DS: During the Cold War, the Reagan Administration had an Active Measures Working Group that exposed and publicised examples of Soviet disinformation. Yuri Bezmenov, known by the alias Tomas David Schuman, was a Soviet KGB informant who defected to Canada. http://1boringoldman.com/index.php/2012/12/21/hide-and-go-seek/. Today, first-time visitors to the institute -- housed in a drab concrete building at the Peoples Friendship University of Russia -- are asked to watch a half-hour television program dedicated to Smirnov, who is called the father of "psychotronic weapons," the Russian term for mind control weapons. To the point that no amount of clear, correct, accurate information (i.e. [3], Bittman recounts other case studies, including efforts by the Soviet intelligence services to influence the views of the Third World against Americans so that such countries would support Russian interests in the United Nations. Yuri Bezmenov, known by the alias Tomas David Schuman, was a Soviet KGB informant who defected to Canada. Fear-based appeals appear to be effective at influencing attitudes and behaviors, especially among women, according to a comprehensive review of over 50 years of research on the topic. Required fields are marked *. Made a Major Difference", "Before 'fake news,' there was Soviet 'disinformation', After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News, COVID-19 misinformation in the Philippines, Historical distortion regarding Ferdinand Marcos, Disinformation in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_KGB_and_Soviet_Disinformation&oldid=1109385507, Non-fiction books about Soviet repression, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 9 September 2022, at 14:55. Whoever Controls the Words, Controls the Culture, Surveillance Video Captures Snow Shoveling Dispute Turn Deadly, Fact Checking Censorship Lawsuit by Candace Owens, Donald J. Trump: Do You Hear Me Running? (Policy), Influence of Big Tech on Elections: Dont Count Anyone Out, Cure for Cancer Hidden in Vitamin B17 (Amygdalin) from Fruit Seeds, Ben Swann Explains What He Calls NewsGuards Entirely Flawed System, Dr. Vernon Coleman: Potential for COVID-19 Side Effects (Opinion), Microbiologist Sucharit Bhakdi M.D. Article: Appealing to Fear: A Meta-Analysis of Fear Appeal Effectiveness and Theories, by Melanie Tannenbaum, PhD, Kristina Wilson, PhD, and Dolores Abarracin, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Justin Hepler, PhD, University of Nevada, Reno; Rick Zimmerman, PhD, University of Missouri, St. Louis; and Lindsey Saul, PhD, and Samantha Jacobs, MPH, Virginia Commonwealth University, Psychological Bulletin, published online Oct. 23, 2015. [2] One of his significant achievements in disinformation was Operation Neptune, where a falsified list of Nazi spies was obtained by the media and believed as accurate. Marketed in North America as SSRM Tek, the technology will soon be tested for airport screening by a U.S. company under contract to the Department of Homeland Security. Ad Choices, The Weird Russian Mind-Control Research Behind a DHS Contract, A dungeon-like room in the Psychotechnology Research Institute in Moscow is used for human testing. He describes a failed attempt by the Soviet intelligence services to make Dan Rather, then a newsman with CBS News, appear guilty of killing citizens in Afghanistan. The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked a wide range of lurid conspiracy theories in countries whose governments are hostile to the US, notably Russia, China, Iran, and Venezuela. It is very important not to lose sight of this, she said. of today . "That kind of thing is reasonable, and there's good experimental evidence behind it. ", Developments in neuroscience, he noted, are followed closely. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Not surprisingly, there are also individuals who have turned a profit by selling publications with their own versions of the HIV/AIDS conspiracy theory alongside their own unproven, alternative therapies for the disease. She noted that the studies analyzed did not necessarily compare people who were afraid to people who were unafraid, but instead compared groups that were exposed to more or less fear-inducing content. Posted by . To sell Mindreader to the West, she's teamed up with a Canadian firm, which is now working with a U.S. defense contractor called SRS Technologies. "From what I understand from people who were there, it didn't work very well.". The Morrises shopped the technology around to a few military agencies, but found no one willing to put money into it. This site uses cookies for various purposes. Home / Technology / 1960's KGB psychological experiments. Most of the secrets that we know about the KGB today are because of one manVasili Mitrokhin. These cookies do not store any personal information. Tech Volunteers Rush to Save Turkeys Earthquake Survivors. Apparently, believers in HIV/AIDS conspiracy theories reason as follows: If scientists and medical doctors cannot be trusted to tell the truth or have been duped themselves about a viruss origins, why should one trust their medical or public health advice? [3][4][5] The book includes case studies of joint disinformation campaigns by the Soviet Union and Czech intelligence and their repercussions, including a successful operation to stop the building of an aerospace center in West Germany and a failed plot to accuse CBS News anchor Dan Rather of murder in Afghanistan. Elena Rusalkina demonstrates the terrorist-screening tool. It is a great brainwashing process which goes very slow and its divided in four basic stages. Like the CIA, the Soviet (and now Russian) spy agency known as the KGB has engaged in decades of secret operations across the world, ranging from blackmail to kidnapping. Perceptions of American interests within the country were decreased to a negligible level, directly due to the Soviet intelligence disinformation campaign. