Whataboutism information

Whataboutism
Tactic	Propaganda technique
Type	Tu quoque (appeal to hypocrisy)
Logic	Logical fallacy

Whataboutism or whataboutery (as in "what about…?") is a pejorative for the strategy of responding to an accusation with a counter-accusation instead of a defense of the original accusation.

From a logical and argumentative point of view, whataboutism is considered a variant of the tu-quoque pattern (Latin 'you too', term for a counter-accusation), which is a subtype of the ad-hominem argument.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

The communication intent is often to distract from the content of a topic (red herring). The goal may also be to question the justification for criticism and the legitimacy, integrity, and fairness of the critic, which can take on the character of discrediting the criticism, which may or may not be justified. Common accusations include double standards, and hypocrisy, but it can also be used to relativize criticism of one's own viewpoints or behaviors. (A: "Long-term unemployment often means poverty in Germany." B: "And what about the starving in Africa and Asia?").^[5] Related manipulation and propaganda techniques in the sense of rhetorical evasion of the topic are the change of topic and false balance (bothsidesism).^[6]

Some commentators have defended the usage of whataboutism and tu quoque in certain contexts. Whataboutism can provide necessary context into whether or not a particular line of critique is relevant or fair, and behavior that may be imperfect by international standards may be appropriate in a given geopolitical neighborhood.^[7] Accusing an interlocutor of whataboutism can also in itself be manipulative and serve the motive of discrediting, as critical talking points can be used selectively and purposefully even as the starting point of the conversation (cf. agenda setting, framing, framing effect, priming, cherry picking). The deviation from them can then be branded as whataboutism.^{[citation needed]} Both whataboutism and the accusation of it are forms of strategic framing and have a framing effect.^[8]

^ "In Defense of (Some) Whataboutism", Bloomberg.com, 3 November 2017, retrieved 1 July 2018
^ "whataboutism", Oxford Living Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, 2017, archived from the original on 9 March 2017, retrieved 21 July 2017, Origin - 1990s: from the way in which counter-accusations may take the form of questions introduced by 'What about —?'. ... Also called whataboutery
^ Zimmer, Ben (9 June 2017). "The Roots of the 'What About?' Ploy". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 July 2017. "Whataboutism" is another name for the logical fallacy of "tu quoque" (Latin for "you also"), in which an accusation is met with a counter-accusation, pivoting away from the original criticism. The strategy has been a hallmark of Soviet and post-Soviet propaganda, and some commentators have accused President Donald Trump of mimicking Mr. Putin's use of the technique.
^ "whataboutism", Cambridge Dictionary
^ Sophie Elmenthaler et al: A-Z: Whataboutism - Criticize me, I'll just criticize you back. In: der Freitag. March 11, 2018, retrieved October 7, 2021 (list of examples, section Africa).
^ "Looking at 'Bothsidesing'". Retrieved 11 March 2022.
^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Oswald, Michael (2019), "Framing als strategische Tätigkeit", Strategisches Framing (in German), Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, pp. 37–132, doi:10.1007/978-3-658-24284-8_3, ISBN 978-3-658-24283-1, S2CID 199345877, retrieved 6 March 2023, p. 83

[1] "In Defense of (Some) Whataboutism", Bloomberg.com, 3 November 2017, retrieved 1 July 2018

[OLD-2] "whataboutism", Oxford Living Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, 2017, archived from the original on 9 March 2017, retrieved 21 July 2017, Origin - 1990s: from the way in which counter-accusations may take the form of questions introduced by 'What about —?'. ... Also called whataboutery

[zimmer-def-3] Zimmer, Ben (9 June 2017). "The Roots of the 'What About?' Ploy". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 July 2017. "Whataboutism" is another name for the logical fallacy of "tu quoque" (Latin for "you also"), in which an accusation is met with a counter-accusation, pivoting away from the original criticism. The strategy has been a hallmark of Soviet and post-Soviet propaganda, and some commentators have accused President Donald Trump of mimicking Mr. Putin's use of the technique.

[4] "whataboutism", Cambridge Dictionary

[5] Sophie Elmenthaler et al: A-Z: Whataboutism - Criticize me, I'll just criticize you back. In: der Freitag. March 11, 2018, retrieved October 7, 2021 (list of examples, section Africa).

[6] "Looking at 'Bothsidesing'". Retrieved 11 March 2022.

[:0-7] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[8] Oswald, Michael (2019), "Framing als strategische Tätigkeit", Strategisches Framing (in German), Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, pp. 37–132, doi:10.1007/978-3-658-24284-8_3, ISBN 978-3-658-24283-1, S2CID 199345877, retrieved 6 March 2023, p. 83

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