Vraag 2 | Can you still recognise propaganda online? (Dutch spoken)
From TikTok videos to AI fakes, online propaganda has many faces. In wars like those in Ukraine and Gaza, the battle is just as much digital. What does propaganda look like today and how can you guard against it? You can hear it in the latest episode of Vraag 2, with associate professor of Literary & Cultural Analysis Boris Noordenbos, on Spotify.
In the latest episode of Vraag 2, journalist Jip Koene speaks with Boris Noordenbos, Associate Professor of Literary & Cultural Analysis at the University of Amsterdam. Noordenbos argues that we possibly are already immersed in online propaganda environments — even if we are not always fully aware of it.
Social media plays a major role in how propaganda is disseminated today. “In the twentieth century, propaganda was often spread in a linear way by state actors,” Noordenbos explains. “With the rise of social media, people are no longer just recipients — they also create and spread propaganda themselves.” As a result, it has become increasingly difficult to trace the origins of a message.
The boundary between entertainment, on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, and propaganda is also becoming more and more blurred. Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly prominent role in this shift, Noordenbos adds. “For example, Traoré, the leader of Burkina Faso, used AI to generate a song praising his policies using the voices of Justin Bieber and Beyoncé. Or take the phenomenon of so-called ‘AI grooming’: training AI with specific information so that users are shown content that aligns with, for instance, the Kremlin’s perspective.”
Listen to the full story in the latest episode of the podcast on Spotify.
Production & presentation: Jip Koene
Editor-in-chief: Dirk Wolthekker
Music: Paolo Argento
