guó jiā国家zěn yàng怎样yǐng xiǎng影响rén men人们kàn dào看到de的shì jiè世界
Political lies did not first appear in the internet age.
Long ago, rulers used stories to explain why they held power, went to war, or demanded sacrifices from the people.
Today, governments can spread information at the same time through television, the internet, news organizations, and social media platforms.
They do not necessarily have to invent facts. By talking more about the parts that benefit them and less about failures, costs, and victims, they can influence people's views.
Information that is half true and half false is especially hard to detect because it does contain real information.
Silence can also mislead: some events are reported every day, while other important events are hardly known to anyone.
A large amount of unrelated information can also hide what is truly important.
Artificial intelligence makes it easier to quickly create images, voices, and articles and send them to different people.
Such methods do not necessarily need to make everyone believe the same lie. As long as people feel that journalists, elections, data, and institutions cannot be trusted, they may give up looking for the truth.
To judge whether government information is reliable, do not only look at what it says. Also ask what it leaves out, who pays the price, and whether different information can be found from other sources.
Freedom of the press, open investigations, and many different voices can help society discover incomplete truths.