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Facts and Other Lies: Welcome to the Disinformation Age
From fringe conspiracy theories to 'alternative facts', a timely look at how we arrived in the 'fake news' era.
Would your younger self believe the news of today? An entire city block blown up by a suicide bomber on Christmas Day because he believed phone towers spread disease. A Representative elected to the US Congress on a platform that Democrats are secretly harvesting an anti-aging chemical from the blood of abused children. Angry rioters in furs and horns overrun the Capitol in a bloody carnage of insurrection. The Prime Minister of Australia employing the wife of his friend who fronts a group the FBI has declared terrorists. A global pandemic which, even as they lie dying from it, people refuse to believe exists.
Many who sat in shocked disbelief as these events beamed around the world asked the same question: 'How did we get here?' For those rioters, it was the culmination of a journey of online radicalisation that began with the weaponisation of disinformation by their political leaders and outrageously biased 'news' commentators.
Facts and Other Lies puts fake news in its historical context and explains how disinformation has fractured society, even threatening democracy itself. It explains why disinformation is so potent and so hard to stop, and what we can do to help prevent its proliferation in Australia - where politicians and shock jocks are already operating from the same dark playbook. It outlines how anyone can defuse disinformation in the home, office or pub, or wherever the deluded gather to spread their nonsense. Be prepared!
'This is a timely account of a growing malignancy affecting all modern democracies'
Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia
'Fascinating and terrifying . . . illuminates so much about humans and social media'
Bri Lee, author of Who Gets to Be Smart
'Read this book if you want to save democracy'
Wayne Swan, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
'Few have mapped our information dystopia more effectively - and entertainingly - than Coper'
Bernard Keane, Politics Editor, Crikey
'Essential reading for anyone wanting to cut through the nonsense and get to the truth'
Eason Jordan, former Chief News Executive, CNN
'We live in a world that unfolds at a pace, and with the violent twists and turns in the plot, of a thriller. This book captures the intensity of our politics and connects it to the science of misinformation . . . a great read'
Professor Stephan Lewandowsky, Chair in Cognitive Psychology, University of Bristol
Would your younger self believe the news of today? An entire city block blown up by a suicide bomber on Christmas Day because he believed phone towers spread disease. A Representative elected to the US Congress on a platform that Democrats are secretly harvesting an anti-aging chemical from the blood of abused children. Angry rioters in furs and horns overrun the Capitol in a bloody carnage of insurrection. The Prime Minister of Australia employing the wife of his friend who fronts a group the FBI has declared terrorists. A global pandemic which, even as they lie dying from it, people refuse to believe exists.
Many who sat in shocked disbelief as these events beamed around the world asked the same question: 'How did we get here?' For those rioters, it was the culmination of a journey of online radicalisation that began with the weaponisation of disinformation by their political leaders and outrageously biased 'news' commentators.
Facts and Other Lies puts fake news in its historical context and explains how disinformation has fractured society, even threatening democracy itself. It explains why disinformation is so potent and so hard to stop, and what we can do to help prevent its proliferation in Australia - where politicians and shock jocks are already operating from the same dark playbook. It outlines how anyone can defuse disinformation in the home, office or pub, or wherever the deluded gather to spread their nonsense. Be prepared!
'This is a timely account of a growing malignancy affecting all modern democracies'
Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia
'Fascinating and terrifying . . . illuminates so much about humans and social media'
Bri Lee, author of Who Gets to Be Smart
'Read this book if you want to save democracy'
Wayne Swan, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
'Few have mapped our information dystopia more effectively - and entertainingly - than Coper'
Bernard Keane, Politics Editor, Crikey
'Essential reading for anyone wanting to cut through the nonsense and get to the truth'
Eason Jordan, former Chief News Executive, CNN
'We live in a world that unfolds at a pace, and with the violent twists and turns in the plot, of a thriller. This book captures the intensity of our politics and connects it to the science of misinformation . . . a great read'
Professor Stephan Lewandowsky, Chair in Cognitive Psychology, University of Bristol
392 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2022
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February 28, 2022
A timely reminder, as pertinent today as when it was written.
5★
“ ‘Just remember, what you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.’
President Donald J. Trump
. . .
‘What is the cost of lies? It’s not that we will mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that, if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.’
Prof Valery Legasov in ‘Chernobyl’”
Coper opens his book with the Trump quotation. One of the last chapters begins with the memorable statement from Prof. Legasov, which sums up the problem we’re facing now. (Whether HBO’s television mini-series, ‘Chernobyl’ quoted him accurately or not is beside the point.)
This is a fascinating, page-turning, mind-boggling book that is subtitled, ”Welcome to the Disinformation Age”. Right – thanks.
Coper has a good sense of humour and knows how to entertain as well as inform. He is a leading expert in communications for impact, the field in which he works. This has impact!
Here, he describes truth:
“a topic of much discussion at the original toga parties. That gaggle of verbose Greek men we usually trace our Western ideas back to (and made famous to a larger audience through Keanu Reeves’ philosophical masterpiece ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’) had a fairly simple explanation: the truth was what you got when describing things you could actually see and touch.”
I was reminded of the famous poem by John Godfrey Saxe that my father used to quote (probably when we disagreed about something) which was based on an old Indian parable, The Blind Men and the Elephant. It’s too easy to make up your mind when you don’t have all the facts. If you don’t know the story, I’ve included the short poem under a spoiler at the end, or you can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_po...
In ye olden times, as civilisations grew, we peasants received ‘the truth’ from rulers and/or religious leaders. Most of us couldn’t read or write, and what was written was probably in Latin, not the language that we spoke. The leaders weren’t stupid. They less we knew, the more we relied on them.
