Disinformation and Public Relations. Approach to the terms Black PR and Dark PR

Abstract

Disinformation has reached a high degree of professionalization in recent years. Dark PR or Black PR campaigns are an advanced level of negative campaigns and they fictionalize prescription and influence, usually with the aim of discrediting the political adversary or competitor.

This paper proposes a systematic review of the search results of the terms Black PR and Dark PR in Google and Google Scholar. The aim is first to identify the definitions and origins of both terms, to know the strategies used in these works as well as the case studies that serve to exemplify them. It is observed that both terms are still very new and are used more by the media than by the academic literature, although they have common definitions and uses. A growing trend of negative influence practices is reported with numerous examples of astroturfing, disinformation campaigns and corporate censorship in different countries. This circumstance is problematic for the public relations sector as it differs from the ethical principles of the profession and forces those who practice it to engage in dishonest practices.