About the Book
"Writing in a clear and comprehensive writing style, [the authors] show how the U.S. political, social, and economic environments make disinformation believable to large numbers of people and difficult to stop or prevent." - Library Journal, Starred Review
"Everyone, whether they work in the public sector or are private citizens, will find this book invaluable.” - Booklist, Starred Review
Disinformation made possible by rapid advances in cheap, digital technology, and promoted by organized networks, thrives in the toxic political environment that exists within the United States and around the world. In Lies that Kill, two noted experts take readers inside the world of disinformation campaigns to show concerned citizens how to recognize disinformation, understand it, and protect themselves and others. Using case studies of elections, climate change, public health, race, war, and governance, Elaine Kamarck and Darrell West demonstrate in plain language how our political, social, and economic environment makes disinformation believable to large numbers of people.
Karmarck and West argue that we are not doomed to live in an apocalyptic, post-truth world but instead can take actions that are consistent with long-held free speech values. Citizen education can go a long way towards making us more discerning consumers of online materials and we can reduce disinformation risks through digital literacy programs, regulation, legislation, and negotiation with other countries.
Table of Contents:
Contents
Preface
1 Anatomy of a Smear
2 Election Integrity
3 Climate Change
4 Public Health
5 Race Relations
6 Wartime Disinformation
7 Impeding the Ability to Govern
8 What Citizens and Policymakers Can Do
About the Author :
Elaine C. Kamarck is a senior fellow in Governance Studies and the director of the Center for Effective Public Managemant at Brookings. She is an expert on American electoral politics and government innovation and reform in the United States, OECD nations, and developing countries.
Darrell M. West is a senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation within the Governance Studies program and a co-editor-in-chief of TechTank. He is the author of numerous books including, most recently, Power Politics: Trump and the Assault on American Democracy (Brookings, 2022).
Review :
In the last decade, public discourse in America has become increasingly contaminated by aggressive disinformation campaigns to mislead the public in order to advance certain political or financial agendas. Kamarck and West examine this phenomenon in Lies That Kill, showing that in many instances the book’s title is not hyperbole—many public figures have been threatened with or been the victims of violent attacks perpetrated by people motivated by false information spread by malicious actors. The authors make the point that disinformation is spread not only by conservative Republicans and malicious foreign agents but, to a much lesser degree, left-wing Democrats. They examine how disinformation, spread with lightning-fast efficiency on the internet and many social-media platforms, poisons discourse on election integrity, public health, race relations, and other vital issues. Thankfully, they conclude with a final chapter detailing how the government, various agencies and think tanks, and the general public are detecting—and can detect in the future—false narratives and arrive at some semblance of truth. Everyone, whether they work in the public sector or are private citizens, will find this book invaluable.
Kamarck and West have written extensively on public policy. Together, they present a simple but effective manual that spotlights, analyzes, and discusses the many threads of disinformation circulating in the news, social media, and the general public. Writing in a clear and comprehensive writing style, they show how the U.S. political, social, and economic environments make disinformation believable to large numbers of people and difficult to stop or prevent. The first seven chapters each focus on one contentious current issue: smear tactics, climate change, election security, war, public health, race relations, and impediments to the ability to govern. The eighth chapter provides feasible action plans for individuals and institutions to restrain (and maybe even eliminate) the increasingly pervasive techniques that destroy society’s cohesion. Librarians and educators will find this thorough and outstanding resource about misinformation highly useful for community activists and students.
Citizens who want to know how to get at the truth should read this timely and important book. It describes the new landscape of disinformation in America today across a wide range of issues: – from climate change to public health and elections, to race and to war. It explains where disinformation comes from, the networks that spread it and the large sums of money that are made from pushing it. Nothing is more important in this day and age than citizens armed with the ability to tell truth from fiction.
Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, but we are seeing how disinformation can be used to deceive voters and undermine trust in the electoral process. Elaine Kamarck and Darrell West offer an important and critical analysis about what is at stake for Americans across the political spectrum as disinformation spreads and evolves, especially with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, underscoring the urgent need to take action.
Elaine C. Kamarck and Darrell M. West have written an essential citizen’s guide to disinformation just when it is most needed: going into an election that may well determine the future of American democracy. Perhaps what is most valuable about Lies That Kill is its deep understanding of the motives and organizational roots of disinformation. Its production often involved complex organizational networks fueled by greed. This is a timely and important book.
