Topic: Internet Propaganda

The hosts discuss the presence of thousands of government-funded "activists" and military personnel working to influence online discourse. They express skepticism about the current social media landscape, with Dvorak jokingly reiterating his decades-old stance that the internet should have been "shuttered" early on to prevent its use as a mass propaganda tool.

Former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw delivers a commentary on the "deep dark hate" in America, specifically targeting Alex Jones and the "underside" of the internet. Brokaw calls for citizens to "step up" and resist these common threats. The hosts interpret this as a call for political resistance and mock Brokaw's delivery and perceived incompetence in slowing cultural trends.

Hillary Clinton's "Correct the Record" organization reportedly invested one million dollars to hire internet trolls to attack Bernie Sanders supporters online. Nomiki Konst and other activists have highlighted this effort as a propaganda campaign designed to shame Sanders supporters into switching their allegiance to Clinton.

The BBG's strategic plan for 2012-2016 outlines goals to become a leading international news agency and reach 216 million weekly viewers. The agency seeks to lead in internet censorship circumvention and anti-jamming efforts in coordination with the State Department. The plan explicitly argued for the repeal of the domestic dissemination ban to reach expatriate communities in the U.S.

Obama suggests that the Arab-Israeli conflict is no longer the primary source of instability in the Middle East. He calls for "contesting the space" that terrorists occupy on the internet and social media, which the hosts link to domestic propaganda efforts under the Smith-Mundt Act.

The hosts analyze clips from a Law and Order episode featuring actor Rob Corddry, which they characterize as propaganda against internet vigilantism and texting while driving. They deconstruct the "surreal" dialogue regarding words on the internet having lethal consequences and a plot involving a woman claiming to receive messages from the devil. The segment highlights how mainstream television dramas often push specific social and legal narratives.