We could gossip amongst ourselves, spread rumours, and pretty much change the stories the way the party game of telephone or whispers goes. It’s fun to hear the original story and the final one after people have taken turns whispering it to each other. But that was small potatoes compared to what was ahead.
Then came the printing press! As people learned to read and write and print, “what the church gained in codification they lost in autonomy.”
People could print up their own pamphlets and circulate them, so that “the church fragmented into almost as many splinters as there could be pamphlets printed.
. . .
Martin Luther, the original ‘Old York Times’ bestselling author, had copies of his manuscript show up in London just seventeen days after he first nailed it to the door of a German church. He sold 5000 copies in just two weeks (the equivalent of a record going multi-platinum despite only 10 percent of people owning a record player).”
The author says that this moved us from the Greek truth we could touch to something that we could reason ourselves. It meant we no longer had to accept what rulers and religious leaders told us. We could figure it out ourselves with reason.
He quickly moves from history to science and what we are still learning about how our brains work. It’s disconcerting to realise that we think we form opinions based on what our brains receive. The truth, in fact (believe me here) is that it works the other way around. We think we’re absorbing new information and filing it away, but “in reality, you have already formed your opinions and instead file it based on whether it supports them or not.”
Pretty disheartening, isn’t it? Surely not ME! Like everyone else, I imagine, I like to think I keep an open mind, but I know I catch myself wanting to skip over articles that I’m sure are going to annoy me. He points out that each time you hear a mistruth, a little bit sinks in, and because it starts sounding familiar, part of you kind of believes it. Creepy!
It’s a book full of facts and figures and examples an quotable quotes. He covers everything from those early Greeks to Murdoch, Fox, Trump, and the MAGAphone and QAnon. There are six parts:
The really worrying thing to me is that the real enemy of the truth is the division that has been generated by those who just want to disrupt things to make it easier to attract disaffected people to their own tribe. It’s a power thing. This is a really good example of how things happen that we could all fall for, if the issue were one that were dear to us.
In May 2016, in Houston, Texas, there was a routine opening of a library in an old mosque. Routine, except for some reason there was a mob of angry White supremacists, neo-Nazis and others, attending the “Stop Islamification of Texas” event promoted on Facebook.
Across the road was a group of socialists, Antifa, and citizens worried about the anti-immigration, racist movement. They were attending the “Save Islamic Knowledge” event promoted on Facebook.
Police came, journalists came, and nobody could find any leaders to interview. There weren’t any. Want to know why? A year later, Washington DC released the findings. The Facebook ads for BOTH ‘events’ were set up by the “Internet Research Agency – the Kremlin-backed ‘dezinformatsiya’ machine. The ads had deftly promoted these conflicting protests for the exact same time and location.”
Too easy.
“For the bargain basement price of US$200 worth of Facebook advertising that brought opposing groups to the concurrent physical events, the Russian agency had successfully sown violent division on the streets of Texas.”
Cold War bean counters no doubt rolled in their graves.
Now we’ve got bots and automatic ‘things’ operating in places we don’t even know how or where to look for. I’ve ‘chatted’ with enough bots doing online shopping and banking to know how pleasantly interactive ‘they’ try to make them. I don’t use Siri, or Alexa or Hey Google, but lots of people do, and it’s hard not to humanise them.
Because this is a recent book, there’s plenty here about the spread of misinformation and disinformation regarding Covid. He has some good advice about how we should talk to each other when we disagree and what to do when we see posts or tweets. He has an easy memory tip: ERR (on the side of caution)
“EVALUATE: Am I seeing/posting disinformation?
REPORT: Flag the disinformation for the platform.
RESPOND: If you have to, in private.”
IN PRIVATE He stresses to respond only if you HAVE to. Do not respond online. Whenever you reply to a post or tweet, it raises the profile of the post and the platform will spread it further, because you’ve helped to make it more popular.
Also, it is always better to let people save face by not being corrected in public. They may even amend or remove their post. (It can work, I know.)
If someone posts that “The United States Has Invaded Canada”, you are probably going to question it. If lots of people comment “how ridiculous”, the post will get more airtime, but I suspect not many people would bite.
However, if someone posts “Mexicans Have Invaded Texas”, I bet there will be lots of responses, good, bad, and otherwise. You can imagine how much airtime that would get as a result.
So if you see a friend share a post like the Mexican one, it’s better to contact them privately (email, text, Messenger, Direct Message) and let them know it has been debunked.
With accusations, we say some mud always sticks. The same is true with falsehoods and misinformation. As Professor Legasov said, “if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.”
Be careful out there, folks! And read this book.
Thanks to Allen and Unwin for the preview copy of this terrific book!
Under the spoiler is “The Blind Men and The Elephant”.
For a good read about how we ended up with Trump and Brexit courtesy of Cambridge Analytica and Facebook, have a look at Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America by Christopher Wylie. He was in from the beginning before he realised what was happening. Here's a link to my review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
5★
“ ‘Just remember, what you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.’
President Donald J. Trump
. . .
‘What is the cost of lies? It’s not that we will mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that, if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.’
Prof Valery Legasov in ‘Chernobyl’”
Coper opens his book with the Trump quotation. One of the last chapters begins with the memorable statement from Prof. Legasov, which sums up the problem we’re facing now. (Whether HBO’s television mini-series, ‘Chernobyl’ quoted him accurately or not is beside the point.)
This is a fascinating, page-turning, mind-boggling book that is subtitled, ”Welcome to the Disinformation Age”. Right – thanks.
