Abstract
The politicization of misinformation poses unique challenges to public administrators. Appalling attempts to undermine and target bureaucrats who speak controversial truths reduce the net incentives to combat “alternative facts.” Further, civil servants are not immune from becoming victims of falsehoods themselves. While common sense and general education help, they do not inoculate individuals against deception. There is a need to provide teachers of public administration with the specific tools and tactics to create knowledgeable consumers of information and soldiers in what amounts to a battle for the stability of civil society.
In her recently released book, Fighting Falsehoods, Rubin provides a manual for individuals seeking to learn and teach others how to recognize, analyze, and combat misinformation. Comprehensive and navigable, Rubin addresses the process of decoding deception, beginning with identifying “clues” or red flags and proceeds to walk readers through the practice of analyzing various forms of information for the presence of deception tactics. Rubin supplies a wealth of examples that span various levels of government, periods of history, and the geography of the United States. This diversity of cases and context facilitates a deeper understanding and offers a launching point for classroom activities and discussions. Finally, the book provides a plethora of weapons for the individual, alongside both intrinsic and extrinsic incentives, for combating disinformation. Importantly, Rubin avoids appearing sanctimonious and tailors the content around the understanding that individuals have finite amounts of time and energy. While not diminishing the importance of the cause, she recognizes that it is a war of attrition.
In a nod to the magnitude of the suffering that misinformation has caused and its indiscriminate nature, Rubin's (2022, p. v) dedication reads, “To all those who have been victims of false or misleading information. May it never happen to you again” In chapter one, Rubin defines the problem, outlines the seriousness of misinformation, and begins her argument for a moral imperative to combat the current epidemic of misinformation.As the chapter progresses, Rubin injects the reader with hope and optimism in her explicit reassurance that we can “sort truth from fiction.” The remainder of the text is organized into three sequential sections. These sections aim to provide readers with the requisite knowledge to: 1. See or “recognize” misinformation campaigns. 2. Analyze information or arguments that offer doubt. 3. “Take arms” against deceit.
The first of these sections, comprised of chapter 2, offers a crucial step in the process. Despite similarities in vocabulary and tone, this section is unique compared to the following content. Due to limits in time and energy (both literal and cognitive), we must be selective and purposeful in our decisions to thoroughly analyze information for truthfulness. Rubin posits that the individual ability to recognize a wide range of “clues,” suggesting some level of mistruth (on a spectrum from ever-so-slight embellishments to “just lies”), is central to these decisions. Rubin categorizes these clues by deception tactics, providing further subcategorization as needed. This layout, combined with the many examples found within, allows readers to appreciate the nuance between the varying tactics. Students will learn that, within the repertoire of tactics, deception tactics are both old and new and commonly involve employing preexisting prejudices. Using critical thinking pedagogy, instructors can assist students in making connections across categories of events or groups of perpetrators of falsehoods. Developing the ability to spot such tactics or clues increases the likelihood that students can be more efficient and economical, relative to the time and energy spent analyzing for and fighting against misinformation.
The bulk of the book (i.e., chapters 3-9) focuses on equipping students with the ability to analyze the validity of claims. As their titles indicate, the chapters in this section of the book address the separation of fact from fiction in the context of “quick checks” (e.g., utilizing fact checkers); the analysis of logic, completeness, and comparison; and the application of inquiry as to what the originating or “cited sources say.” The analysis section continues to and concludes with its focus on three categories of misinformation (i.e., conspiracy theories, lying with statistics, & the deceptive design and use of surveys), devoting a chapter to each. Like the book’s second chapter, this section generously addresses the tactics of deceit. However, it avoids redundancy by shifting the emphasis from a tactic’s simple (relatively speaking) recognition to its analysis. Using elaborate illustrations (i.e., case studies), instructors can break down tactics to make their discovery and disassembly less demanding and intimidating.
In the concluding chapter, Rubin offers readers a treatise on the art of fighting back. She premises this with the assertion that once individuals recognize and analyze it, they possess a relative obligation “to stop or counter it.” Nevertheless, as previously stated, Rubin wants individuals to know that the appropriate effort is contingent upon one’s time and energy; that they are not alone in their efforts; and that there should not be an expectation of success that might discourage an individual when they realize the forces that they oppose. So, how do we fight? We begin by not passing along falsehoods within our families, communities, and organizations. Rubin proceeds to provide tangible actions (requiring varying levels of effort) that we can take. These are dependent upon where disinformation is encountered (e.g., social media or a local newspaper), the relevance of various regulatory bodies (e.g., “Does it violate regulations set forth by the FTC or FCC?”), and the relative existence of groups fighting the particular type of disinformation (i.e., Can you pass the information along to a group that will do the work for you or that will, at least, join you in the fight?).
Combined with the examples above and hypothetical scenarios in the book, Rubin's action-oriented responses allow instructors to formulate thought-provoking discussions and activities that force students to consider how they would react. Suppose the student appears overwhelmed by the prospect of the particular action they chose. In that case, the instructor or another student can use the many suggestions in the book to offer a more digestible action. This allows for the demonstration of a range of scenarios where we might witness the perpetuation of the mistruths, offers the opportunity to anticipate the reaction or action to combat a particular mistruth, and provides for discussion about the larger war against misinformation.
Rubin concludes the book by providing a certain amount of context relative to where we are, how we got here (i.e., in this situation, “where we are”), and why it is on “us,” collectively, to fix the problem. Thus, her concern for the truth and the survival of democracy has led her to not only sound the alarm but follow it with clear and insightful instructions on how to address the problem of misinformation so that we, as public administration educators, might assist in protecting democracy for subsequent generations.