Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Maren Wiederhold
Categories
Politics & government

INVISIBLE RULERS

Renée DiResta

The People Who Turn Lies into Reality

A brilliant and data-driven investigation into the radical shift of power as invisible rulers -previously known as influencers- create realities that are revolutionizing politics, culture, and society.

What we used to call influence has become something toxic. Anyone who wishes to destroy legitimate political and social power has a new weapon. It is the anarchist's dream, a force so shockingly effective that its destructive power seems limitless. Scientific proof is powerless in front of it; democratic validity is bulldozed by it; leaders are humiliated by it. Renée DiResta offers a framework to explain how it now shapes public opinion through a virtual rumor mill of niche propagandists. While they position themselves as trustworthy "Davids", their reach, influence, and economics make them classic Goliaths, invisible rulers who create bespoke realities that control the destinies of millions of people, their work driven by a simple maxim: "if you make it trend, you make it true." By revealing the machinery and the dynamics of the interplay between influencers, algorithms, and online crowds, DiResta vividly illustrates how society is deliberately undermined by small groups of influencers who move from selling products to chipping away at expertise. DiResta defeated California's anti-vaxxers a decade ago. She uncovered the ways that China and Russia target the American public. As analyst, investigator, and participant, she provides unprecedented insight into the way influencers shape the opinion and behavior of massive crowds. Renée DiResta is the Technical Research Manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory. She regularly writes and speaks about tech policy and is a regular contributor at The Atlantic and Wired. As a Presidential Leadership Scholar she worked with the Presidents Bush, Clinton, and the LBJ Foundations. DiResta has 77k+ Twitter followers (@noUpside).

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Book Published 2024-06-01 by PublicAffairs

Comments

Once you have seen what Renee DiResta has seen - how the trainwreck that is now public discourse is so rapidly undermining our politics and society - you can't unsee it.

I am in awe of DiResta's ability to see through the digital haze and identify many of the most important threats coming at the United States and humanity more broadly. As AI supercharges social media and the power of conspiracy theorists, foreign intelligence agencies, and all who would turn lies into reality, we are so fortunate that DiResta shares her hard-won knowledge with us - and her battle scars. Invisible Rulers is essential and riveting reading.

In this compelling and beautifully written book, DiResta sheds fresh light and understanding on the greatest threat to social cohesion. If you care about securing a better future for generations to come, read this book, and work with others to implement DiResta's thoughtful recommendations.

No one understands this new world of information warfare, a world where the rumor mill and the propaganda machine work in tandem to distort reality, better than DiResta. She is the go-to person for everyone who wants to understand influence operations, from technologists to government officials. She sees things before others do. And more important, she knows what it takes to fight back.

Who decides what we pay attention to, whom we trust, and how we engage with each other? In Invisible Rulers, a unique and unusual work of observation and scholarship, DiResta provides the answer - and it is not reassuring. Among them are people who know how to game algorithms, people who want to sell advertising, or people who want to alter our politics, foreign authoritarians among them. DiResta shows how domestic trolls and foreign oligarchs now wield influence on a global scale, turning online trends into truth, and shaping our understanding of reality itself.

[A] fiery debut.a well-informed take on what ails social media, and a vigorous riposte to conservative narratives of persecution by Big Tech.

Renée DiResta is a superhero protecting reality from insanity. Her work and voice are indispensable. If humanity doesn't ruin its future through idiocy, DiResta will be one of the reasons why.

No analyst of the online world exposes its lies and perversities with greater courage, insight, and devotion to democratic values than DiResta. This gripping and trenchant work shows how the toxic interplay of social media influencers, algorithms, and viral crowds is shredding truth and trust and threatening the future of democracy. Spanning disciplines from history and politics to communications theory and social psychology, DiResta documents the descent of the 'public square' into a 'fantasy industrial complex' and offers a path forward to a more transparent and civil online world.