BLACK SIGNALS: The Invisible PsyOps War in Britain
By Paul Duffy
Governments don’t just fight wars with tanks and troops—they use stories. And some of the most powerful weapons in their arsenal are broadcast straight into your home.
In recent years, the UK and the US have quietly expanded psychological operations (PsyOps) into everyday life. These techniques, once confined to wartime propaganda, are now deployed through TV, radio, and increasingly, social media. Their goal? To shape what we believe, how we feel, and even how we vote.
Thanks to whistleblower Edward Snowden, we know about GCHQ’s shadowy JTRIG unit—trained to “disrupt, delay, deceive, discredit, promote distrust, dissuade, deter or denigrate/degrade” targets online. However, less attention is paid to how traditional media, such as radio and television, are used to subtly reinforce state-approved narratives.
Weaponising Trust
Why broadcast media? Because people still trust it. Radio and TV have authority. They’re passive, emotionally powerful, and hard to fact-check in real time. This makes radio/TV fertile ground for psychological manipulation, reinforcing desired narratives or suppressing dissent without direct public awareness.
History is full of examples: leaflets dropped in WWII, Saddam Hussein’s statue toppling for cameras, staged news in Cold War conflicts. What’s changed is the scale and invisibility of modern influence.
Take the British Army’s 77th Brigade. It specialises in “non-lethal warfare,” including psychological operations in online spaces, delivering state-aligned chicanery. But while digital units leave trails, mainstream broadcasters operate under the comforting guise of neutrality.
No Checks, No Balance
Internal documents reveal that JTRIG serves not only national security. It’s worked with the Bank of England, the Home Office—even the Department for Education. The techniques aren’t just used abroad—they’re used here, at home.
According to the leaked Behavioural Science Support for JTRIG memo, operations are reviewed for “necessity and proportionality,” but often lack clarity. Policy compliance is described as “difficult to ascertain”, and ethical compliance even more so.
This means ordinary citizens can be targeted without due process, discredited, isolated, and even psychologically harmed by forces they cannot see, name, or challenge. When deception happens on the radio or through visual media, it leaves no trace. Unlike print, which can be studied and cited, broadcast propaganda dissolves into the airwaves.
Silence in the Press
“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more we hate those that speak it”
George Orwell
Why isn’t this being reported? Simple. Most media outlets rely on government access, advertising, and regulatory favour. Rocking the boat means losing everything. So instead of digging deeper, they play along. This quiet war has real consequences. If we can’t distinguish between truth and manipulation, democracy suffers. Debate becomes performative. Institutions lose credibility. And people disengage from politics, from each other, and from the idea of truth itself.
What Can Be Done?
We can’t fight back without first understanding the game. That means:
Media literacy: Teaching people how to critically evaluate what they consume.
Transparency: Demanding honesty about state involvement in content.
Oversight: Supporting independent regulators to monitor public messaging.
Legal reform: Creating real safeguards around PsyOps and their domestic use.
Wake Up Before the Signal Fades
The battlefield is no longer “over there.” It’s on your screen, in your feed, in your living room. And the most dangerous stories are the ones you don’t realise you’re being told.
If we care about free thought, we need to stop treating media as neutral. It isn’t. It never was. In this silent war, awareness is your first act of resistance.
Covert psychological operations via radio, TV, and social media form a sophisticated “media corruption” apparatus driven by strategic secrecy. The Snowden leaks and historic PsyOps act as stark reminders: to shield democracy, citizens must learn to detect propaganda and demand transparent, ethical oversight of state-influenced messaging.
APA-style Citations
Cole M, Schone J, & Greenwald G. Behavioural Science Support for JTRIG’s Effects and Online HUMINT Operations. Intercept. 2014;42–page memo.
Laity, M. Inside the British army’s secret information warfare machine. Wired. 2018 Nov 14.
Greenwald, G. How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet… Intercept. 2014 Feb 24.
Independent. GCHQ 'using online viruses and honey traps to discredit targets’. 2014.
Common Dreams. Spy Agency's Secret Plans... Exposed. 2015 Jun 22.
Picture: US_Army_soldier_hands_out_a_newspaper_to_a_local_Aug_2004
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