Coper has a good sense of humour and knows how to entertain as well as inform. He is a leading expert in communications for impact, the field in which he works. This has impact!
Here, he describes truth:
“a topic of much discussion at the original toga parties. That gaggle of verbose Greek men we usually trace our Western ideas back to (and made famous to a larger audience through Keanu Reeves’ philosophical masterpiece ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’) had a fairly simple explanation: the truth was what you got when describing things you could actually see and touch.”
I was reminded of the famous poem by John Godfrey Saxe that my father used to quote (probably when we disagreed about something) which was based on an old Indian parable, The Blind Men and the Elephant. It’s too easy to make up your mind when you don’t have all the facts. If you don’t know the story, I’ve included the short poem under a spoiler at the end, or you can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_po...
In ye olden times, as civilisations grew, we peasants received ‘the truth’ from rulers and/or religious leaders. Most of us couldn’t read or write, and what was written was probably in Latin, not the language that we spoke. The leaders weren’t stupid. They less we knew, the more we relied on them.
We could gossip amongst ourselves, spread rumours, and pretty much change the stories the way the party game of telephone or whispers goes. It’s fun to hear the original story and the final one after people have taken turns whispering it to each other. But that was small potatoes compared to what was ahead.
Then came the printing press! As people learned to read and write and print, “what the church gained in codification they lost in autonomy.”
People could print up their own pamphlets and circulate them, so that “the church fragmented into almost as many splinters as there could be pamphlets printed.
. . .
Martin Luther, the original ‘Old York Times’ bestselling author, had copies of his manuscript show up in London just seventeen days after he first nailed it to the door of a German church. He sold 5000 copies in just two weeks (the equivalent of a record going multi-platinum despite only 10 percent of people owning a record player).”
The author says that this moved us from the Greek truth we could touch to something that we could reason ourselves. It meant we no longer had to accept what rulers and religious leaders told us. We could figure it out ourselves with reason.
He quickly moves from history to science and what we are still learning about how our brains work. It’s disconcerting to realise that we think we form opinions based on what our brains receive. The truth, in fact (believe me here) is that it works the other way around. We think we’re absorbing new information and filing it away, but “in reality, you have already formed your opinions and instead file it based on whether it supports them or not.”
Pretty disheartening, isn’t it? Surely not ME! Like everyone else, I imagine, I like to think I keep an open mind, but I know I catch myself wanting to skip over articles that I’m sure are going to annoy me. He points out that each time you hear a mistruth, a little bit sinks in, and because it starts sounding familiar, part of you kind of believes it. Creepy!
It’s a book full of facts and figures and examples an quotable quotes. He covers everything from those early Greeks to Murdoch, Fox, Trump, and the MAGAphone and QAnon. There are six parts:
THE INFORMATION ECOSYSTEM
THE DISINFORMATION ECOSYSTEM
GAME TIME: THE US ELECTIONS
THE PSYCHOLOGY
DEFEATING DISINFORMATION
A SHARED REALITY
The really worrying thing to me is that the real enemy of the truth is the division that has been generated by those who just want to disrupt things to make it easier to attract disaffected people to their own tribe. It’s a power thing. This is a really good example of how things happen that we could all fall for, if the issue were one that were dear to us.
In May 2016, in Houston, Texas, there was a routine opening of a library in an old mosque. Routine, except for some reason there was a mob of angry White supremacists, neo-Nazis and others, attending the “Stop Islamification of Texas” event promoted on Facebook.
Across the road was a group of socialists, Antifa, and citizens worried about the anti-immigration, racist movement. They were attending the “Save Islamic Knowledge” event promoted on Facebook.
Police came, journalists came, and nobody could find any leaders to interview. There weren’t any. Want to know why? A year later, Washington DC released the findings. The Facebook ads for BOTH ‘events’ were set up by the “Internet Research Agency – the Kremlin-backed ‘dezinformatsiya’ machine. The ads had deftly promoted these conflicting protests for the exact same time and location.”
Too easy.
“For the bargain basement price of US$200 worth of Facebook advertising that brought opposing groups to the concurrent physical events, the Russian agency had successfully sown violent division on the streets of Texas.”
Cold War bean counters no doubt rolled in their graves.
Now we’ve got bots and automatic ‘things’ operating in places we don’t even know how or where to look for. I’ve ‘chatted’ with enough bots doing online shopping and banking to know how pleasantly interactive ‘they’ try to make them. I don’t use Siri, or Alexa or Hey Google, but lots of people do, and it’s hard not to humanise them.
Because this is a recent book, there’s plenty here about the spread of misinformation and disinformation regarding Covid. He has some good advice about how we should talk to each other when we disagree and what to do when we see posts or tweets. He has an easy memory tip: ERR (on the side of caution)
“EVALUATE: Am I seeing/posting disinformation?
REPORT: Flag the disinformation for the platform.
RESPOND: If you have to, in private.”
IN PRIVATE He stresses to respond only if you HAVE to. Do not respond online. Whenever you reply to a post or tweet, it raises the profile of the post and the platform will spread it further, because you’ve helped to make it more popular.
Also, it is always better to let people save face by not being corrected in public. They may even amend or remove their post. (It can work, I know.)
If someone posts that “The United States Has Invaded Canada”, you are probably going to question it. If lots of people comment “how ridiculous”, the post will get more airtime, but I suspect not many people would bite.
However, if someone posts “Mexicans Have Invaded Texas”, I bet there will be lots of responses, good, bad, and otherwise. You can imagine how much airtime that would get as a result.
