ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses two linked questions to contextualize these issues that seem to have suddenly reared their head without precedent in Western democracies but in actuality have a long and well-studied history. Firstly, working from a social definition of computational propaganda, what is propaganda and what does the long history of the study of propaganda have to teach us about its new computational forms? Secondly, how is computational propaganda being used in the states where propaganda never went away, focusing in on the country with the most advanced technologically enabled propaganda system: China. The chapter examines the issues based on a perspective that potential differences between national systems are the result of rather than an explanation of political and social conditions in the country.
