> "usually, within a democracy, it is illegal for state actors or contractors to engage in propaganda directed at their own citizens."
This isn't true, or at least I'm not aware of places where it is; this would make it very hard to do "public information" advertising.
1. "Instead of killing yourself, why not call a suicide hotline?" I guess BART tracks see elevated levels of suicide. I don't really have much of a problem with this one.
2. "If you let your infant sleep in the bed with you, you are a bad parent." I have a problem with this. What a disgusting thing for the government to be doing.
Now I have no idea if the number of cases was statistically meaningful enough to warrant action, compared to other public health risks. But I can sort of see why someone would be motivated to "do something", considering how devastating something like that must be, even compared to other accidental deaths of infants.
There is a significant association between bed-sharing and infant death. An adult bed presents far more hazards of entrapment, suffocation and strangulation than a properly-designed crib or bassinet. I haven't seen the advert in question and can't comment on how accurately it conveys the evidence, but I think that it's absolutely right to strongly warn parents about the risks of bed-sharing.
If you think that it's disgusting for a government agency to try and save the lives of babies, that's your prerogative.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2016/10/...
the real issue with this is "then how should some gov. agency stop malicious external/foreign media influence?"
It's a problem with you, not the article. Your assumption of propaganda is just speculation.