A powerful, pocket-sized citizen's guide on how to fight back against the disinformation campaigns that are imperiling American democracy, from the bestselling author of Post-Truth and How to Talk to a Science Denier. The effort to destroy facts and make America ungovernable didn't come out of nowhere. It is the culmination of seventy years of strategic denialism. In
On Disinformation, Lee McIntyre shows how the war on facts began, and how ordinary citizens can fight back against the scourge of disinformation that is now threatening the very fabric of our society. Drawing on his twenty years of experience as a scholar of science denial, McIntyre explains how autocrats wield disinformation to manipulate
a populace and deny obvious realities, why the best way to combat disinformation is to disrupt its spread, and most importantly, how we can win the war on truth.
McIntyre takes readers through the history of strategic denialism to show how we arrived at this precarious political moment and identifies the creators, amplifiers, and believers of disinformation. Along the way, he also demonstrates how today's "reality denial" follows the same flawed blueprint of the "five steps of science denial" used by climate deniers and anti-vaxxers; shows how Trump has emulated disinformation tactics created by Russian and Soviet intelligence dating back to the 1920s; provides interviews with leading experts on information warfare, counterterrorism, and political extremism; and spells out the need for algorithmic transparency from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
On Disinformation lays out ten everyday practical steps that we can take as ordinary citizens--from resisting polarization to pressuring our Congresspeople to regulate social media--as well as the important steps our government (if we elect the right leaders) must take.
Compact, easy-to-read (and then pass on to a friend), and never more urgent,
On Disinformation does nothing less than empower us with the tools and knowledge needed to save our republic from autocracy before it is too late.
一本強而有力、口袋大小的公民指南,教你如何對抗危害美國民主的虛假資訊運動,作者為暢銷書《後真相》和《如何與科學否認者對話》的作者 Lee McIntyre。
摧毀事實並使美國無法治理的努力並非無中生有。這是七十年戰略性否認主義的結果。在《關於虛假資訊》中,Lee McIntyre 展示了事實之戰是如何開始的,以及普通公民如何能夠反擊現在威脅我們社會根基的虛假資訊災害。基於他二十年的科學否認研究經驗,McIntyre 解釋了專制者如何利用虛假資訊來操控民眾並否認明顯的現實,為何對抗虛假資訊的最佳方式是干擾其擴散,最重要的是,我們如何能夠贏得真相之戰。
McIntyre 帶領讀者回顧戰略性否認主義的歷史,展示我們如何來到這個危險的政治時刻,並識別虛假資訊的創造者、擴散者和信奉者。在此過程中,他還展示了當今的「現實否認」如何遵循氣候否認者和反疫苗者所使用的「科學否認的五個步驟」的相同錯誤藍圖;顯示特朗普如何模仿自1920年代以來由俄羅斯和蘇聯情報機構創造的虛假資訊戰術;提供與信息戰、反恐和政治極端主義領域的專家進行的訪談;並闡明 Facebook、Twitter 和 YouTube 需要算法透明度的必要性。《關於虛假資訊》列出了十個普通公民可以採取的日常實用步驟——從抵制極化到施壓國會議員監管社交媒體——以及我們政府(如果選擇正確的領導人)必須採取的重要步驟。
《關於虛假資訊》內容精簡、易讀(然後可以轉交給朋友),其緊迫性從未如此強烈,這本書不僅賦予我們拯救共和國免於專制所需的工具和知識,還提醒我們在為時已晚之前行動。
Lee McIntyre is Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University. Formerly Executive Director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, he has taught philosophy at Colgate University, Boston University, Simmons University, Tufts Experimental College, and Harvard Extension School.