So if you see a friend share a post like the Mexican one, it’s better to contact them privately (email, text, Messenger, Direct Message) and let them know it has been debunked.
With accusations, we say some mud always sticks. The same is true with falsehoods and misinformation. As Professor Legasov said, “if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.”
Be careful out there, folks! And read this book.
Thanks to Allen and Unwin for the preview copy of this terrific book!
Under the spoiler is “The Blind Men and The Elephant”.
For a good read about how we ended up with Trump and Brexit courtesy of Cambridge Analytica and Facebook, have a look at Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America by Christopher Wylie. He was in from the beginning before he realised what was happening. Here's a link to my review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
February 7, 2022
The road to enlightenment, on our journey of cognitive and social evolution, has taken a toxic turn. Until the printing press, literacy and Martin Luther going viral we, the uneducated masses, had been told what to believe. We were hardwired to trust, but were intrinsically set up to be deceived. With the Age of Reason we had been gifted access to ideas, rational thought and logic. Excellent! Informed people will of course reach a logical conclusion from the presented evidence. However, along came multiple truths coloured by context, bias, values and politics. Yes, psychologists have confirmed that we fit the facts to our pre-existing viewpoints. And we lie.
The mass extinction event of many newspapers and watch-dog journalism heralded the rise of the internet, and with it the ‘disinfodemic’ we are suffering. It entertained, with click-baiting sensational headlines, celebrity gossip and grumpy cats, rather than informed. Social media’s cognitive biased algorithms amplified disinformation via viral popularity over quality. These insidious algorithms are purpose built to place us in filter bubbles: self-affirming echo chambers encouraging our engagement with endorsers, influencers and those who spout deceptive politically motivated propaganda. Visibility of ‘conversations’ is inflated by fake accounts, bots and troll farms. Russia didn’t just interfere in the 2016 US election, it also placed fake ads promoting conflicting protests for the exact same time and location resulting in division and violence in Texas. In Australia there is evidence of similar tactics being applied to inject divisive content into existing debates about refugees, Dan Andrews fall, One Nation, etc.
Fake news (whether articles or websites) is designed to trigger our emotions, cloud our judgment. The inevitable juggernaut of QAnon never let the truth get in the way of a good opinion. Their hero Trump was to uncover the ‘deep state’ cabal and clean up the swamp, but incited the Capitol insurrection instead. There is a vast overlap of covid vaccine hesitant communities, QAnon affiliates and Trump supporters. Tribal group think is hostile to outside reality and favours group bonds over accuracy, not unlike the psychology of cults: a large proportion of all vaccination disinformation on the most vaccine hesitant FB groups originated from just 111 accounts. After his banning from social media no one read Trump’s blog because it lacked algorithmical amplification. Engagement with QAnon died after social media suppressed the domestic terrorists’ content.
So we must stop shaking our heads in disbelief at the ascendancy of fake news and it’s believers and become frontline warriors in the battle against disinformation. But the task is fraught – how to ace Novax Djokovic or melt climate change deniers genuinely held views? There’s much that can be done with due care by individuals, platforms, media and governments. But the first step is to read ‘Facts *and other lies’ – it’s a scholarly, entertaining and punny read with an optimistic conclusion.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for an advanced reading copy.
The mass extinction event of many newspapers and watch-dog journalism heralded the rise of the internet, and with it the ‘disinfodemic’ we are suffering. It entertained, with click-baiting sensational headlines, celebrity gossip and grumpy cats, rather than informed. Social media’s cognitive biased algorithms amplified disinformation via viral popularity over quality. These insidious algorithms are purpose built to place us in filter bubbles: self-affirming echo chambers encouraging our engagement with endorsers, influencers and those who spout deceptive politically motivated propaganda. Visibility of ‘conversations’ is inflated by fake accounts, bots and troll farms. Russia didn’t just interfere in the 2016 US election, it also placed fake ads promoting conflicting protests for the exact same time and location resulting in division and violence in Texas. In Australia there is evidence of similar tactics being applied to inject divisive content into existing debates about refugees, Dan Andrews fall, One Nation, etc.
Fake news (whether articles or websites) is designed to trigger our emotions, cloud our judgment. The inevitable juggernaut of QAnon never let the truth get in the way of a good opinion. Their hero Trump was to uncover the ‘deep state’ cabal and clean up the swamp, but incited the Capitol insurrection instead. There is a vast overlap of covid vaccine hesitant communities, QAnon affiliates and Trump supporters. Tribal group think is hostile to outside reality and favours group bonds over accuracy, not unlike the psychology of cults: a large proportion of all vaccination disinformation on the most vaccine hesitant FB groups originated from just 111 accounts. After his banning from social media no one read Trump’s blog because it lacked algorithmical amplification. Engagement with QAnon died after social media suppressed the domestic terrorists’ content.
So we must stop shaking our heads in disbelief at the ascendancy of fake news and it’s believers and become frontline warriors in the battle against disinformation. But the task is fraught – how to ace Novax Djokovic or melt climate change deniers genuinely held views? There’s much that can be done with due care by individuals, platforms, media and governments. But the first step is to read ‘Facts *and other lies’ – it’s a scholarly, entertaining and punny read with an optimistic conclusion.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for an advanced reading copy.
September 16, 2022
I loved this book. The author’s prose has that wry sense of humour that had me at times chuckling and sometimes even laughing out loud.
The pacing is great. It flies through the psychology of how our opinions work (it’s scary), through a history of how we got here (the history of the decline of the newspaper industry is particularly interesting) and through to a much needed chapter on how to deal with the misinformation and disinformation in our lives.
