This sounds like a good ending until you think about it.
Do you really just use the same techniques? Because of so this comes off as a case of "No bad tactics, only bad targets". Using le manipulation to spread misinformation bad, but if you use le manipulation to spread goodinformation then it good!
In the game, you, the player character, realize from the beginning that the entire operation is bad but you are forced to go along anyways because it's just a game. They literally say this in the game if you try not to spread propaganda: "This is just a simulation and no one gets hurt, so play along" and then you have to do what they want in order to progress in the game. There is zero subtly in this game, they hit you over the head with the message they're trying to send.
Do they bother to explain why these techniques are bad? How do they make a difference between spreading a rumour (good) and spreading a rumor (bad) without explaining critical thinking and fact checking?
They do actually, it's very simple and basic but it didn't come across as "Some propaganda is good, actually", it was "This is how people can manipulate you into feeling and believing things that aren't true". As I said before, obviously people could use this information to do bad things, but that's always the trade off when it comes to informing people about anything. Kind of like how learning how to dox someone can be used for good, it can also be used by bad people to hurt others.
This entire things reeks of shitty soviet propaganda, where you at the same time need to have The Enemy be a weak buffoon and a existential threat, and our progressive worker utopia be a flawless society where everyone is hyper competent but at the same time under threat from these enemies. Enemies which are around every corner, but not really because our society is working perfectly according to plan, except when it isn't... See what I mean?
I think for what they were trying to do, it's...
fine. Just fine. Most people here would play it and not find it useful because they are already aware of these tactics and don't fall for him. However, there are lots of people that could benefit from learning to pause and do some critical thinking when it comes to reading headlines. Hell, even on KF I sometimes see kiwis sperging out over a headline and believing it without even bothering to read the actual article and applying some critical thinking skills.
All that being said. I think the bigger issue is this game is boring, and certainly not worth a quarter of a million dollars to produce, much less by a studio that is outside of the USA. This game is truly bland and looks like something a gaming hobbyist could have made over the weekend for free. This thing cost so much to make yet it's so shitty, you just know the company probably spent about $1,000 of that money to outsource some guys in India to create it, while the CEO pocketed the rest. It's 100% a scam. It's a reminder that our government wastes billions of dollars on bullshit projects like this.