The disinformation pandemic: Who are the Czech anti-maskers , and could they seize power?
5.4.2021 9:14
A demonstration by the Czech anti-masker movement calling itself The Dog Has Died , 2021. (PHOTO: Petr Zewlakk Vrabec)
Disinformation is as old as civilization itself. It is an instrument of power and of warfare, and as human society develops and technology progresses, its importance keeps growing.
In our part of the world we can recall the Czechoslovak communist politician Vilém Nový who, after the death of Jan Palach by self-immolation in 1969, alleged that Palach did not burn to death but used so-called cold fire to fake the spectacle of his protest. Nový was sued for defamation, but the justice system in those days took the side of the communist regime, which means that defamatory rumor about Palach s suicide remains alive practically to this day.