Propaganda techniques
Every article we analyze is checked against 23 propaganda and persuasion techniques from the SemEval-2023 taxonomy, grouped into six categories. Each page below defines one technique, shows what we have recorded across our corpus, and quotes real examples.
47,433 technique instances recorded so far.
Justification
Techniques that supply a reason to accept a claim by appealing to authority, emotion, or shared values rather than to evidence.
- Appeal to Authority2,621
Citing an authority figure or institution in place of evidence, so the claim rests on who said it rather than on what supports it.
- Appeal to Popularity637
Treating widespread belief as proof, so the reader is invited to agree because everyone else supposedly does.
- Appeal to Values3,927
Attaching a position to a shared value — patriotism, family, faith, freedom — so that opposing the position looks like opposing the value.
- Appeal to Fear/Prejudice3,201
Driving a conclusion with fear of a threat or with an existing prejudice, rather than with evidence about how likely the threat actually is.
- Flag Waving1,170
Invoking national or group pride so that the argument becomes a loyalty test rather than a question of fact.
Simplification
Techniques that collapse a complicated question into a simpler one pointing at a predetermined answer.
- Causal Oversimplification1,159
Reducing an outcome with many causes to a single cause, usually the one that assigns blame most conveniently.
- False Dilemma594
Presenting two options as the only options, so that a reader who rejects one is pushed into the other.
- Consequential Oversimplification272
Claiming one step leads inevitably to a distant outcome, with the intermediate steps left unargued.
Distraction
Techniques that move attention away from the question being asked.
- Straw Man57
Restating an opponent's position in a weaker or distorted form, then refuting the distortion.
- Red Herring271
Introducing material irrelevant to the question at hand, so that attention moves off the weak point.
- Whataboutism310
Answering criticism by pointing at someone else's wrongdoing rather than addressing the criticism.
Call
Techniques that push toward action through compression, urgency, or foreclosure of debate.
Manipulative Wording
Techniques that operate at the level of word choice, scale, and precision rather than argument.
- Loaded Language19,403
Choosing words whose emotional charge exceeds what the documented facts support, so the reader's reaction is set before the evidence is presented.
- Repetition390
Restating a claim often enough that familiarity substitutes for support.
- Exaggeration/Minimisation6,050
Scaling something up or down out of proportion to the record — inflating a threat, or shrinking a documented harm.
- Obfuscation/Vagueness1,977
Using language imprecise enough that the claim cannot be checked, while still leaving an impression.
Attack on Reputation
Techniques that target the person or institution making a claim instead of the claim.
- Name Calling/Labeling2,148
Attaching a negative label to a person or group so that the label does the work an argument would otherwise have to do.
- Doubt872
Casting suspicion on a source's credibility without offering grounds for the suspicion.
- Guilt by Association1,074
Discrediting a position by linking it to a disliked person or group rather than engaging with it.
- Appeal to Hypocrisy181
Deflecting a criticism by charging the critic with inconsistency, leaving the original point unanswered.
- Questioning the Reputation152
Attacking the character of the person making an argument instead of the argument.