I’ll try to follow the advice he gives.
(Particularly the bit where he asks us to recommend it to our friends - do buy it)
The pacing is great. It flies through the psychology of how our opinions work (it’s scary), through a history of how we got here (the history of the decline of the newspaper industry is particularly interesting) and through to a much needed chapter on how to deal with the misinformation and disinformation in our lives.
I’ll try to follow the advice he gives.
(Particularly the bit where he asks us to recommend it to our friends - do buy it)
October 6, 2025
Utterly depressing.
January 24, 2023
Lies, disinformation, fake news, and the spreading of rumours are nothing new; however, the information landscape has changed dramatically in recent decades, making it so much easier to spread disinformation through social media. In this informative book, Coper brings together diverse research to show how we got to this state and what to do about it.
In a book like this, it can be tempting to skip to the sections you're most interested in, but the groundwork he lays at the beginning of the book really helps you to understand how fake news and disinformation have become so prevalent.
He starts with a brief history of the information ecosystem, including lies, truth, information and news; then moves on to the disinformation ecosystem we currently find ourselves in. He explains the different types of disinformation, and shows how social media can be manipulated through such things as fake accounts, fake articles, fake ads, and fake people. These different sources can then amplify topics so that they go viral and we can think more people agree with certain issues than is actually the case.
He spends a lot of time talking about COVID, and also about Trump's presidency and how news was manipulated and eventually led to a situation in which the Capital building riots became possible. However, as he is an Australian who has worked in both Australia and the US, he also includes a lot of examples from the Australian elections. I found a lot of that really useful, as a lot of topics he dealt with were still fresh in my mind.
He then uses a lot of psychological research to show how we process information (we're not as rational as we think) and how we can become susceptible to misinformation and fake news, including the role of our own worldviews. I was a social psychology lecturer for 25 years, and a lot of that research rings true for me. Of course I haven't read all the articles he cites, but it fits with what I learned as a social psychologist.
Most importantly, he concludes with very concrete steps and suggestions for combatting disinformation, which I found very helpful.
This book was an eye-opener for me. I thought I was pretty savvy with social media; however, this book delved a lot deeper and helped me to understand how easy it is to manipulate messages and get them trending or going viral. Some of the material in the book is frightening and confronting, but hope is offered. The information about what we can do could be a game-changer.
I read a library copy of the book, but I found it so helpful, that I ordered my own copy so that I could highlight parts I want to remember. It's rare for me to buy a book I've already read.
So if I found this book so helpful, why am I giving it 4 stars instead of 5? Well, I would give it 5 for the information it provides, and it's told in an entertaining way that kept me turning pages. However, he talks about some groups in such a way that he would potentially alienate some of the people he is hoping to reach. For example, he seems to lump all people who haven't had a COVID vaccination into the 'anti-vaxer' group who are spreading misinformation, when people can have different reasons for making decisions about their own health. Though not a major topic, a few of his comments about Christians also made me think that he groups us in the same category as anyone else who believes in myths like Santa Claus. This is unfortunate, because one of his arguments is that you won't be able to dispel disinformation if you make the other person feel stupid, and that it's better to establish some common ground. He doesn't always apply that himself in some of the earlier sections, though I agree there are some groups that warrant a negative response (e.g., terrorist organisations).
However, in spite of that reservation, this book provided a wealth of information that I feel I can apply. The handy cheat sheet towards the end of the book was a great 'take-away'. I would recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about truth in the general media and in social media. It really helped me to understand the current landscape, how we got here, and what we can do about it.
In a book like this, it can be tempting to skip to the sections you're most interested in, but the groundwork he lays at the beginning of the book really helps you to understand how fake news and disinformation have become so prevalent.
He starts with a brief history of the information ecosystem, including lies, truth, information and news; then moves on to the disinformation ecosystem we currently find ourselves in. He explains the different types of disinformation, and shows how social media can be manipulated through such things as fake accounts, fake articles, fake ads, and fake people. These different sources can then amplify topics so that they go viral and we can think more people agree with certain issues than is actually the case.
He spends a lot of time talking about COVID, and also about Trump's presidency and how news was manipulated and eventually led to a situation in which the Capital building riots became possible. However, as he is an Australian who has worked in both Australia and the US, he also includes a lot of examples from the Australian elections. I found a lot of that really useful, as a lot of topics he dealt with were still fresh in my mind.
He then uses a lot of psychological research to show how we process information (we're not as rational as we think) and how we can become susceptible to misinformation and fake news, including the role of our own worldviews. I was a social psychology lecturer for 25 years, and a lot of that research rings true for me. Of course I haven't read all the articles he cites, but it fits with what I learned as a social psychologist.
Most importantly, he concludes with very concrete steps and suggestions for combatting disinformation, which I found very helpful.
This book was an eye-opener for me. I thought I was pretty savvy with social media; however, this book delved a lot deeper and helped me to understand how easy it is to manipulate messages and get them trending or going viral. Some of the material in the book is frightening and confronting, but hope is offered. The information about what we can do could be a game-changer.
I read a library copy of the book, but I found it so helpful, that I ordered my own copy so that I could highlight parts I want to remember. It's rare for me to buy a book I've already read.
