@Keri45,
The Internet as a propaganda tool should not be surprising to anyone at all. The US is by no means the only one doing this. Not only are all governments involved in this (or soon to be involved in this), the general population at large is actively involved in spreading bogus information of all types.
Product manufacturers lie about their products (bend the truth to sell them). Astrologers and psychics actively farm the delusions of the general public to sell their snake oil. Religions spin their stories and herd their flocks. And crackpots of every ilk spill their wretched stories with bewildering frequency, some to sell their ideas and others just to be heard.
Accurate and functional information is becoming a rare commodity in the information super cesspool. The process of scientific methodology remains the best filter for separating the information wheat from the information chaff, but even that methodology is under attack on various fronts.