy systems of suppression, manipulation, and psychological warfare make every citizen a target, in every realm.

As of the most recent “weaponization” report, the investigation is still ‘ongoing’.

What do you think? Will Congress take the steps necessary to reign in out-of-control state actors?

I am currently reading ‘Propaganda’ by Edward Bernays, published in 1928. You can get a copy here:

Propaganda
Written by the nephew of Sigmund Freud, outlines . Our world is dominated by political spin and media manipulation. is…amzn.to

The Weaponization of “Disinformation” initial report.

The 17,000 page final report:

The Weaponization of the Federal Government

https://shadowpuppets.substack.com/p/the-weaponization-of-disinformation-32812b91009c