Yes, Exhibit A is that Vladimir Putin’s opponents have been defamed and shamed into dropping out or being arrested every single election for over a decade, usually involving a sex tape that vaguely resembles them or allegations of substance abuse.

Exhibit B is that in the USA older people with exposure to Cable News like Sinclair Broadcast Group and Fox News are far more conservative and more evangelized than their younger counterparts who mainly use the internet but radicalizing in the opposite direction, and yet another stark contrast to the new generation of voters who have been exposed to YouTube and TikTok algorithmic pipelines to extreme ideologies. I believe Germany itself has experienced this firsthand with recent election upsets and hard right youth activists.

It is highly effective, you are not immune to propoganda. If you want to read more about the mechanisms of how or why it works, start with the works of Siegmund Freud on suggestion and work your way to more modern theories.