How a smear campaign against NPR led Elon Musk to feud with Signal

Every effective smear campaign takes a grain of truth, then coats it in layers of innuendo like an oyster applying nacre. For the target, distinguishing between truth and falsehood forces a difficult choice: silence, or a cascade of attempted explanations as the accusations evolve and the goalposts move.

What on earth does this have to do with Signal and Telegram?

So what can we do? First, support the targets of bad-faith attacks. Institutions must learn to understand how these efforts work and, rather than staying silent, should speak up promptly. More broadly, however, media literacy efforts should focus on explaining how these campaigns work, highlighting the recurring rhetorical tricks, tropes and lack of evidence. Helping others to understand and recognize the mechanics of smear campaigns will ultimately render them less effective.