Thread by @DucuGavril

4. Exaggeration & Minimization: Distorting the Scale

Propaganda doesn’t just lie.

Sometimes it just stretches the truth—or shrinks it.

Blowing things up. Playing things down.

Let’s unpack how it works.

#PropagandaPattern #Disinformation

🔹 What it is:

Framing events, people, or facts as way bigger or smaller than they really are.

It’s not always false—but it’s always distorted.

🔹 Why it works:

You don’t react to facts—you react to scale.

Make a threat look huge → panic
Make harm look tiny → apathy

🔹 Common tactics:

“Unprecedented crisis”

“Nothing to see here”

Over-the-top adjectives: “massive,” “devastating,” “trivial,” “minor”

Selective data use to inflate or downplay impact

👉 It’s emotional math.

Propaganda doesn’t change the event—just your reaction to it.

—

🔹 Real examples:

“Coronavirus risk to the American people remains very low” — Trump, 2020

“The biggest witch hunt in history”

“A minor setback” (when something major just failed)

🔹 Where you’ll see it:

Political statements

War reporting

Crime coverage

Corporate PR

🔹 How to spot it:

Ask:

Is this claim putting things in proportion?

What’s being compared—and what’s left out?

🔹 How to resist it:

Look for numbers, not adjectives

Compare multiple sources

Notice if your emotional reaction matches the evidence

Exaggeration provokes panic.

Minimization numbs outrage.

Both warp reality.

And both are tools of manipulation.

Next: Doubt

#PropagandaPattern #Disinformation