Agent provocateur

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Logical fallacies and
propaganda methods
Ad hoc
Ad hominem
Agent provocateur
Astroturfing
Big lie
Black propaganda
Cherry picking
Confirmation bias
Continuum fallacy
Domino theory
Double standard
Euphemism
Fake news
False counterexample
False flag
Godwin's Law‎
Guilt by association
Lewontin's fallacy
Name calling
Slippery slope
Straw man
The sociologist's fallacy

An agent provocateur (French for "provoking or inciting agent") is a person who incites another person to commit an illegal or rash act or who falsely implicates them in partaking in an illegal act, so as to ruin the reputation or cause legal action against the target or a group he belongs to.

In some cases, the person provoked may be able to prove entrapment, whereby a law enforcement agent induces a person to commit a criminal offense that the person would have otherwise been unlikely or unwilling to commit, using this as a defense against criminal iiability. However, in a sting operation, a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime, the deception is often not considered to have risen to the level of entrapment.

Agent provocateurs have notably been used during demonstrations or other public gatherings, such as by anti-union agent provocateurs.

See also

Claimed examples

External links

Part of this article consists of modified text from Wikipedia, and the article is therefore licensed under GFDL.