Propaganda and financial deception are more closely related than you may think. A decade ago, blogger Frank Fisher noticed the similarities between publicity-hungry NGOs’ ‘round-robin generation and regurgitation of statistical lies’ and a particular kind of fraud. He coined the term ‘carousel propaganda’ to describe it. Today, carousel propaganda has become a potent weapon in the technology industry’s armoury of persuasion.
In finance, ‘carousel fraud’ belongs to a category of shady practices that take advantage of trust, reputation and lapses in verification. These ruses are only possible when inspection or corroboration should take place, but do not. Eventually, for example, the unpaid VAT is discovered or the cheque finally bounces. But by that point, it’s too late. In the same way, carousel propaganda can circulate very widely indeed until it is debunked – and even then it often enjoys an afterlife.
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