With complete control of all avenues of information, Rob initiated his operation.
The most effective way of spreading a rumor is to make it look like he doesn't want it spread. In this regard, he has to be careful about his fellow World Council members.
Even though Rob has the most influence in the World Alliance, he doesn't have complete control.
There are other billionaires and powerful politicians; even though they are all on the same side, one can imagine that they would not sit back and watch when it comes to immortality.
They would, like Rob, use all their power to become immortal.
In this respect, Rob has a significant advantage.
To become a supernatural creature, one must have the belief of 80% of people in both worlds. Rob lacks complete control on this side, but on Alex III's side, his doppelganger, is the absolute ruler. Nobody could have a chance of spreading any rumor there if Alex III doesn't allow it.
Alex III is mostly asleep now, but he would help if Rob asks him.
With all of this taken into account, Rob started his plan.
...
In practice, the World Alliance operates as a federal system.
Every country holds elections, but they are more like states; they don't have any sense of national identity.
However, each 'state' still has its own internal system.
Each has a president, their own legislature, and their own court system.
In addition to the internal system, there is also a 'federal' system above them.
The World Council plays the role of both executive and legislature.
The World Council's leader, Rob, acts as the chief executive but has to explain his decisions to World Council members.
The World Council has the power to create laws. Laws passed by the World Council supersede all other laws, and no court can strike them down.
The words of the World Council could only be reversed by the World Council itself.
The 'federal' court system has one supreme court, one appeals court, and thousands of trial courts. They lack the power to invalidate any 'federal' laws but can invalidate 'state' laws.
Many years ago, the World Council passed a 'federal' law that disallowed the spread of disinformation and gave the power to enforce this law to all courts, including 'state' courts.
Many argued the law was vague and contrary to free speech, but with nowhere to sue, the law remained in effect.
Since then, many people have been prosecuted by this law. The law served its intended purpose of silencing anti-world government speech.
But, a while ago, explosive news came.
The government of the former UISEC country, now UISEC state, has refused to punish people who were spreading certain news despite orders from a federal court.
In general, in lawful societies, court orders are not optional.
The World Alliance is a lawful society; court orders are always respected.
That's why when the UISEC state didn't obey a court order, it spread everywhere.
The government not listening to a court order is insanity; it's a prelude to civil war.
In general, a prime minister or president even thinking about whether to obey a court order is a great cause for concern, let alone UISEC outright refusing to obey an order from the World Alliance's federal court.
Soon, the situation became tense, with the media discussing it daily with breaking news every hour.
Everyone began talking about it, but their expression became weird when they heard the rumor the federal court wanted to suppress.
The rumor was about the Chief of the World Council, Chief Stevenson, dying and using a dream method to resurrect as a ghost.
It was laughable.
But it begged the question as to why the governor of the state of UISEC refused to suppress the news.
Why did they defy a court order for this laughable rumor?
Why was the World Alliance so concerned about it?
After a few days, Rob gave a live speech on television. But it didn't help to quell the rumor.
He looked very pale and spoke weirdly. It was very different from his usual self.
Many nodded to themselves; even if being a ghost is a rumor, something is definitely going on.
An order of the World Council ousted the governor of UISEC, and all online mentions of the rumor were removed.
But the rumor continued to spread.
Of course, everyone spoke carefully, worried about being arrested for spreading misinformation.
But when one tries to stop something, it would spread even more.
Rob went on television and gave another speech. This time, too, he looked as white as paper, basically exactly like one would imagine ghosts to be.
It was like a bomb.
Everyone started talking about it in their homes; of course, nobody dared to mention it in public. The difference was so stark that it was nearly comedic.
Misinformation laws of the World Alliance are stringent. What is misinformation?
The central Misinformation and Disinformation Governance Committee defines that.
The committee has 11 members appointed by Rob to decide what is false information.
For example, the existence of billionaires is considered false information. According to them, the World Alliance is a fair society where all are equal.
The existence of brain transplants and brain rejuvenation surgery is also considered false information.
Usually, when the committee labels something misinformation, people stop talking about it.
But after the committee labeled the ghost rumor false, it didn't stop the rumors.
It is a joke among the public that anything the misinformation and disinformation governance committee labels as false is usually accurate.
Everyone saw on television that Rob looked like a ghost. The cover-up made everyone more suspicious. Even those initially skeptical began believing it.
...
The World Council has seven permanent members and up to 11 temporary members.
The permanent members include Rob, Rose, and five others.
