Book Review| How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future by Maria Ressa

Rating 5 out of 5

The new administration has done nothing to ease my fears of continued attacks on our rights here in the United States. A whirlwind of executive orders are being signed. And the secrecy behind the actions of DOGE doesn’t make me feel like things will get better either. Learning how someone else lived through their attacks on freedom gave me hope. How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future by Maria Ressa helped me see how you can stand strong in the struggle for continued democratic freedom.

• What’s It About?
• My Thoughts
• Overall Impression
  • Book Specs
  • Related Posts

What’s It About?

Renowned international journalist Maria Ressa has championed the fight for truth for decades. Both as a reporter for CNN and in her own online news organization, Rappler, which she founded in 2012.

Challenging and reporting on the corruption and disinformation in her native country of the Philippines led to Ressa being seen as an enemy of President Duterte. Despite this, she continued to shine a light on the extensive disinformation networks seeded by the government through social media. Subsequent attempts to silence Ressa followed. The state charged her with numerous crimes including cyberlibel. She was found guilty and faces thousands in fines along with years in prison.

Ressa’s investigative work led to her discovering the way social media as whole has aided both the Philippine and governments worldwide to creep toward authoritarianism.

Social platforms have helped fuel anger, hate, divisiveness and the spread of disinformation at a dizzying rate, accelerating the rise of dictators and authoritarians.

How to Stand up to a Dictator serves as a testament to the fragility of democracy. Through telling her story, Ressa pushes readers to notice the dangerous threats to our freedom and democracy worldwide.

My Thoughts

Reading through the life and trials of journalist Maria Ressa was informative. She investigated corruption in her government and uncovered deep disinformation networks. I learned so much about how vital social media networks have become in the spread of information and disinformation alike. It made me take note of just how easily each of our curated online worlds can be manipulated.

What shocked me was just how much the Philippines has served as a testing grounds for different agendas. Ressa discussed how Brexit, Facebook, Russian and Chinese cyber-warfare, and even voting tampering have ties there!

One of my biggest takeaways from this book is to pay more attention. Especially to trials that have been brought on some of the biggest companies and figures (like the Cambridge Analytica Scandal). Continue to push for truth. Which is critical in a world where sensationalized disinformation gets the most clicks. And to build networks of friends and communities where lies can be squashed more easily. Truth is the most treasured currency. FactsFirstPH is an initiative Ressa started to do just that, make the truth spread faster than lies.

The book was written in a way that presents both Maria Ressa’s life and how her becoming and developing as a journalist led her to uncover the dangers to democracy. Her writing keeps you engaged and makes this a book you cannot put down.

Overall Impression

This was just the ray of hope I needed. I have been feeling downhearted as of late and this book gave me hope. For those wanting to have a grasp of the whirlwind that is happening now in the United States and what may be in store for our future, I recommend How to Stand Up to a Dictator.

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Book Specs

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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

• Publisher : HarperCollins
• Publication Date : November 29, 2022
• Page Length : 320

 Politics | Memoir | Non-Fiction | Biography | Current Affairs | Sociology

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