The strategic use of exaggerated threats about the "post-
truth era" to justify censorship, dismiss dissent, and protect established power from scrutiny. Post-
truth scaremongering treats any challenge to official narratives, any skepticism about institutional claims, any alternative information sources as threats to
democracy, reason, and civilization itself. It'
s the pundit who blames every political problem on "post-
truth" without examining why people stopped trusting institutions; the fact-checker who treats all misinformation as equivalent, from genuine errors to legitimate critique; the establishment that uses "post-
truth" as a cudgel against anyone who questions its version of reality. The scaremongering serves power by making dissent itself seem like a threat to truth—painting those who ask awkward questions as enemies of reality.
Example: "He called any reporting that contradicted the official narrative 'post-
truth propaganda'—Post-
Truth Scaremongering, using the concept of
truth to protect power from accountability."
