Leaks and lawfare: adding a Legal Filter to Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model

Motivated by the conundrum “when does the law make it illegal to reveal illegal activity?”, this article explores the relationship between legal structures and the free flow of information by adding a Legal Filter to the Propaganda Model. The Legal Filter represents how elite powers use legal constructions to block information from mainstream media through three layers: Undisclosed Information, Lawfare, and Legal Standing. The addition of a Legal Filter compliments and strengthens current discussions about informational and surveillance capitalism, mis/dis/malinformation proliferation and understanding the growing number of internet information leaks and “hack and dumps.” (Herman, E. S., & Chomsky, N. Citation1988. Manufacturing consent: The political economy of the mass media. Pantheon).