Warning for widespread disinformation

Internet contains a lot of misleading information that may seem very convincing

Because many people use internet as an information source, corporations are misusng internet to promote their interests. They hire Public Relations companies who are highy skilled in manipulating and misleading people in a very convincing way.

The arguments for genetic engineering are highly misleading, distorting the truth, and mostly outright lies. Such arguments about genetic engineering have been distributed since several years in numerous newspaper and journal articles, TV and radio broadcasts. For more, see: "Misleading arguments commonly used by biotech advocates".

Below we present some common methods that the corporations use to confuse people in order to further their interests.

Common strategies

Creating doubts

For example, GreenPeace has been under heavy attack and has even been infiltrated by people who thereafter create websites where they claim to be insiders who reveal "the truth" about Greenpeace, thereby casting unfounded doubts on this organization (1).

Another exampe is the present systematic attack on various natural herbal products, vitamins and minerals that reduce the need for pharmacological drugs. Every minor side effect and any statement about the harm of a natural remedy is blown up disproportionately and is disseminated world-wide in pressreleases published by newspapers all over the world. People get the wrong impression that natural remedies have as much side effects as pharmacological drugs, while in reality the difference is huge. Natural remedies seldom have any significant side effects and these are, with extremely few exceptions, mild and harmless, while pharmacological drugs kill millions of people every year.

An example is the rumour that C-vitamin may be harmful (producing free radicals through the socalled Fenton reaction). It has been distributed all over the world especially to physicians. Recent thorough research has proven that this rumour has no scientific basis, as this reaction only occurs in the test tube, but not in biological tissues (2). Hundreds of millions who could have prevented their common cold with harmless C-vitamin have, because of this disinformation, used harmful artificial drugs, bringing billions of profit to the drug industry.

The doubts about C-vitamin was furthermore reinforced by misleading research studies that "disproved" the effects of C-vitamin on common cold, by using much lower doses than those found to be protective.

Sponsoring misleading websites

One strategy is creating or sponsoring websites that give the impression of being scientific, but in reality have the only purpose of discrediting some activity or product. For example in the case of Global Warming there there are websites that claim to reveal the "swindle of global warming" (The coal and oil corporations have systematically been supporting scientific and other activities that question or deny global warming).

One such website is Junkman.com. This website contains a large number of articles and are produced with proffesional web technology. It is "updated every day" and is produced by a single person who apparently works full time with it this work of "revealing the truth" about Global Warming. We cannot prove that just this website is sponsored, but its highly biassed stance and it focus on the non-academic general public is typical of this kind of websites.

Creating pseudoclubs and pseudoemaillists

This is a very seductive and effective strategy, giving the impression that many people are involved in activities directed against some issue or organization considered "undesirable" by some corporation.

For example organizations have created to create doubts about activities against genetic engineering, see for example "Corporations are inventing people to rubbish their opponents on the internet".

Websites that provide alternatives for free

Another strategy of the corporations is to provide for free services that seem to be similar to what to that of a competitor that they want to crush.

For example "free alternatives" to Transcendental Meditation are offered in expensive ad campaigns. The probable reason is that TM effectively reduces blood pressure. This has been confirmed by research funded by the US governmental "National Institute of Health" with over 24 million USD (TM has unique effects that have not been found in other meditations).

The drugs against high blood pressure bring billion dollars profits to the Pharmaceutical industry. Therefore it is not surprising to find websites that claim to offer effective "meditation". Though apparently similar, they are in reality fundamentally different and their benefits are totally unproven. So when a competitor has been proven effective they try to confuse people by offering useless imitations.

Another approach that has been used against TM and other organizations or product that reduce the need for corporate products is "Fear uncertainty and doubt".

"Fear uncertainty and doubt" (FUD)

This strategy is widely used by corporations to deter consumers from products or activities that compete with or may reduce consumtion of the products of the company.

"FUD is generally a strategic attempt to influence public perception by disseminating negative (and vague) information. An individual firm, for example, might use FUD to invite unfavorable opinions and speculation about a competitor's product"
Source: Wikipedia on FUD.

A Golden Rule

Related articles

• "PR strategies used to manipulate public opinions"
• The enemies of democracy

References

• 1. "The truth about Greenpeace"
• 2. Niki, E. (1991) “Action of ascorbic acid as a scavenger of active and stable oxygen radicals” Am J Clin Nutr 54: 1119-24.

Physicians and Scientists for Responsible
Application of Science and Technology
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