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"Soft coups include actions of senior government officials refusing to carry out their roles in critical tasks, or otherwise acting in opposition to the letter or spirit of the law to diminish or remove de facto power from those who would otherwise legally wield it. In 2017, propaganda is a powerful tool for shaping public opinion. Politicized news media can be complicit in the scheme of the soft coup by engaging in false and misleading reporting, or acting as the propaganda arm of the political opposition. Suppose the news media advanced a false narrative to sensationalize and controversialize a government official. What about unsourced whispering campaigns? Sound familiar?"