Leaks and lawfare: adding a Legal Filter to Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model

ABSTRACT

Motivated by the conundrum “when does the law make it illegal to reveal illegal activity?”, this article explores the relationship between legal structures and the free flow of information by adding a Legal Filter to the Propaganda Model. The Legal Filter represents how elite powers use legal constructions to block information from mainstream media through three layers: Undisclosed Information, Lawfare, and Legal Standing. The addition of a Legal Filter compliments and strengthens current discussions about informational and surveillance capitalism, mis/dis/malinformation proliferation and understanding the growing number of internet information leaks and “hack and dumps.” (Herman, E. S., & Chomsky, N. 1988. Manufacturing consent: The political economy of the mass media. Pantheon).

KEYWORDS:

• Propaganda
• propaganda model
• lawfare
• leaks
• whistleblower
• ideology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 There are no competing interests to declare.

2 The term was coined by Dunlap (2001) to refer to military commanders defaulting command to lawyers over the Laws of Armed Conflicts (LOAC), which in my conceptualization fits the third layer of Legal Standing.

3 The defendants included Philip Morris, Inc.; R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co.; Lorillard Tobacco Company; The Liggett Group, Inc.; American Tobacco Co.; Altria; B.A.T. Industries p.l.c.; British American Tobacco (Investments) Ltd.; The Council for Tobacco Research U.S.A., Inc.; and The Tobacco Institute, Inc.