In this context, power is not threatened by the exposure of a lie crafted with insufficient attention to #PlausibleDeniability. On the contrary, lies are now generated in industrial quantities, with the quality of each false claim sacrificed on the altar of sheer mendacious productivity. The goal is not to present yourself as a trustworthy teller of truths, but to poison the well of public discourse with an overflowing sewage of impossible claims in order to discredit *everyone* and even the prospect that any action by anyone is ever taken in good faith.

So at this point, I think the "embarrassment" epistemological criterion has to be retired. This new wave of authoritarian political figures have realised that shameless repetition of lies, and spraying yet more lies when those lies are exposed, and never giving an inch, nets you a support base with basically indestructible support, so long as you never show any hint of weakness in the façade of endless bullshit.

You can debunk bullshit, but the work of the bullshitter is not threatened by your debunking. Indeed, your good faith debunking might actually be part of their strategy, as it can be weaponised to paint themselves as victim of the very #InformationalWarfare they are themselves currently engaged in.

3/4

#Putin, #Trump, #Netanyahu, #Modhi and other recent authoritarian strongmen (#Orbán, #Erdoğan, #Bolsonaro, etc) have discovered just how effective the #FirehoseOfDisinformation is in an age of deliberate political dysfunction, polarised electorates, microtargeted #disinformation and the general milieu of ecocidal late capitalist societal crumbling ('the Crumbles'). Their supporters generally either never hear about the debunking, reject all evidence that conflicts with their commitments (#IdentityProtectiveCognition), or don't care and openly embrace #authoritarian doublethink (cf #MAGA, widespread #Israeli support for *increased* violence in #Gaza, #Russian troll farmers).

Mainstream journalists reliably get caught up in the #FalseBalance of #BothSides; #centrists fret over #CivilityPolitics; the politically disengaged grow ever more cynical and abandon the search for truth, embracing the very #cynicism, #apathy, #LearnedHelplessness and #disengagement that this strategy of #InformationalWarfare seeks to nurture.

2/4