"Wow, you must wear a tinfoil hat, you really think the government is tapping your phones?"
"Wow, you didn't already know that every phone is tapped? You're so behind the times. Every cool person is already jaded about that."
There's almost no will from voters to fight this, so the discourse instantly leaps from "impossible" to "acceptable".
Not sure I'd call it psy-op.
When it became feasible for the NSA to essentially tap every phone in the U.S. I think most of us just presume that they will do just that.
Historically, it's what those with power will do — exercise it.
And for all number of examples in history we are not naive enough to think that their saying they're not doing it (are no longer doing it) means nothing.
Much narrower claims were dismissed as paranoia before Snowden's disclosures. The comment you replied to made that point specifically.
“ The Defense Department has a long-standing relationship with Hollywood. In fact, it’s been working with filmmakers for nearly 100 years with a goal that’s two-fold: to accurately depict military stories and make sure sensitive information isn’t disclosed.”
https://www.defense.gov/News/Inside-DOD/blog/article/2062735...
Some people have standards and want to do good. Some of them work in Hollywood. And some of them in your city's administration. Not everybody is as selfish and unethical as portrayed here.
Maybe it reflects on the person expressing such theories though.
Meanwhile...the US Army's Public Affair Dept. is headed by a 2-star general (same rank as the top general in command of an entire Army Division), and its mission is:
"Public affairs fulfills the Army's obligation to keep the American people and the Army informed, and helps to establish the conditions that lead to confidence in America's Army and its readiness to conduct operations in peacetime, conflict and war."
(Source: https://www.army.mil/publicaffairs/ I'd guess that the Navy, Air Force, etc. all have similar...)
This kind of statement assumes a too simple model of the involved actors.
The Pentagon and CIA Have Shaped Thousands of Hollywood Movies into Super Effective Propaganda
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/how-hollywood-became-the-unof...
How Hollywood became the unofficial propaganda arm of the U.S. military
https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2022...
New documentary scrutinizes Pentagon-Hollywood relationship — but is it propaganda?
https://www.jstor.org/stable/45129369
The Historical Roots of CIA-Hollywood Propaganda
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/may/26/top-gun-for-hir...
Top Gun for hire: why Hollywood is the US military’s best wingman
https://netzpolitik.org/2022/dude-wheres-my-privacy-how-a-ho...
How a Hollywood star lobbies the EU for more surveillance
The European Union debates a new law that could force platforms to scan all private messages for signs of child abuse. Its most prominent advocate is the actor Ashton Kutcher.
First it was a problem for the people of 2050.
Then 2023 happened and it was too late so why bother doing anything.