Misinformation as Distraction: Ontological Capture and the Algorithmic Reordering of Attention in Post-Liberal Condition

This presentation argues that misinformation functions primarily as a technology of ontological capture rather than an epistemic failure. To extend my argument, I drew on six case studies from the United States and Canada, including anti-Black police violence (Eric Garner, George Floyd/BLM), Indigenous land defense (Idle No More, Wet'suwet'en), white insurrection (January 6 Capitol riot), and AI-mediated political events (Charlie Kirk assassination) with the analysis demonstrating how algorithmic infrastructures mobilize affect to govern collective attention, and systematically displacing structural violence from political concern. My major argument in the paper is that one of the primary functions of misinformation is controlling where publics look, thereby foreclosing possibilities for structural political transformation. This full paper, awaiting publication was accepted and presented at the Seventh International Winter School on "The 'Post-Liberal Moment': A Paradigm Shift or a Passing Trend?" Doha, Qatar.