Strategically Controlling Worldviews

About this event

This paper studies persuasion when the sender can control both the information the receiver observes and the model through which it is interpreted. Even when the receiver begins with a correctly specified model and understands the sender's strategic incentives, the sender can manipulate him and often secure her preferred action with probability one. The key mechanism highlights strong complementarity between selective information and tailored narratives. Whenever this complementarity is operative, the sender strictly outperforms what she could achieve even with commitment power. We fully characterize the sender-optimal equilibrium for a broad class of information technologies. While softer information weakens credibility, it also expands the scope for manipulative interpretation, sometimes permitting full manipulation when harder information does not. The results offer a plausible explanation for the widespread success of disinformation.