Book Review: Lies that kill

Elaine C. Kamarck and Darrell M. West, Lies that kill: a citizen's guide to disinformation. Lanham, MD: Brookings Institution Press, with Rowman and Littlefield, 2024. ISBN: 9780815740728.

Genre: information literacy, media literacy

Subgenre: political science, current affairs, media, technology

Format: trade paperback

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College

 

For the record, I read this book before the election results of 2024 became known. Looking at the situation now, I feel this book is even more timely. It does take us right up to 2024 right before the elections.

In seven chapters the authors discuss the various ways that disinformation is not only dangerous but outright lethal. They then add one more chapter where they present a series of solutions. The authors wrote the book as a guide to help ordinary people learn about and understand what disinformation is and how it works. The authors discuss how disinformation works in the following areas: 

• elections
• climate change
• public health
• race relations
• war
• governance

 The authors combine case studies, analysis, and documentary material to present their points. The material is presented well with good organization and clear explanations. The preface provides a road map of the book's structure and basic thesis. The first chapter goes over the basics of disinformation and how it works. Chapters 2 to 7 look at disinformation in the areas listed. Chapter 8 provides their solution proposals. 

I felt some of their solutions were either a bit too optimistic or outright not right. For example, wanting universal real name registrations online is not only unrealistic, but it raises all kinds of privacy rights issues and security concerns that the authors seem to ignore in the interest of making a point. 

For the most part, the book is an easy read. Each chapter starts with a case study, then presents and explains the concepts in a clear way. The book does work well as a text for regular people. Jargon is kept to a minimum. For regular people wanting to learn what disinformation is and why it is dangerous, this is a good option. Each chapter includes endnotes for documentation. 

Overall, I really liked the book. I do recommend it for public and academic libraries. The book could also be a good selection for library schools and training librarians in information literacy. We ordered it for our library, and I will promote it locally. 

4 out of 5 stars.

Additional reading notes: 

What social media research shows:  

"Indeed, contemporary research on social media sites has shown that people who have extreme views and are deeply suspicious of experts and traditional media are the ones most likely to be influenced by false narratives and disseminate them to their friends and acquaintances" (8). 

Disinformation defined: 

"We define disinformation as material that is: 

• false
• organized
• intentional and malicious
• harmful
• fast" (8). 

 

A sampling of people you encounter in the book: 

"In this book, we will encounter people who have been accused of crimes they never committed or been pronounced dead of COVID but are still alive" (12). 

 

What AI has done for disinformation: 

"The result of this AI innovation has been a digital space that now has few safeguards in place, less active content moderation, and new tools to spread lies" (42). 

 

Best way to fight disinformation: 

"The best way to fight disinformation is to educate the public about ways to evaluate political narratives and be skeptical about information sources" (127). 

 As an information literacy librarian I do my part to teach these skills to our students (even as certain faculty rush right in to embrace AI, but that is another story).

 

Disinformation is big business, and it needs to be demonetized. I agree, but given the very large financial incentives I do not see it happening, especially in the U.S. where money is a god basically: 

"Practitioners find it easy to make money from subscriptions, ad revenue, and merchandise sales associated with false narratives. Some sites make millions peddling false content about elections, climate change, public health, government, and race. Unless we take significant action, we will never stop the flow of deadly information about these and other topics" (135-136). 

Knowing what I know and my skill set, if I had bad ethics or no ethics at all, I would would be making bank. The thought does occur to me now and then, but my decency and integrity are not for sale even if, as attributed often to P.T. Barnum, there is a sucker born every minute.