On Disinformation: How to Fight for Truth and Protect Democracy

This would be a good book to share with others. It is a quick summary of current disinformation and is informative enough to want to share with others on how to self-educate.

We live in an age of deception. True, misleading statements have always been around, but the modern age in which we live, the rise of social media, and other factors have led to a disinformation surge like we have never seen before. This book, On Disinformation, is here to offer facts about this dangerous trend as well as words of advice on how to fight back.This book starts off with some historical perspective on truth and untruth before it launches into its main premise, which is the identification of falsehoods and how to fight for the truth. By now, we all know that one of the chief architects of disinformation and lying is the former president known as trump. His propaganda campaign and his willingness to lie, even about things that do not even matter, is a force to reckon with and one we shouldn’t take lightly. Far too many members of the public have fallen for these falsehoods, and we need to fight back for the good of the nation.But the use of false statements goes far beyond the words of politicians. Like this book states, the internet and social media are havens for false information and the book shares many examples of how these mediums have been used to amplify false messages, spreading their venom far and wide. It’s a real problem, and one we need to take seriously.We aren’t in the clear from disinformation yet. It will take many changes to our laws and a concerted effort on the part of those who support and defend the truth to come forward and fight back. As this book says, we need to quit being polite, portray these truth- haters as the liars they are, and do what we can to protect and preserve democracy. This book is small and short and can be read in a single sitting, but its words are concise and the call to action is one we cannot and should not ignore.

Clear and concise discussion of DISinfornation v MISinformation. It is also an update of the steady steam of deliberate disinformation since 2018. Which I was embarrassed to realize were things that I had forgotten, perhaps demonstrating my own vulnerability to this tactic and strategy of how to get the public to stop paying attention and give up on “reality” itself.I believe that this work succeeds as a stand-alone, but I personally suspect that it could be useful to be familiar with the ideas of Lippman and Bernays, along with Le Bon, Trotter, and Snyder.This book is clearly very focused on the present and as such is very streamlined. It feels more like an extended Op Ed piece than a full book which seems appropriate, but then leaving many open questions about how it is happening. I found Everett Dean Martin’s “The Behavior of Crowds: A Psychological Study” from 1919 (yes, over a century ago) to be an unnervingly accurate characterization of the psychology and sociology of the contemporary MAGA herd and it’s cultivation. Gustave Le Bon’s “The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind” from 1895 (yes, also over a century ago!) strikes me to be an accurate description of contemporary US. Walter Lippman’s “Public Opinion” (1922) and Edward Bernay’s “Crystallizing Public Opinion” (1923), along with Daniel Boorstin’s “The Image” (1961) give context and background that I have found priceless in 2023.Since all of these insights have been in the public domain for decades, it should not be surprising that they are being put to use and quite skillfully.I am grateful to the author for reminding me that reality matters!

The book clearly defines disinformation as "lies." Disinformation began in the 1920s by Feliks Dzerzhinsk who founded Cheka under Lenin. Cheka evolved into Russian intelligence agencies such as the GPU, the KGB and the current FSV. Trump and his helpers such as Steve Bannon and Roger Stone use Putin's techniques to amplify lies about opponents in order to create an alternative reality which benefits them and defeats their enemies.

I appreciate McIntyre's work, and this is one of the best. A compact format for a dangerous topic, how blatantly false, deliberate production of disinformation stands to harm democracy. How is it created, who spreads it, why does it work? The answers are eye opening, all written in a clever style that I frequently dog-eared and underlined. Very recommended.

This is a very detailed recap of all the right-wing MAGA lies and disinformation. If you have paid absolutely no attention for the last eight years, much of this will be new to you, and therefore helpful. IF you have paid any attention at all, most of it will be old. I read to learn "how to fight for truth." McIntyre pretty much avoids any solutions until the final pages and they aren't anything new either. Jonathan Rauch's "The Constitution of Knowledge" and Michiko Kakutani's "The Death of Truth" are more thoughtful and useful.

Many thanks to the author. He was a guest of Terri Gross on Fresh Air on NPR.

This book is a weapon to use for recognizing and rejecting calculated spewing of lies and disinformation by unprincipled individuals and groups.

I previously read the author's book, "How to Talk to a Science Denier," which was a mild-mannered exploration of why people believe things that are obviously false and how to get along with them. This book takes the gloves off, calling for much stronger actions against the wealthy opportunists who are deliberately feeding lies into the American political system. Behind the disinformation campaigns there is always huge amounts of money at stake, whether from tobacco sales, oils, or guns. America used to be the bastion of democracy, but has become an oligarchy run by a handful of powerful corporations and their unbelievably wealthy owners. This is a warning, not just to America but to the entire world, since the same forces are active everywhere and collaborate freely with the tyrants who run Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.