Gaslighting is a form of emotional manipulation in which a person or group aims to have the intended victims question their judgment, perception, and sense of reality by deliberately and systematically feeding them false information. In particular, the term political gaslighting is spreading in a new wave of information deluge through social media.
Social media platforms – like Facebook and X (Twitter) – are great tools for anyone looking to spread false information; it provides an easily-accessible interface for political gaslighting, using recurrent lies, the discrediting of memories or critics, trivialization of thoughts and emotions, distraction, and rewriting history.
Recently, political analysts began to use the term more frequently, mainly in connection with populist or radical politicians, parties, or campaigns. It has been associated with the expression of post-truth politics, and has received particular attention during the Marcos Jr. presidency.
Political gaslighting divides the actors into a political and a collective (usually community or group) actor, where the political actor uses the tactics to destabilize and disorients public opinion on political issues. The general intention is not to win over an individual but collectively over the entire society. The public’s perception of reality must be shaped by the political interests of the abuser to gain control through the votes.
The political gaslighters are after control – winning an election or saving face after losing one or pushing a policy without too much resistance, or oppressing a part of the population – achieved by silencing dissent, obscuring inconvenient facts, and disorienting people so much they long for securities and strong leadership.
Our basic assumption is that all politicians are liars, all parties are corrupt, and democracy is only good for voting for the lesser evil based on little information.
If we add to this the basic premise that one of the main functions of politicians and political parties is the acquisition of power, which they can achieve by gaining votes, we can easily reach the point of considering political gaslighting as a fundamental tool for gaining votes.
First, the tool of gaslighting can be propaganda familiar to all of us. It’s the dissemination of direct or indirect information to influence public opinion using facts, arguments, rumors, half-truths, or lies, but as the media is the best platform to disseminate this, the media’s lack of independence leads to suspicion.
Serial lying or denying facts, discrediting may indicate political gaslighting. It can usually target political opponents or critical voices with the intention to sideline and silence those individuals and institutions that tend to disagree, like whole institutions or groups (media, experts, opponent party etc.).
Different types of media (TV, newspapers, websites, etc.), foreign and domestic sources, as well as the different manifestations of political sides; it is not a cliché that the truth is usually somewhere in the middle, it is always worthwhile to give preference to direct sources, like field reports and the opinions of the experts in the field on the policy in question.
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