Don’t fall for it! They are using the Anchoring Technique here! How it works 1. Start with an extreme proposal that you know will cause outrage or seem unacceptably harsh. 2. Let the public, media, and opposition react strongly—they spend their energy arguing against this extreme version. 3. Later “compromise” with a less extreme version—which was your real goal all along. 4. Because people compare it to the original extreme, the new version feels reasonable in contrast. 5. Public attention dies down, and the “compromise” is accepted with much less resistance. This works because of contrast effect and anchoring bias: people judge the acceptability of a proposal relative to the first thing they heard, not in absolute terms. Political examples US • Patriot Act (2001) – Early drafts reportedly contained even more sweeping surveillance powers. The public and Congress objected, some parts were removed or watered down, but the final law still massively expanded government surveillance powers, which might not have passed if proposed directly. • Trump immigration ban (2017) – Initial executive order banned entry from several Muslim-majority countries, creating huge backlash. A “revised” version narrowed the scope, but still achieved significant restrictions and passed Supreme Court review. • Ronald Reagan’s tax reforms (1980s) – Proposed deep cuts to social programs and very large tax cuts; after backlash, some cuts were softened, but large portions of the tax reductions remained. Europe • UK “Snooper’s Charter” (Investigatory Powers Act) – Initial proposals included very broad state hacking powers and indefinite data retention. After criticism, some limits were added, but the core surveillance framework stayed. • France’s labor law reforms (2016, El Khomri law) – Started with very pro-employer changes (e.g., making it easier to fire employees). After nationwide strikes, some harsh provisions were removed, but major employer-friendly changes remained. • EU copyright directive (2019) – Article 13 (now 17) initially had even stricter upload filter requirements; final version was slightly softened after protests but still introduced upload filtering in practice.