Smith-Mundt Act

The Smith-Mundt was a har done to research as it seems to have caused lots of controversy throughout the years. It is also called the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948. Its original use was to prohibit the U.S. Department of State and the BBG, or Broadcasting Board of Governors, from spreading government produced programming within the U.S. This was done out of the fear that the government/other agencies would use this information as propaganda to influence citizens. 

                                    

Propaganda is when biased or misleading information is used to promote or even publicize a certain political point of view. Within war times especially, propaganda was seen everywhere. With posters such as the one of Uncle Sam that encouraged young males to go to war, it has been around for as long as we can remember. Throughout the years however it has not only gotten worse, but also even harder to detect. This makes it that much more harmful. With social media taking over our society propaganda is hidden every where within the palms. of our hands. Things such as funny memes are used to influence the way we think about certain views. It is has gotten to the point where these days it may be hard to tell what is propaganda and what isn't. 

The Smith-Mundt act itself was also modernized in 2013 where it promoted greater government transparency which also allowed for the government to spread information freely greatly influence public opinion. Many people see this has a good thing but it also has my cons. While the government will be much more open which will allow our people to be in the know more and a lot more comfortable with what is occurring, it still allows for much more information to be spread to us and in a lot more places. Propaganda may be everywhere but at least we will know that it is going to be. 

Overall, there is not telling what will come next with the Smith-Mundt Act. We as a society have come to the point where accept that this knowledge is everywhere and know what is going on. I feel that we have all come to terms with how social media has taken over our worlds and that there is nothing we are going to be able to do about it. All that we can do now is be mindful of what we read online and take into consideration what effect each post or comment may have on us and the way we think. The Smith-Mundt act itself has done many great things and will continue to control the way information is spread within the United States.