About the Book

Named one of the best books on disinformation by the New York Times

“A  fresh, persuasive and deeply disturbing overview of the baleful and dangerous impact on the nation of widely disseminated false speech on social media. Richard Hasen, the country’s leading expert about election law, has written this book with flair and clarity.”

—Floyd Abrams, author of The Soul of the First Amendment


What can be done consistent with the First Amendment to ensure that American voters can make informed election decisions and hold free elections amid a flood of virally spread disinformation and the collapse of local news reporting? How should American society counter the actions of people like former President Donald J. Trump, who used social media to convince millions of his followers to doubt the integrity of U.S. elections and helped foment a violent insurrection? What can we do to minimize disinformation campaigns aimed at suppressing voter turnout?

With piercing insight into the current debates over free speech, censorship, and Big Tech’s responsibilities, Richard L. Hasen proposes legal and social measures to restore Americans’ access to reliable information on which democracy depends. In an era when quack COVID treatments and bizarre QAnon theories have entered mainstream, this book explains how to assure both freedom of ideas and a commitment to truth.


Richard L. Hasen is Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. His previous books include The Voting WarsPlutocrats UnitedThe Justice of Contradictions, and Election Meltdown. He lives in Studio City, CA.


More information at Yale University Press


Publication Date: March 8, 2022
264 pages, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, 7 b/w illus.
ISBN: 9780300259377

Hardcover, $27.50


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