So if I found this book so helpful, why am I giving it 4 stars instead of 5? Well, I would give it 5 for the information it provides, and it's told in an entertaining way that kept me turning pages. However, he talks about some groups in such a way that he would potentially alienate some of the people he is hoping to reach. For example, he seems to lump all people who haven't had a COVID vaccination into the 'anti-vaxer' group who are spreading misinformation, when people can have different reasons for making decisions about their own health. Though not a major topic, a few of his comments about Christians also made me think that he groups us in the same category as anyone else who believes in myths like Santa Claus. This is unfortunate, because one of his arguments is that you won't be able to dispel disinformation if you make the other person feel stupid, and that it's better to establish some common ground. He doesn't always apply that himself in some of the earlier sections, though I agree there are some groups that warrant a negative response (e.g., terrorist organisations).
However, in spite of that reservation, this book provided a wealth of information that I feel I can apply. The handy cheat sheet towards the end of the book was a great 'take-away'. I would recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about truth in the general media and in social media. It really helped me to understand the current landscape, how we got here, and what we can do about it.
June 2, 2022
Nothing in this book is new information - we all know that Facebook and Twitter support (and encourage) disinformation, impact of QAnon etc. Rather, this is a deep dive into the societal and technological shifts that have led to disinformation being so common in our world. I enjoyed the stories and investigations but was left disappointed as there was no real conclusion. A good read, but don't expect to learn anything new.
April 2, 2022
This book is essential reading for our times. A practical guide to DISinformation and what to do when you encounter it. Also how to understand our own biology and psychology in this context.
Highly readable and accessible.
Highly readable and accessible.
April 17, 2022
An important book showing how disinformation affects us all and what we can do to counter it. Alas, I fear that the people who need to read it won’t. So the trolls win again. It also shows, from past psychological studies, how are brains work to foster the spread of such disinformation. We need to recognise and counter such activities, but we can’t do it alone. C’mon governments, get your acts together.
January 12, 2024
Não dava nada pra esse livro, acabou sendo uma das leituras mais organizadas e claras sobre desinformação que eu já vi. Extremamente elucidante e engraçado, só não é perfeito porque eu não gostei muito de uma ou outra linha de argumentação que o autor usa.
Mas no geral, bem foda, botaria nas bibliotecas das escolas do meu estado totalitário, 4.5/5
Mas no geral, bem foda, botaria nas bibliotecas das escolas do meu estado totalitário, 4.5/5
February 21, 2024
I guessed Thatcher for the quote Ed owes me 100 bucks.
Also Kant is wrong we ain’t rational
Also Kant is wrong we ain’t rational
February 21, 2022
This was quite sobering to read. It was an eye opener. How did we really end up here, in this era of 'fake news'? "Facts and other lies” delves quite deeply into this space to put fake news into context. How has disinformation has threatened the very essence of our society? Coper frames disinformation as “a mere symptom of larger forces at work, including an erosion of trust, a fracturing of understating and a fragmentation of realities”. His take on distraction theory as a catalyst for something already happening, and a reorganisation of society into new ways to relate to each other really highlights the way we have all been sucked in, at some point whether big or small, into this game of being able to tell fact from fiction.
We are in an age where fact is not being debated as being not enough to set the record straight, and that is quite scary in itself. We seem to fit facts into our pre-existing beliefs, more than base our beliefs on facts. We are conditioned, as humans to tell stories. And what is happening more and more is the reliance on our brains that actually “invent stories even when there are none in order to make sese of random or complicated information”, and it is these stories that crate the snowball of trouble around us. Misinformation (something wrong or misleading) that leads to disinformation (information that is deliberately wrong or misleading), which can blow out into maliformation (the publication and wide distribution of private information with deliberate intent to harm).
Extremely thought provoking! It left lingering questions in my head that I will leave you to ponder on as well: is the meaning of life just an algorithm? And is anything we see or read to be trusted? Debunking fact from fiction is going to become more tricky; we all need to step up and do our bit.
Thank you Allen & Unwin for the copy.
We are in an age where fact is not being debated as being not enough to set the record straight, and that is quite scary in itself. We seem to fit facts into our pre-existing beliefs, more than base our beliefs on facts. We are conditioned, as humans to tell stories. And what is happening more and more is the reliance on our brains that actually “invent stories even when there are none in order to make sese of random or complicated information”, and it is these stories that crate the snowball of trouble around us. Misinformation (something wrong or misleading) that leads to disinformation (information that is deliberately wrong or misleading), which can blow out into maliformation (the publication and wide distribution of private information with deliberate intent to harm).
Extremely thought provoking! It left lingering questions in my head that I will leave you to ponder on as well: is the meaning of life just an algorithm? And is anything we see or read to be trusted? Debunking fact from fiction is going to become more tricky; we all need to step up and do our bit.
Thank you Allen & Unwin for the copy.
March 17, 2022
Such a wake up call at how easily we can be manipulated. Facts and Other Lies shows the simplicity of how misinformation and disinformation can spread and become embedded in us all.
Using the Trump election campaigns and the denial of the 2020 loss as examples Ed Coper demonstrates the ease with which 'fake news' can take hold and spread like wildfire. How as humans we tend not to act rationally and emotive messages, even if they are false, will be believed and spread broadly.
Something as simple as a comment on a social media post to say that the post is false can unintentionally give more oxygen to that lie.
Fascinating and a great study in human behaviour!
Using the Trump election campaigns and the denial of the 2020 loss as examples Ed Coper demonstrates the ease with which 'fake news' can take hold and spread like wildfire. How as humans we tend not to act rationally and emotive messages, even if they are false, will be believed and spread broadly.
Something as simple as a comment on a social media post to say that the post is false can unintentionally give more oxygen to that lie.
Fascinating and a great study in human behaviour!
