The Revolution Will be Digitised: Dispatches from the Information War

by Heather Brooke

There is more information in the world than ever before - but who's in control?At the centre sits the governments, corporations and powerful individuals who have more knowledge about us, and more power, than ever before. Circling them is a new generation of hackers, pro-democracy campaigners and internet activists who no longer accept that the Establishment should run the show.Award-winning journalist and campaigner Heather Brooke takes us inside the Information War and explores the most urgent questions of the digital where is the balance between freedom and security? In an online world, does privacy still exist? And will the internet empower individuals, or usher in a new age of censorship, surveillance and oppression?

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Technology, Internet, Sociology

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Heather Rose Brooke (born 1970) is an American journalist and freedom of information campaigner. Resident since the 1990s in the UK, she is best known for her role in helping to expose the 2009 United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal, which culminated in the resignation of House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin.

Brooke is Professor of Journalism at City University London's Department of Journalism. She is the author of Your Right to Know (2006), The Silent State (2010), and The Revolution Will Be Digitised (2011).

Reviews

[Wendy Tagg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a good snapshot of the politics of information in the Wikileaks era. Obviously things have moved on since then but some much of the underlying philosophy remains true. The most eye catching part is the exiting era when Wikileaks was releasing diplomatic cables. Brooke gives an excellent account of this along with glimpses of the fractures that were tearing Wikileaks and its allies apart.

For me the more valuable part of the book was the less obvious areas such as the Iceland’s freedom of information laws, hackerspaces and the disappearance of personal privacy. Brooke not only spoke to many of the main players to get current information but weaved this in with America’s founding fathers and other thinkers.

Beware that the area is moving rapidly and this book was published in 2011.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easily digestible overview of the legal and political battles being waged over information ownership, online privacy and Internet surveillance. The book is at its most focussed when discussing the role of media outlets in publishing leaked documents supplied by WikiLeaks. Brooke knew many of the key players personally, including Julian Assange, and was herself entangled in a dispute between WikiLeaks and The Guardian over her possession of leaked US State Department diplomatic cables. Her involvement in the "Cablegate" saga gives us a unique perspective on the subject. The book's forays into other aspects of the "information war" are more cursory, but provide a good overview of the topic, and Brooke makes a compelling argument against internet regulation and the concentration of technological power.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a little kid I wonder if people on the other side of the TV was watching us and taking not on what we watched. Turns out that is what happening on the internet. Now I must live my life know there is Privacy is dying out. As American government tries to control everything but thanks to their money problems I’m not too worried. It was all so interesting to see how corrupt power is and there is no safety from it anywhere or way. I wish Julian Assange rape case will finely come to an end and is ego is crushed. I do hope this case won’t destroy Wiki leaks.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting inside look into the philosophy, organization, and leadership of WikiLeaks and of numerous “hacktivist” communities. Brooke made some decent points about free information, but I found the narrative sections significantly more compelling than the expository sections.

[Nurture Waratah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject matter of this book is certainly interesting. However, it has been let down by the author's choice of writing style. While it is not my preference, I don't mind the occasional non-fiction book written in story format. My problem with this book is that the format is inconsistent, switching between narrative and story and back again without warning. I was too annoyed to finish the book. Perhaps somebody else will like it better.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly terrifying read when you realise how pervasive the surveillance society now is, but there is some hope that the way Iceland is dealing with freedom of speech can be replicated in the UK.

[Julie Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite interesting book about Wikileaks and the revolution of info available on the internet and whether it should be controlled by government. Julian Assange is a strange fellow and all mobile networks have to have a back door facility for govt to tap into. US tried to introduce a law to switch off the internet that was defeated apparently.

[Anton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ini buku tentang analisis perang informasi secara global yang saya baca pertama kali. Saya belum pernah mendengar, apalagi membaca buku sejenis. Jadi, mohon maklum kalau jadinya agak excited pas menemukan buku ini rak Media di toko buku Kinokuniya, Singapura awal Februari lalu. Saya langsung membelinya meski belum membaca ulasannya sama sekali.

Buku ini memang memberikan tak hanya narasi tentang perang informasi ini tapi juga analisis di dalamnya. Heather Brooke, penulis buku setebal 251 halaman ini menulis mulai dari kelompok peretas (hacker), pejuang kebebasan informasi di Norwegia, pembocor video penembakan warga Iraq, dan tentu saja tentang WikiLeaks. Semua ditulis dalam narasi amat rapi dan detail.

Reportase dalam buku mulai dari Boston, Berlin, Islandia, London, dan seterusnya. Dari tempat-tempat tersebut, Brooke menuliskan perjuangan kebebasan informasi oleh peretas, jurnalis, anggota DPR, hingga staf Departemen Pertahanan Amerika Serikat.

Penulis buku ini, Heather Brooke, tak hanya jurnalis peraih penghargaan bergengsi Judge's Prize oleh British Press Award. Dia juga pejuang kebebasan informasi di negeri asalnya, Inggris. Karena itu, Brooke juga dekat tak hanya dengan kalangan jurnalis tapi juga peretas dan pejuang kebebasan informasi, terutama di Amerika Serikat dan Eropa. Maka, lahirlah reportase yang tak hanya menempatkan Brooke sebagai penulis tapi juga pelaku dalam buku ini.

