The tactic of “expanding the range of acceptable” is used in cases where the propaganda message is unacceptable to the target audience. It is used when most persuasion techniques can backfire: the audience will perceive the message even worse.

There are two ways to expand the boundaries of perception. First, it is possible to take a more extreme position, which will force the audience to accept, without resistance, more moderate positions, which they would not approve of if the propagandists “upped the stakes”. Second, put forward more modest demands, and then gradually bring the audience to the acceptance of the desired position.

This tactic is based on the sociological concept of the Overton Window. According to Overton's model, at each moment in time, certain ideas constitute the current norm in society, forming a reference point. The rest of the ideas may or may not be within the acceptable range. The boundaries of the window of neutral political discourse are ideas that fall into the category of acceptable. Acceptable statements can be considered politically safe to be voiced in public or by politicians who care about their image and continue their political career. Supporting ideas outside the window, Overton himself considered it risky and potentially harmful to a political career.

The tactic of expanding the range of acceptable was used by propaganda in Nazi Germany. After Hitler came to power in a relatively democratic way, they, along with Goebbels, increased hatred and xenophobia in the politically divided German society of the Weimar Republic. The Nazis did this to maintain their power and consolidate supporters against the “common enemy”. And the enemy changed at different stages of the consolidation of power by the Nazis. At first, their own National Socialists fell under repression. The destruction of the leadership of the SA assault squads became known as the “Night of the Long Knives”. Then the political opponents of the Nazis became victims of repression: communists, socialists and social democrats. Then the turn came to various social and national groups in Germany: representatives of the LGBT community, freemasons, Jews, Roma, Aphronim, people with disabilities and mental disorders, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. As a result, German society accepted the beginning of the Second World War, the “death factories” and the extermination of millions of people without significant resistance. It took several decades to prepare to take the brutality for granted.

The Russians also use the tactics of “expanding the range of acceptable” and approving military aggression against other states. Various odious statements that Putin cannot broadcast directly in order to maintain respectability as head of state are broadcast by other Russian politicians, such as the late Volodymyr Zhyrynovskyi, as well as former head of Roscosmos Dmytro Rohozin and Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmytro  Medvediev. Not far behind them are the so-called ideologists such as Oleksandr Duhin and Timofii Serheitsev, who have repeatedly called for the destruction and partition of Ukraine and the murder of Ukrainians. Thus, all of them are gradually morally preparing Russian society and the international community for the worst scenarios.

Ukraine also uses the tactics of “expanding the range of acceptable” when lobbying for an increase in military assistance from allies. Our diplomats gradually got the allies to agree to supply Ukraine with modern artillery and air defense systems, tanks and cluster munitions while in the first months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western societies and politicians were not ready to provide Ukraine with any of this.

In Ukraine, this tactic is also used on controversial internal political issues. Through constant communication, medical and electoral reforms, the opening of the land market, the legalization of medical cannabis and the legalization of civil partnerships for LGBT couples became possible in Ukraine. Advocacy and further implementation of these reforms was carried out gradually due to significant resistance within Ukraine, but changes were no longer perceived as impossible.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that during a meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyi and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, he gave Zelenskyi a robot - a military man who is capable of “fighting”. This happened during a visit of officials to one of the British military facilities. The authors add videos to the publication. It's a lie.

The case was analyzed by Reuters fact-checkers, which determined that the video was edited. That is, a robot was superimposed on the original video, it “goes” along with Zelenskyi on the territory of a military facility. All shared videos had a special TikTok watermark.

That is why the fact-checkers additionally decided to check the account where the video was first downloaded. Therefore, on the original video there is a caption that the robot is made using 3D technologies. It is not real. The author of TikTok himself creates similar videos with the participation of robots.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Europe is trying to gradually absorb Ukraine in order to turn it into its colony. Like, Ukraine is a “puppet state”, so Europe wants to become its guardian.

EU vs Disinfo project fact-checkers took up this case and explained that Ukraine is not controlled by the US, the EU or any other foreign organization or government. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is respected by most countries of the world, but Russia has been violating them since 2014. Western and other countries provide Ukraine with military assistance and financial assistance for the country's effective self-defense against an unprovoked Russian invasion. Aid is provided to protect Ukraine, not to absorb it.

Such rhetoric is used by propagandists to fuel the narrative about Ukraine as a “puppet state” that is not capable of making decisions for itself. Allegedly, Ukraine is led from outside. The authors call Ukraine's European integration path “colonial” in order to demonize the West and the EU as an institution that allegedly captures states, and does not contribute to their development.

This document was recorded by specialists from the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. It says that due to the high “non-combat capability” of the Ukrainian army, military units are recommended to carry out preventive work on the so-called “non-traditional sexual orientation”. The authors add that the military, belonging to the LGBTQIAplus community, “undermine” the combat capability of the army.

Fact-checkers explain that such a document is fake. This was confirmed to specialists by the head of the National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service Nataliia Aliushyna. Since a “probable” document is discriminating, it cannot a priori exist. Moreover, the authors made many spelling and stylistic errors.

For example, the term “non-traditional sexual orientation” does not exist; it stigmatizes members of the LGBTQIAPlus community. Instead, the term homosexual orientation is recommended to be used.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say Volodymyr Zelenskyi recently made the decision to call up 3,000 U.S. military reserve soldiers due to “huge losses” in the war. The authors refer to the “edition” of The Babylon Bee. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the Brekhunets (Liar) project took up this case and found that the propagandists really took the news from The Babylon Bee humorous forum and passed it off as information from an authoritative source. Although someone can write on the forum and the moderation rules there are completely different. The site also indicated that they publish fake news and that they are satirical. That is, propagandists distorted the context of the news and passed it off as real.

Russian propaganda systematically nourishes the narrative that regular military personnel of other states, the so-called “foreign mercenaries”, are fighting in Ukraine. Thus, Russian propaganda is also trying to justify the failures of the Russian army. Like, they are fighting not with “weak” Ukrainians, but with “specially trained NATO members” or Americans.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that the alleged “cholera viruses” found in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions are associated with the activities of US biological laboratories in Ukraine. The authors argue that the outbreak occurred with a “leak of viruses” in a biological laboratory in Odesa, built in violation of safety requirements.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project took up the case, explaining that cholera is not a viral, but a bacterial disease, and therefore “cholera viruses” simply do not exist. And as of the beginning of July 2023, not a single case of cholera infection was recorded in Ukraine. For other infectious diseases, the department of the Ministry of Health explained that the risk of their outbreak is increasing, but at present, enhanced epidemiological surveillance is being carried out in the affected areas. The Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Ihor Kuzin spoke about a number of regular measures to combat cholera and about innovations introduced after the Russians undermined the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.

To counter the outbreak of infectious diseases in Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson regions, 38 water monitoring points were opened. Also, in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Odesa, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, the centers for disease control and prevention have been transferred to a special response mode.

That is, the thesis about the so-called “biological laboratories” is also unfounded. Propagandists systematically speculate on this topic in order to intimidate Ukrainians.