Through propaganda, parties attempt to portray themselves as righteous in conflicts. But what if a party is guilty of the same things it criticizes its opponents? One option is projection, accusing an opponent of that which one is guilty of. The other, more common tactic is the “Tu Quoque.” As professor Richard Nordquist explains (via ThoughtCo), it translates literally as “you too.” So if one person accuses another one of cheating, the accused will note that the accuser is also guilty. In propaganda, it is known as “whataboutism,” wherein one actor will respond with a similar accusation when accused of an offense (aka “what about what you did, too?”).
Recent events have pushed the “whataboutism” front and center. When diplomat Victoria Nuland (via former Intercept journalist Glenn Greenwald) accidentally admitted the existence of American biolabs in Ukraine before Congress, Russia and China, per the Atlantic, seized upon their existence to discredit the United States and justify their own positions vis-à-vis Ukraine. But as CNN noted, Russia has its own biolabs labs in Siberia (and one of the few remaining smallpox samples), while China hosts the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a facility that, per the NY Post, engaged in illegal gain-of-function research with bat coronaviruses.
As one can see, all three parties are guilty of contravening the UN Biological Weapons Treaty of 1972. So to avoid being called up on the international stage, countries must redirect public and international criticism against their geopolitical rivals. Russia, the United States, and China have all done this, basically saying, “What about your biolabs?” when trading accusations. Hence the name “whataboutism.”
