ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to synthesise a working definition of propaganda in the digital age. In particular, an awareness of the classic concept of propaganda allows us to see how the democratising effect of online information to create informed citizens is outmatched by the internet’s ability to leverage misinformation in the service of populist propaganda. Certainly, people may be propagandised into actions that do not reflect their core beliefs, but often people embrace propaganda that echoes their own values and desires. Thus, propaganda would have been a normal and expected element of non-free media systems. Propaganda has been a part of society and media systems for a long time. Historically, effective propaganda has tended to be bonded within state systems and certainly within national media systems. The success of populist movements around the world from the United States to Russia to Brazil suggests that propaganda is a better pair with populism than with traditional democracy.
