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In: Society

Media Manipulation

One of the most dangerous trends of our time: Harnessing the vast new possibilities of the digital age, including misuse of both mainstream and social media, malicious actors find it easier than ever to disseminate lies and conspiracy theories. With minimal effort and resources they can destabilize whole societies and even influence elections. Read these summaries and learn how they operate by distorting the messages the public receives, what damage they inflict, and how free and open societies can defend against them.

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Summaries

9 Book

Free Speech

A History from Socrates to Social Media
Jacob Mchangama
Basic Books, 2022
9 Book

Liars

Falsehoods and Free Speech in an Age of Deception (Inalienable Rights)
Cass R. Sunstein
Oxford UP, 2021
8 Book

Off the Edge

Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything
Kelly Weill
Algonquin Books, 2022
8 Article

The People Onscreen Are Fake.

The Disinformation Is Real.
Alan Satariano and Paul Mozur
The New York Times, 2023
8 Book

You Are Here

A Field Guide for Navigating Polarized Speech, Conspiracy Theories, and Our Polluted Media Landscape
Whitney Phillips and Ryan M. Milner
MIT Press, 2021
8 Podcast

Digital Media Literacy

Empathizing with the Internet
Mohit Rajhans and Kara Brisson-Boivin
The Walrus, 2022
8 Article

You are probably spreading misinformation. Here’s how to stop.

A citizen’s guide to not helping trolls, bots and other online disinformers during turbulent times.
Geoffrey A. Fowler
The Washington Post, 2020
8 Article

Are Toxic Political Conversations Changing How We Feel about Objective Truth?

As political polarization grows, the arguments we have with one another may be shifting our understanding of truth itself
Matthew Fisher et al.
Scientific American, 2018
8 Article

Building Trust at the Origin

Project Origin aims to create a measure of accountability through provenance: By certifying the source of the content like a watermark, we can safeguard against manipulation.
Microsoft, 2021
8 Book

Culture Warlords

My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy
Talia Lavin
Legacy Lit, 2020
8 Book

Regardless of Frontiers

Global Freedom of Expression in a Troubled World
Lee C. Bollinger and Agnes Callamard
Columbia UP, 2021