Author:Maria Ressa
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 2021
What will you sacrifice for the truth?
Maria Ressa has spent decades speaking truth to power. But her work tracking disinformation networks seeded by her own government, spreading lies to its own citizens laced with anger and hate, has landed her in trouble with the most powerful man in the country: President Duterte.
Now, hounded by the state, she has multiple arrest warrants against her name, and a potential 100+ years behind bars to prepare for - while she stands trial for speaking the truth.
How to Stand Up to a Dictator is the story of how democracy dies by a thousand cuts, and how an invisible atom bomb has exploded online that is killing our freedoms. It maps a network of disinformation - a heinous web of cause and effect - that has netted the globe: from Duterte's drug wars, to America's Capitol Hill, to Britain's Brexit, to Russian and Chinese cyber-warfare, to Facebook and Silicon Valley, to our own clicks and our own votes.
Told from the frontline of the digital war, this is Maria Ressa's urgent cry for us to wake up and hold the line, before it is too late.
Praise for Maria Ressa:
Winner of the UNESCO Press Freedom Award 2021
'A personal hero of mine ... she's an important warning for the rest of us'
Hillary Clinton
'Maria Ressa is 5ft 2in, but she stands taller than most in her pursuit of the truth'
Amal Clooney
'Maria is a key voice ... she is so incredible in so many ways'
Carole Cadwalladr
Absolutely sublime and transformational. [Maria Ressa] lays out the moral paradigm for our time and the consequences of ignoring it and the thrill and reward of embracing it
—— Shoshana Zuboff, author of the international bestselling Surveillance CapitalismA personal hero of mine ... she's an important warning for the rest of us
—— Hillary ClintonI don't think I've read a more important book this year.
—— Andrew Marr, LBCMaria is a key voice... she is so incredible in so many ways. The world needs to listen to what she has to say
—— Carole CadwalladrMaria Ressa is five feet two inches, but she stands taller than most in her pursuit of the truth
—— Amal ClooneySo how do you stand up to a dictator? One thing is for sure: you cannot do it alone. Ressa needs support from all of us, and she needs it now
—— GuardianTales of a moral giant... All of these attempts to raise the alarm came to nothing, so it is hardly surprising that Ressa's inspiring book has an impassioned, frustrated and, at times, angry tone. She saw the future and knew how it didn't work for democracy. And nobody except the Nobel committee seemed to be paying attention. For which mercy, much thanks
—— ObserverNobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa's How to Stand Up to a Dictator makes an unmissable Book of the Week. It is a memoir of a life devoted to truth-telling, an account of her battle to expose the reality behind the Philippines' former president Rodrigo Duterte's so-called war on drugs, and a brilliant dissection of the "virus of lies" generated on social media platforms.
—— TelegraphAn inspiration
—— Zoe KleinmanHow to Stand Up to a Dictator is confronting, even terrifying - but feels vital... This book lays bare how big tech companies are allowing democracy to be eroded through the dissemination of disinformation, and the devastating effects it can have on a nation...Ressa spends her days on bail awaiting her next court hearing. The rest of us should be watching with bated breath. In the meantime, the least we can do is read this book, learn from it and pass it on to everyone we know.
—— Anna Bonet, inews.co.ukAt a time when the world faces a stark choice between authoritarian leaders and those with the courage to stand up to them, Maria Ressa is an indispensable guide in showing us the path from our troubled present to a better future
—— Irish TimesShe has inspired countless people around the world ... I regard Chelsea Manning as one of this generation's greatest heroes
—— Glenn GreenwaldManning brought to light a number of human rights violations committed by the CIA and American military, many of which led to civilian deaths... but the crimes she exposed have never been investigated ... Many people view her as an American hero
—— Dazed[A] brilliantly told book
—— The TimesA full and expansive account of Manning's life, one which is often harrowing but funny and poignant too
—— DazedChelsea Manning, with huge courage, exposed crimes of US imperialism and at the same time went through a personal journey of liberation. She details it all in a new book, Readme.txt ... Her story is about resistantance to war - and also fighting to be free.
—— Socialist Worker