Learning about the Smith-Mundt Act

 

I found the Smith-Mundt Act to be intriguing and something I had never even heard before. In 1945 after World War II had ended the government realized they needed a way to prevent future war and a way of effective political communication. This was created by Karl E Mundt and passed by the 80th Congress. The US information and educational exchange act of 1948 begin a new page in the US diplomacy policy. This act was known as the Smith Mundt Act (SMA). What this did was give the state department and the government the right to create propaganda through various forms of information to foreign countries. This pretty much allowed the United States to create lies and scare the people and governments of other countries. This was delivered in ways that propaganda is typically distributed such as broadcasting, books, media, and in person communications. While learning about this act I just could not stop thinking about how insane it is that the government-funded such a scary and horrible thing. As we know from history propaganda can start wars and kill millions of people. Thankfully years later they were debates on the ethics and how effective the act was. Eventually, the act was abolished in 1999. However again in 2012 while Obama was in presidency the administration passed the Smith Mundt Modernize Act. Of course, this is built on the foundation of the original Smith Mundt Act and allowed propaganda to be used once again. I learned that this act puts Free Press at risk which is our first amendment and why our country is free. This also takes away trust in government because of course if our government is lying to other countries why would they not be lying to us too. This act shows so much corruption in the government and is a huge red flag to Americans. I chose to write about this in my blog because I was astonished at how anybody can still trust the government after reading this blog and learning about the Smith Mundt act.