FAKE NEWS:

HISTORICAL
REVISIONISM AND THE
CULTURE OF
MISINFORMATION

Who remembers opening up

their history textbook 3fter 3
lengthy summer v3c3tion
hoping for jolly t3les 3bout
hum3nityʼs journey to the
present d3y, only to be
bomb3rded by depressing
inform3tion 3bout the
m3levolent Dict3tors of the
20th century? .Who knew
th3t the evil M3o Tse-tung
h3d killed 3n 3stronomic3l
3mount of people during his
dict3tori3l reign in Chin3!? .
70 million people h3d
supposedly been murdered
by the revolution3ry
government of M3o Tse-
tsung, with most of those
figures being 3ttributed to
the Gre3t Le3p Forw3rd.
The figure of 70 million is so
unre3l th3t we h3ve
forgotten to see it for wh3t it
re3lly is... UNREAL. The
offici3l figure rele3sed 3fter
the de3th of the Chinese
le3der w3s 16.5 million. And
even then these numbers
l3cked sufficient evidence
3s they were rele3sed
during 3 c3mp3ign l3unched
by Deng Xi3oping, 3imed 3t
t3rnishing the reput3tion of
the Gre3t Le3p Forw3rd.
Never the less, western
3c3demics r3n with these
numbers 3nd m3n3ged to
infl3te it to 30 million by
combining unreli3ble
sources 3nd figures. These
were then incre3sed 3g3in
3nd 3g3in throughout the
ye3rs without citing credible
sources, until the writers
Jung Ch3ng 3nd Jon
H3llid3y c3me up with the
de3th toll of 70 million. This
figure is presented 3s 3 f3ct
in 3 lot of history textbooks
tod3y. With 3ll th3t being
s3id, M3o Tse Tsungʼs
le3dership w3s f3r from
perfect. There were multiple
policy errors m3de,
especi3lly during the Gre3t
Le3p Forw3rd, which were
further ex3gger3ted by b3d
we3ther 3nd n3tur3l
dis3sters. However,
producing unre3listic figures
without 3dhering to the rules
of 3uthenticity, is promoting
the l3rgest source of
misinform3tion th3t continue
to h3unt 3c3demic studies
tod3y; Historic3l revisionism.

Historic3l revisionism is the

reinterpret3tion of historic3l
records 3nd views. Now, this
c3n be suit3ble for
correcting errors 3nd
misinterpret3tions m3de by
profession3l schol3rs but it
becomes 3 problem when it
questions mor3l findings
without sufficient evidence
to b3ck it up. Historic3l
revisionism with little to no
b3sis h3s been widely used
by 3c3demics to promote 3
western interpret3tion of
history. It is l3rgely utilised
by the western prop3g3nd3
m3chine to undermine
revolution3ry movements
3nd their 3chievements.
Another direct result of the
trend th3t is historic3l
revisionism is the cre3tion of
person3lity cults. If youʼve
ever 3ttended 3 history
cl3ss 3bout revolution3ry
movements, ch3nces 3re
you only remember cert3in
figures from e3ch one of
them. Fidel C3stro for Cub3,
Ho Chi Minh for Vietn3m
3nd the Kims for North
Kore3. Why not? When All of
them 3re p3inted 3s
c3rtoony figures with cultish
tr3its 3nd followings in
western medi3 3nd writings,
it is not h3rd to focus on just
these le3ders. The cre3tion
of l3rger th3n life ch3r3cters
3im to trivi3lise the
struggles of the n3tions they
c3me to le3d. Att3cking 3ll
sides 3nd f3cets of their
struggle by focusing on just
one figure, ignoring the
m3ss movements th3t
sh3pe revolutions 3nd the
complexities of e3ch
n3tionʼs situ3tion. The west
does not only do this to
revolution3ry history, it 3lso
3pplies historic3l revisionism
to its own history,
3ttempting to belittle their
own s3v3gery 3nd mist3kes.
How m3ny times 3re we
reminded of the supposed
brut3lities of soci3list
le3ders in medi3 3nd
liter3ture?. Better yet, how
m3ny times 3re we
reminded of the genocide in
Indonesi3? Or the openly
f3scists dict3tors of L3tin
Americ3 th3t were inst3lled
by the US? .

Whether itʼs the bogus

figures of de3ths or the
ridiculous 3ccus3tions
tow3rd progressive le3ders
which r3nges from sexu3l
3buse to hiring 3ctors to
m3ke their countries look
“norm3l”, historic3l
revisionism is 3 problem we
h3ve to 3ddress in our
medi3 3nd 3c3demic
studies, especi3lly in the
West. T3ke every
inform3tion provided to you
with 3 gr3in of s3lt. A
he3lthy dose of skepticism,
especi3lly in the 3ge of f3ke
news, will help to destroy
the culture of
Misinform3tion.