The states select the temporary members. Of course, they couldn't pick just anyone.
Any appointee must be 'approved' by the Great Integrity Board.
The Great Integrity Board is a body of five people appointed by Rob that must approve anyone running for any election. Only those in 'harmony' with the World Alliance's mission' could run for elections.
As for what the World Alliance's 'mission' is or who is in 'harmony' with it, nobody knows. Vague words and laws are dictators' favorite weapons.
This board was the successor to UISEC's Candidate Qualification Commission.
In addition to this, Rob also has a special Integrity Court comprised of 3 people who can unilaterally remove any official.
Rob created this office because getting a majority vote in the World Council for everything would be bothersome.
What's more, the special Integrity Court could be used to coerce reluctant council members to keep voting for him as chair.
Rob loves to create all kinds of commissions and councils. They make his job much easier and add a touch of legitimacy to his acts.
For example, if he personally disqualifies candidates, everyone points fingers at him. But it sounds more legitimate if the 'Great Integrity Board' does it.
In general, two things make the government more distant from people. One is centralized governance. The more local the government, the more people's voices would be heard.
The second is if the executive function isn't with one person. The World Alliance has so many boards and commissions that nobody knows who is responsible for what, except for a select few insiders.
Rob used all the tricks he knew when he helped design the World Alliance. He did his best to insulate the Alliance's leadership from the people's will.
All seven permanent members are his people, but the 11 selected from states may not be entirely on his side.
Getting a majority is nearly guaranteed, but Rob prefers unanimity, not just a majority.
The board meets in the Great World Building in the Sea City.
Currently, 14 people are sitting in their designated seats, with Rob at the head of the table.
"Chief, what is going on here? What are those television interviews?" a council member, a beautiful young woman, asked.
She was called Olivia.
Originally born as a boy, she changed her gender with brain transplant surgery. Now, gender-affirming surgery can be done flawlessly.
They will design a body as the person instructs and transplant the brain to it. Rob, or anyone who went through the process, could easily let doctors know they want to change gender.
Of course, Rob is satisfied with his looks, so even today, his body looks like his original.
Rob shook his head and said, "I did it intentionally to seek out those who will not obey the Disinformation and Misinformation Governance Committee. Now, we found them and can arrest them."
Most people sitting shook their heads. This explanation didn't make sense.
Rose said, "Chief, this is causing a lot of trouble for us! Why should you purposely do something that will increase our prison population? As it is, there are tens of millions in prisons!"
Rob smiled and said, "The higher the prison population, the better! This way, we can separate criminal elements from the general population and create a more righteous society."
Rose half nodded.
She has always been tough on crime. But, in her opinion, this goes too far.
It is outright baiting people into committing crimes. What's more, if they are to arrest everyone who spread the rumor, more than half of the population will be sent to prison.
The councilors went silent.
They clearly disagreed with Rob's 'strategy' but didn't dare to be against him. Even though they are all on its face equal, they know better that Rob has far more influence than them.
Rob's appointees fill nearly all critical executive positions; the military and the police are all stacked with Rob's people, and most billionaires also support Rob.
Unless he does something extremely outrageous, they couldn't say anything.
Rob cleared his throat and said, "Cough! Now, let's discuss the next topic regarding the new disinformation laws! After the recent events, it's best to make some amendments to the law. Here they are; take a look at them." Rob took out thick stacks of paper and gave them.
Rose took one and looked at it while nodding.
The new law toughened the punishment for spreading false information to 1 year in prison. It also changed some definitions, making the law even more vague than it was.
For example, misinformation is defined as 'information that the committee considers false.'
As for how the committee should evaluate information, it instructed that the committee must carefully assess and determine whether it is accurate or false information. False information has a few characteristics, including but not limited to:
It can cause distrust in the World Alliance, its members, staff, army, police, or any other officers of the World Alliance.
It can endanger the safety of the Alliance.
It can cause hindrances to the Alliance's policies.
…'
In total, misinformation or disinformation was whatever the world government and Rob didn't like.
It is even worse than the previous version.
In the previous version, the 6th factor was whether the information was more likely to be false than real.
But, the new law completely disregards whether the news may actually be disinformation.
Even if the news is disinformation, if it doesn't harm the world alliance, there is nothing wrong with it.
And if the news is completely accurate, if it harms the world alliance, it is 'misinformation.'
Rose nodded.
She liked the new law.
And, with it, the council unanimously approved the new amendments to the Disinformation Prevention Act.