Dengan kekuatan itulah maka Brooke melahirkan tulisan yang tak hanya kulit tapi juga jeroan perjuangan kebebasan informasi itu terjadi. Dia terlibat langsung dalam tarik ulur dan ketegangan ketika WikiLeaks akan menerbitkan rahasia pemerintah Amerika Serikat, kebocoran terbesar dalam sejarah hingga saat ini.

Buku ini sayangnya hanya berfokus pada Amerika dan sebagian Eropa. Padahal cerita tak kalah serunya dari Timor Tengah lewat Arab Spring juga amat menarik kalau dibahas juga.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very nearly DNF multiple times but finally finished! If the focus of the book had stayed on Julian Assange (which seemed to be the authors interest) it may have had a more consistent narrative - instead I struggled to make it through the multiple changes in tone and style. Within each chapter there writing changes from a straight forward journalistic style to something more fictionalised, and back again. The inconsistency is jarring and the excessive description of minor details was off-putting.

The content was interesting, and something I would want to read more about in the future, but I found her opinions to be extremely biased and very little was constructive. I would want to see more from the people featured in the book and less from the author.

[James Elder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book sets out to do three things: first, to give a general overview of 'the information wars' and get the reader thinking about issues of privacy and transparency, and the relationship between government and the individual; second to tell the story of WikiLeaks; third to recount Brooke's own role within that story and her to give an insight into some of the key players, especially - of course - Julian Assange.

The flitting between these these viewpoints is not entirely successful, but Brooke's semi-insider's perspective is interesting.

I'm less convinced by her conclusions about what happens next, and her positioning the question as largely one of bad, centralising, authoritarian government versus good, idealistic citizenry. That's an over-simplification of her position, but equally it felt to me as if she over-simplified the issue.

Still, very definitely worth a read - and even more relevant in a post-Snowden world.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light and very readable book about Wikileaks, digital privacy, investigative journalism, hackers, data mining, the Arab Spring and Iceland's crowdsourced constitution amongst other things. It's based on the last few years of Heather Brooke's interviews and connections with the grauniad and Wikileaks and is dramatized to string a story together about the future of the Internet. Probably not for everyone but essential for anyone who uses the Internet or phones, so yes it is actually essential reading.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The agenda has moved on a lot since this was published, not least the death of Aaron Schwartz, who the author thanks warmly for his help during her research. But nevertheless its a readable account of the events that happened during 2010-12 around the rise of wikileaks, and changes to the laws around surveillance, privacy and wrangles over control of the internet. UK and US governments dont come out of it very well. Julian Assange even less so - sounds an even odder person than I'd seen in news reports up til now.

[Violet Nomads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book.
Heather Brooke is an excellent investigative journalist and brilliant writer.
It was a while ago that I read this book, so I can't really remember specifics, but I often recommend it to others and have bought at least two copies myself as I often give my copy to people when I recommend it.
I currently need to buy myself a new copy ;)

I would also recommend 'Digital Revolutions: Activism in the Internet Age' by Symon Hill.
These two books go very well together as they look at a similar subject from two complimentary angles.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book really addressing the Wikileaks saga of 2009/2010, but with an attempt to cover more generally the ongoing battles over data access, ownership and privacy. The latter is less successful, and the book only substantially comes together in the later, more focused chapters relating to the US cables release. Brooke was there, of course, a player in the action, and gives a great miniature portrait of a frenetic and important piece of journalism.

[Alex Jahnke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der Titel macht falsche Hoffnungen, das Buch dreht sich um die Vorgänge zwischen Presse und Wikileaks - insbesondere die Person Assange - während der Colleteral Murder Veröffentlichung. Lässt man das hinter sich, ist es ein sehr persönlicher Blick hinter die Kulissen der Zeit. Leider ist Brooke zu unkritisch mit ihrer eigenen Rolle und hinter fragt diese gar nicht.

[Graeme · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book. Opened my eyes to the way the worlds media works and especially how the whole WikiLeaks thing came about.

A little insight in to the struggles the world is having with the Internet and no matter your view on it (the Internet), you're bound to find this book very interesting.

[Charles]

I borrowed this book from the library - it looks very interesting. The author is a freelance journalist and freedom of information campaigner. The book explores the balance between freedom and security. In an online world, does privacy exist?

[Stu Robarts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really excellent take on the digital revolution, woven together in a storytelling / reporting style that is more digestible than often such books can be. Fascinating behind the scenes discussion of how the major Wikileaks leaks were played out in the press.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this as an audio book and thought it was really well put together. The research seemed good, and the method of communicating the facts was interesting and engaging. Worth a read (or listen to).

[Andreas Jungherr · Rating 2 out of 5]

For my taste too much storytelling, too little analysis. Still, some interesting anecdotes about the cooperation between Wikileaks and the Guardian in 2010.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super readable (i think...confession: I listened to the unabridged audio version)