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. In particular, a specific false report stated a fictitious strategy supposedly planned by the United Kingdom jointly with the U.S., to invade Indonesia through Malaysia. RT @MStinkerson: In the 60s, the KGB did conducted psych experiments and learned that if you bombard human subjects with nonstop fear messages, most are completely brainwashed to believe the lies in 2 months or less, and no amount of evidence to the contrary can change their minds. This was a gathering of world leaders, mainly from the less-developed countries, that had proclaimed their neutrality in the superpower rivalry during the Cold War. They learned that if you bombarded human subjects with fear messages non-stop, by the end of two months most of the subjects became brainwashed and believed the false message, to the point that no amount of clear (truthful) information they were shown would change their minds. Mark Krameris director of Cold War Studies at Harvard Universitys Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, and the editor of the Journal of Cold War Studies. Why didnt the industry sponsor itself call for the retraction as part of their settlement with the DOJ? One can see a similar dynamic today between Russian disinformation and US conspiracy theorists if one closely views Sputnik News and RT (formerly Russia Today) on Twitter and Facebook. From my perspective, it would be even more important, especially for the long term, to train students as early as elementary school to differentiate between facts and opinions and to identify not only propaganda techniques, but also fallacies in logic. Author. The American public was shocked, and grew even more so when 5,000 of the 7,200 POWs either petitioned the U.S. government to end the war, or signed confessions of their alleged crimes. 'Trump Was Right': Explosive New FBI Texts Detail Internal Furor Over Handling Of 'Crossfire Hurricane' Investigation. [6], The KGB and Soviet Disinformation received both a negative and a positive review in the International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, with Phillips writing "Chez Espionage regulars consider" the book "an excellent study", referring to its author as "the top authority on disinformation in the U.S.". While Conn said the lack of testing bothered him, the relationship ended when he found out Northam Psychotechnologies went to SRS Technologies, now part of ManTech International Corp. Semyon Ioffe, the head of Northam Psychotechnologies, who identifies himself as a "brain scientist," declined a phone interview, but answered questions over e-mail. Enter the Hunter Satellites Preparing for Space War. In the 1960's, the KGB did some fascinating psychological experiments. Here, at the Psychotechnology Research Institute, human subjects submit to experiments aimed at manipulating their subconscious minds. A similar, intensive effort by the US and other democracies could also prove effective today. Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.46a, Powered by Infopop www.infopop.com 2000 Smirnov proposed blasting scrambled sound -- the pig squeals again -- over loudspeakers to persuade Koresh to surrender. The use of Denver had apparently created some confusion. At the same time,, Its an exciting time for scientists, too. The scientific study to which the Stasi referred was clearly AIDS: Its Nature and Origin by the retired Soviet-East German biologist Jakob Segal and his wife, Lilli, a scientist and author in her own right. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/opioids-inc/, S this film is unavailable, just a wee trailer , The Surgisphere Scandal: What Went Wrong? Photo . More elaborate strategies, such as training people on the skills they will need to succeed in changing behavior, will likely be more effective in most contexts. But as these gla, Yes, Big Oils hijacking and weaponising of the individual carbon calculator obscured matters, but the planet-savin, "Any discussion or comment on this topic is still a very touchy issue in Indian circles and we ourselves could land, Aaron LeBeau says, They can get into little nooks and crannies of different proteins that human antibodies cannot, According to the researchers, parts of the world colonised by the same power had more similar flora than those that, But often in the rush to keep survivors fed, warm and housed, weve observed that the flow of support that focuses, In our culture, seniority is taken too seriously in professional environments, and not just in science. [7] The other reviewer, Peter C. Unsinger, wrote "At times his examination is superficial, and for depth into some specific events, the reader will have to look at Bittman's earlier work". Journalists, especially from Africa, reported on the Segals findings. They looked at 127 research articles representing 248 independent samples and over 27,000 individuals from experiments conducted between 1962 and 2014. Smirnov's claims of mind control piqued the interest of Chris and Janet Morris -- former science-fiction writers turned Pentagon consultants who are now widely credited as founders of the Pentagon's "non-lethal" weapons concept. To what extent did other Soviet-bloc intelligence agencies also participate? However, fear appeals should not be seen as a panacea because the effect is still small. While these types of messages are commonly used in political, public health and commercial advertising campaigns (e.g., smoking will kill you, Candidate A . Politically Incorrect. The institute has for years served as the center of an obscure field of human behavior study -- dubbed psychoecology -- that traces it roots back to Soviet-era mind control research. Rusalkina did not respond to a recent e-mail, but in the interview last year, she confirmed the institute was marketing the technology to the United States for airport screening. [8] The book was reviewed by Cesare Marongiu Buonaiuti in the Italian-language journal Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali.[9]. This film is unavailable, just a wee trailer, the KGB today are because of manVasili! To running these cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent clear, correct, accurate (. The same time,, its an exciting time for scientists, too the &... And other democracies could also prove effective today Studi Politici Internazionali an Active Measures Working that. Could also prove effective today what Went Wrong is reasonable, and there 's good experimental evidence behind.. She said found no one willing to put money into it yuri Bezmenov, known by the Tomas. 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