January 6, 2024
Vital (in my opinion) reading for every public health professional, health professional, advocate, educator, or anyone who wants to think better (ie. more critically), or to have more successful arguments with friends/family with dissenting views. Also really appreciate the Australian lens, despite the focus on Trump at times, but understandable given the topic. Initially I felt that some of the tone and examples would be off-putting to some of the people I would most like to read and benefit from this kind of book, but the author knows and writes for the audience he will actually get, rather than my wishful thinking. Very cool to also get yet more clarity around our flaws in logical thinking and tendency towards bias in ways I hadn't heard of or remembered before, especially some I had half noticed but not yet understood, or where my critical thinking has kicked in belatedly e.g. with reading Humankind, which I really wanted to love and agree with uncritically because it aligned so well and so wonderfully with my pre-existing views... and how MUCH I wanted to do that! Also really helped me make sense of how some of the people I love and have clear evidence of their care and compassion for others can come to such opposite conclusions about what the right course of action is on things like Covid, the Voice, vaccinations, refugees and so many other things.
Quite confronting at times in understanding the current state of disinformation, but also a compelling call to action, backed up with clear actionable strategies to tackle mis- and disinformation on the broader and individual scale in the latter part of the book. I look forward to practicing these with my conservative parents over the current situation in Gaza 🙃 if I absolutely have to of course! I only wish I had read this a few months ago prior to the vote on The Voice.
Quite confronting at times in understanding the current state of disinformation, but also a compelling call to action, backed up with clear actionable strategies to tackle mis- and disinformation on the broader and individual scale in the latter part of the book. I look forward to practicing these with my conservative parents over the current situation in Gaza 🙃 if I absolutely have to of course! I only wish I had read this a few months ago prior to the vote on The Voice.
July 27, 2022
Thank you to Allen and Unwin for sending me a copy of this book to review!
This book presents a detailed and well researched look at disinformation and conspiracy theories - from where, how and why they originate, how they gain momentum and who is actually putting them out there in the first place (there are a few surprises here….but then again, perhaps they shouldn’t be surprising!).
The book explains how Twitter and Facebook algorithms only seek to amplify disinformation and are easily gamed by a small number of “accounts” to ensure their conspiracy theories are in fact amplified.
There are also tips on how to approach and proactively counter disinformation and the people espousing it, which may not be what you would expect!
This book is quite fascinating - as well as being quite disturbing 😳 Some of the information it contains won’t come as much of a surprise, however some most definitely will - and trust me, it won’t be a nice surprise ☹️ The author presents his (and others!) research well and throws in some humour to lighten what is essentially quite disconcerting information.
Rather essential reading for our time and worthwhile to establish how you can contribute to its disempowerment. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.
This book presents a detailed and well researched look at disinformation and conspiracy theories - from where, how and why they originate, how they gain momentum and who is actually putting them out there in the first place (there are a few surprises here….but then again, perhaps they shouldn’t be surprising!).
The book explains how Twitter and Facebook algorithms only seek to amplify disinformation and are easily gamed by a small number of “accounts” to ensure their conspiracy theories are in fact amplified.
There are also tips on how to approach and proactively counter disinformation and the people espousing it, which may not be what you would expect!
This book is quite fascinating - as well as being quite disturbing 😳 Some of the information it contains won’t come as much of a surprise, however some most definitely will - and trust me, it won’t be a nice surprise ☹️ The author presents his (and others!) research well and throws in some humour to lighten what is essentially quite disconcerting information.
Rather essential reading for our time and worthwhile to establish how you can contribute to its disempowerment. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.
September 2, 2026
"The truth, even as it was in the ascendancy, was never evenly distributed. When we see a decline in reason, perhaps we are only witnessing an incline in the number of people able to be heard."
This is out of date in terms of examples, but the psychology behind why we believe irrational things is informative.
Reading a short history of conspiracy theories since 2020, reminds me of those other widespread, partisan, tribal belief systems that have been going on for millennia - religions. When Coper mentioned the similarity between conspiracy theories and cults, he was so close to taking that next tiny step. But the historical crackpot conspiracy theories, aka religions, were too big a lie to mention.
"The motivation to conform is stronger than the motivation to be right."
April 16, 2022
You might be surprised what you learn about our media in this book…
See what I did there? No? We’ll now you’ll really have to read it to develop a better understanding of debunking disinformation.
Me rattling off facts that clearly demonstrate how completely tin foil hat wearing stupid you are won’t counter your dumb AF point of view. Shame, but you can learn to influence positive change ;)
Echo chambers of Facebook & other groups amplify fake news. Headlines in themselves can colour your perception of an issue before you read the article. Repeating and sharing fake news adds to the amplification. And much more is covered in this really interesting book.
If you want to work on improving the digital literacy of your friends, family … country this is a good read.
See what I did there? No? We’ll now you’ll really have to read it to develop a better understanding of debunking disinformation.
Me rattling off facts that clearly demonstrate how completely tin foil hat wearing stupid you are won’t counter your dumb AF point of view. Shame, but you can learn to influence positive change ;)
Echo chambers of Facebook & other groups amplify fake news. Headlines in themselves can colour your perception of an issue before you read the article. Repeating and sharing fake news adds to the amplification. And much more is covered in this really interesting book.
If you want to work on improving the digital literacy of your friends, family … country this is a good read.
December 18, 2025
An excellent coverage of disinformation, one of today’s most evil diseases. The parallel with a disease is not incidental. Disinformation results in poorer lives and in some cases, death. Disinformation is contageous, if you post facts against disinformation, you only distribute the lies ever more. The author has done a comprehensive job of explaining (with many examples) of how disinformation (not misinformation) has arisen, and now massively amplified by social media. To detect it, and if possible (!) counter it, you need to see disinformation as a disease and be inoculated against it. Disinformation should be raised in secondary schools as recognising it is fundamental for a better planet.
