How corporate-aligned research weaponises misinformation tactics to manipulate public trust in systemic crises
Original framing: “A new study finds that to counter misinformation online, we need to copy its style” — The Conversation - Global
Indigenous knowledge systems, such as the Māori *whakapapa* (genealogical storytelling) or the Igbo *nkwu* (truth-telling as communal duty), treat misinformation as a breach of relational ethics, not a stylistic flaw. These frameworks embed verification in oral traditions, communal accountability, and land-based knowledge—none of which are compatible with platform-centric ‘solutions.’ The study’s focus on ‘copying style’ ignores how Indigenous media practices (e.g., *storywork* in Anishinaabe communities) use narrative structure to preserve truth, rather than compete in viral attention economies.
The study’s framing is a classic example of how neoliberal governance co-opts systemic crises into technocratic ‘fixes’—here, treating misinformation as a ‘messaging problem’ rather than a feature of platform capitalism’s extractive logic.
By ignoring Indigenous data sovereignty models, historical precedents of state propaganda, and the voices of marginalized communities who have long resisted colonial knowledge systems, the research reproduces the very power structures it claims to counter. The solution lies not in ‘copying the enemy’s style’ but in restoring relational, communal, and trickster-based approaches to truth—whether through Māori *whakapapa* storytelling, Igbo *nkwu* councils, or satirical media that exposes absurdity without replicating it. The real battle isn’t for ‘engagement’ but for reclaiming information as a commons, not a commodity.