# Black Propaganda **Domain:** Information Warfare / Covert Influence **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Black propaganda is influence material whose true sponsor is concealed and whose apparent source is falsely attributed to another actor, organization, community, or state.** Its credibility depends on the target accepting the attributed speaker as authentic. ## War With Empire Context [[articles/war with empire/The Real Deep State Is British|The Real Deep State Is British]] documents the Information Research Department's fabrication and impersonation of political and religious organizations. The method placed British state messages into target societies wearing an indigenous voice. ## Distinction White propaganda identifies its sponsor. Gray propaganda leaves sponsorship uncertain. Black propaganda affirmatively supplies a false provenance and therefore depends on [[wiki/Attribution Laundering|Attribution Laundering]]. ## Key Insight **A message becomes harder to rebut when the sponsor disappears behind a speaker the target already recognizes.** ## See Also [[wiki/Computational Propaganda|Computational Propaganda]], [[wiki/Front Organization|Front Organization]], [[wiki/Information Warfare|Information Warfare]], [[wiki/Narrative Sovereignty|Narrative Sovereignty]]