Democracy Hacked: Political Turmoil and Information Warfare in the Digital Age

(Hardback)

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Description

Democracies are being gamed. Authoritarian governments, elite populists, and freextremists are exploiting our digital information infrastructure and the vulnerabilities in our democratic system to distort and undermine our politics and elections. It is a war waged through information and it is personal and it is perpetual. Our current digital information ecosystem is inherently unstable and prone to wild volatility. There is a vacuum in the middle of the system that is open to influence by those with the motivation, the money or the expertise. Played successfully it can lead to unprecedented swings of public opinion. This book shows how hackers are gaming democracy, why they can do it, and what we need to do to save democracy for the digital age.This is a story about active measures, election hacking, psy-ops, intelligence services, mercenaries, hard-right nutjobs, plutocrats, the collapse of local news, Silicon Valley, Trump, trolling, surveillance and you.

Reviews

Excellent.

* New Statesman *

Democracy Hacked gets beyond the headlines a compelling, informed and highly readable account of how democracy is being disrupted by the tech revolution, and what can be done to get us back on track. One of the best expositions Ive read yet of what is the biggest political challenge of our generation.

-- Jamie Bartlett, author of The People Vs Tech and The Dark Net

Enormously wide-ranging and deeply researched, this is the definitive account of how digital technology has changed the entire political landscape, with profound consequences for democracy. From Brexit to Trump, and from Estonia to the Philippines, Martin Moore uncovers the real stories behind the fake ones. Youll discover that the truth is often stranger than fiction and that the future is more open than you think.

-- David Runciman, author of How Democracy Ends

The world is belatedly waking up to some frightening realities about the intersection of digital technologies and the health of democracies. Martin Moores book is asharpwake-up call ambitious in its sweep and urgent in its importantmessage.

-- Alan Rusbridger, author of Breaking News

Eye-opening An important, timely, and clearly written look at a crucial subject.

* Booklist *

Moore demonstrates how data has affected elections across the world, in the Philippines, Turkey, India, Iran, Britain and beyond... Engrossing, instructive, and urgently necessary.

* Kirkus *

Author Bio

Dr Martin Moore is director of the Centre for the Study ofMedia, Communication and Power, and a Senior ResearchFellow in the Policy Institute at Kings College London.He was previously founding director of the MediaStandards Trust (20062015) where he directed theElection Unspun project and wrote extensively on the newsmedia and public policy.