Ranging from the Extinction Rebellion, the #MeToo movement and the Black Lives Matter movement, activism has become a universal force of change in today’s society. When done effectively, activists can bring about positive societal and cultural change through community interactions, education and online media. However, not all activism is inherently good as some groups resort to unethical and morally questionable methods such as psychological manipulation. What that really means is the use of underhanded and outright deceptive methods to influence the actions of others.

Rufus The Cat

Misinformation can be defined as false or inaccurate information that is deliberately intended to deceive and mislead people. Some activist groups utilise misinformation campaigns to manipulate others to further their own agendas with a prime example being the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) group which advocates for animal rights. In 2017, the group released a video depicting a cat, named Rufus, undergoing immense physical abuse at the hands of its owner. The video gained online notoriety in a span of a few days before PETA revealed that the whole thing was a hoax with the cat being a CGI and the entire video staged.

The main issue with the video was that it was designed to mislead viewers into believing that an actual cat was undergoing abuse. PETA had originally planned to release the video and wait for it to go viral, all in order to bring up the issue of domestic animal abuse by owners. However, the unethical approach the group had taken to this sensitive topic proved to do more harm than good and the group was subsequently met with extreme backlash.

Aluminium and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Another method of psychologically manipulating individuals would be through the use of logical fallacies. These give the appearance of a well-thought out and reasoned argument to one that is not substantial through any means. A glaring example being the Anti-Vaccination movement which regularly and explicitly treats vaccines and medical experts with scepticism.  A common argument from the movement states that aluminium present within vaccines causes inflammation which in turn leads to the development of the Autism Spectrum Disorder. In reality, there is no clear scientific evidence supporting the claim and it is important to know the fact that there is more aluminium in our daily diet than the dose present within a vaccine. This is a causal fallacy which links two separate phenomenon and purport one as causing the other without much evidence to back the linking of the two.

Much of the arguments against vaccine rely on logical fallacies such as these to sway people’s opinions on a long-standing and effective preventative medical treatment. A greater impact of this rhetoric on the general population would be the resurgence of infectious and deadly diseases such as measles with one such outbreak occurring in the United States.

COVID-19, Xenophobia and Anti-Immigration

During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation rapidly spread throughout social media. Several posts were made about how individuals of Asian descent were responsible for spreading the virus. In one famous case, a French newspaper released the headline “Yellow Alert” that blamed Asian citizens for spreading the virus within France. Just like that, several anti-immigration groups have used the pandemic to further their own agendas through sheer deception and emotional manipulation.

In Italy, far-right groups have taken the pandemic as an opportunity to stir up fervour against immigrants. Matteo Salvini, leader of the Anti-immigrant League Party, had posted an infographic that claimed an influx of illegal migrants would lead to a surge in cases within the city of Sicily. The real facts and figures were that only less than 5% of the cases were from recent immigrants with the infographic just leading people to a case of deception through the omission of factual information. The rhetoric most of these groups use preys on fear, which is in abundance due to the current pandemic, allowing them to manipulate the actions of those affected.

In today’s modern society, where online platforms and media allow activists to move towards societal change more effectively and visibly, we must be able to read the information they present with a critical eye.  And in some cases where unethical activism is employed, one must stop and think if the goal of some movements truly justifies the means.