January 24, 2023
Great book by an Australian communications expert who has also worked for many years in the US.
He explains in detail why disinformation (fake news) works and how most attempts to defeat it are doomed. The first key to combating disinformation is to accept that human beings are not rational - they are conformist and keen to belong to a group. Hence, logical, rational arguments will not work. We have to be much cleverer than that.
He lays out a very detailed and realistic process for dealing with any of your friends who may believe in, say, anti-vax conspiracies.
He explains in detail why disinformation (fake news) works and how most attempts to defeat it are doomed. The first key to combating disinformation is to accept that human beings are not rational - they are conformist and keen to belong to a group. Hence, logical, rational arguments will not work. We have to be much cleverer than that.
He lays out a very detailed and realistic process for dealing with any of your friends who may believe in, say, anti-vax conspiracies.
January 16, 2025
Quite a good analysis of disinformation, with a particular focus on digital media and the internet. Written in 2022 and yet continues to be incredibly relevant. I particularly enjoyed the sections about the psychology of disinformation and how people come to believe false facts. Likewise, the idea of "pre-bunking" is intriguing.
Coper's tone is pithy and very Australian in its brand of sarcasm. It managed not to annoy me, but sometimes it came close. Regardless, the writing was definitely very digestible for a heavy and complex topic.
Coper's tone is pithy and very Australian in its brand of sarcasm. It managed not to annoy me, but sometimes it came close. Regardless, the writing was definitely very digestible for a heavy and complex topic.
April 13, 2022
This book is about our digital landscape (with a political focus), and how we interact with it and each other. A witty, dry Bill Bryson-esk summary of politics, culture, media and “the internet” meets psychological analysis of the human condition. Frequently funny, sometimes depressing, often inspiring and refreshingly practical - it is essential reading to understand our world and where we go from here.
Currently Reading
June 3, 2022I picked this book up because I saw Ed Coper on a discussion panel and he offered some great insights.
As I'm reading, Coper manages to bring wit and humour to bear on what should be dull information.
I noticed that Prof Stephen Lewandowsky is quoted as recommending this book. Unsurprising given some of the research being referenced within. The parts about how we take in facts being filtered by worldview are something I first encountered in Stephen's work on climate change denial.
As I'm reading, Coper manages to bring wit and humour to bear on what should be dull information.
I noticed that Prof Stephen Lewandowsky is quoted as recommending this book. Unsurprising given some of the research being referenced within. The parts about how we take in facts being filtered by worldview are something I first encountered in Stephen's work on climate change denial.
July 31, 2022
I found this quite a depressing read, especially as I generally found his premises convincing. (I really should lighten up on my holiday reading!) However, in explaining how so many people believe what Trump tells them, despite absence of facts/evidence, he helped me to understand why so many people believe what their religion tells them, despite absence of facts/evidence. Arguing facts/evidence with such people is a waste of time. In fact, he shows it can be counter productive. Very sad.
September 17, 2022
The Disinformation Age, a lot of interest in the principles of this as I’ve returned to Uni to study topics like Climate Change. This book is super thorough and packed with examples from @realdonaldtrump as President and his use is misleading statements and suggestive remarks to drive the echo chambers and Twitter algorithms crazy.
The book includes information on how to handle disinformation with friends and family.
The book includes information on how to handle disinformation with friends and family.
February 28, 2022
A thought-provoking, somewhat depressing book that breaks down the current climate of anti-science and anti-social behaviour. It sheds some light on the biological, sociological and very human ways that our society has become such a frustrating place - and why Facebook is such a cesspool.
Highly recommended reading!
Highly recommended reading!
March 12, 2022
Read this book! Read this book!
This thorough look at disinformation (fake news) is so important for our current time. It's fascinating and terrifying. Coper explains how we've come to the disinformation age and what we can do about it. The Trump campaigns and covid misinformation are the main examples, but he also touches on Australian politics, BLM, and climate change.
This thorough look at disinformation (fake news) is so important for our current time. It's fascinating and terrifying. Coper explains how we've come to the disinformation age and what we can do about it. The Trump campaigns and covid misinformation are the main examples, but he also touches on Australian politics, BLM, and climate change.
August 27, 2022
Although the target audience is Australians, this book is very much about what happened and is happening in the United States, and is an excellent resource for anyone looking to fight disinformation. Importantly, this book explains what to do and what not to do when encountering disinformation, and why what comes naturally, like pointing out facts, usually doesn't work
April 3, 2023
A very interesting and entertaining look at what drives us to believe what we believe and how we can be manipulated into believing what to others is unbelievable. The big take away from this book is that we are all completely irrational even those of us who believe we are completely rational…unbelievable!
November 9, 2024
Only one side of the narrative has been extremized; one side is virtuous and the other is vile; bla, bla, bla. A book full of disinformation masquerading as a book on truth. Maybe the author can be corageous in the future and actually write on the phenomenon of political extremism in a holistic and honest manner.
February 24, 2022
This was genuinely a fabulous book! I learnt so much about communication, misinformation and disinfodemic. The message "people look for data that reinforces their worldview and opinions" has really resonated with me. A well written and easily digestible book, I highly recommend!
November 29, 2022
I really enjoyed this book, it was easy to read. A person that is a rationalist, I found it a bit too focused on examples from the far right. If it also provided examples from the far left to balance it out I would have given it 5 stars.
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