An agent provocateur is a French phrase, which in English means “inciting agent”. As the name implies, they try to incite. The agent provocateur is a type of dishonest scoundrel, with a two-phase mode of attack:

Phase One: They first infiltrate a group (activists, labor union, infosec team, religious body, etc), putting on the guise of a supporter long enough to be able to move freely within the group. At a rally, this can be as simple as walking up to the frontline with a sign, and hanging around for 10 minutes. With other groups, it may take months (or years) of infiltration work to get into position.

Phase Two: Once inside enough to pass as a member of the group, the agent provocateur then attempts to bait the group into behaving counter to its interests. The agent may use concern trolling to weaken morale, or send the group on a wild goose chase. Going back to the rally example, the provocateur might start trying to bait the crowd into violent actions. In these cases, the provocateur is oftentimes a member of law enforcement, trying to create pretext to “lawfully retaliate” against the crowd. The provocateur, under the guise of a personal confidante, might try to trick you into implicating yourself and your comrades as part of an illegal conspiracy, as a form of lawfare. Or the provocateur, in a corporate setting, might try to encourage a sellout to their chief competitor.

There are many forms the provocateur can take, but their tactic is the same: To provoke you and those around you into doing things that are guaranteed to come back and bite you in the ass.

Agent provocateurs have long served governments, cults and vigilantes. It was a technique even known to the Ancient World, as many spiritual texts include stories or parables involving provocateurs. One such story is in the Gospels, when the Pharisees & Herodians attempt to bait Jesus into inciting his followers to challenge Caesar.

Many recent governments have been known to use the provocateur against civil dissident movements. 19th-20th century Great Britain, Russia and Germany, were notorious for this, but it seems every country is getting in on it nowadays. In the United States, the use of provocateurs was a core COINTELPRO tactic, and before that it was employed by rail and mining barons to suppress strikes.