Elaine C. Kamarck is a senior fellow in Governance Studies and the director of the Center for Effective Public Managemant at Brookings. She is an expert on American electoral politics and government innovation and reform in the United States, OECD nations, and developing countries.Darrell M. West is a senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation within the Governance Studies program and a co-editor-in-chief of TechTank. He is the author of numerous books including, most recently, Power Politics: Trump and the Assault on American Democracy (Brookings, 2022).

• ContentsPreface1 Anatomy of a Smear2 Election Integrity3 Climate Change4 Public Health5 Race Relations6 Wartime Disinformation7 Impeding the Ability to Govern8 What Citizens and Policymakers Can Do

In the last decade, public discourse in America has become increasingly contaminated by aggressive disinformation campaigns to mislead the public in order to advance certain political or financial agendas. Kamarck and West examine this phenomenon in Lies That Kill, showing that in many instances the book’s title is not hyperbole—many public figures have been threatened with or been the victims of violent attacks perpetrated by people motivated by false information spread by malicious actors. The authors make the point that disinformation is spread not only by conservative Republicans and malicious foreign agents but, to a much lesser degree, left-wing Democrats. They examine how disinformation, spread with lightning-fast efficiency on the internet and many social-media platforms, poisons discourse on election integrity, public health, race relations, and other vital issues. Thankfully, they conclude with a final chapter detailing how the government, various agencies and think tanks, and the general public are detecting—and can detect in the future—false narratives and arrive at some semblance of truth. Everyone, whether they work in the public sector or are private citizens, will find this book invaluable.

Elaine C. Kamarck is a senior fellow in Governance Studies and the director of the Center for Effective Public Managemant at Brookings. She is an expert on American electoral politics and government innovation and reform in the United States, OECD nations, and developing countries.Darrell M. West is a senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation within the Governance Studies program and a co-editor-in-chief of TechTank. He is the author of numerous books including, most recently, Power Politics: Trump and the Assault on American Democracy (Brookings, 2022).

• ContentsPreface1 Anatomy of a Smear2 Election Integrity3 Climate Change4 Public Health5 Race Relations6 Wartime Disinformation7 Impeding the Ability to Govern8 What Citizens and Policymakers Can Do

In the last decade, public discourse in America has become increasingly contaminated by aggressive disinformation campaigns to mislead the public in order to advance certain political or financial agendas. Kamarck and West examine this phenomenon in Lies That Kill, showing that in many instances the book’s title is not hyperbole—many public figures have been threatened with or been the victims of violent attacks perpetrated by people motivated by false information spread by malicious actors. The authors make the point that disinformation is spread not only by conservative Republicans and malicious foreign agents but, to a much lesser degree, left-wing Democrats. They examine how disinformation, spread with lightning-fast efficiency on the internet and many social-media platforms, poisons discourse on election integrity, public health, race relations, and other vital issues. Thankfully, they conclude with a final chapter detailing how the government, various agencies and think tanks, and the general public are detecting—and can detect in the future—false narratives and arrive at some semblance of truth. Everyone, whether they work in the public sector or are private citizens, will find this book invaluable.

Elaine C. Kamarck is a senior fellow in Governance Studies and the director of the Center for Effective Public Managemant at Brookings. She is an expert on American electoral politics and government innovation and reform in the United States, OECD nations, and developing countries.Darrell M. West is a senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation within the Governance Studies program and a co-editor-in-chief of TechTank. He is the author of numerous books including, most recently, Power Politics: Trump and the Assault on American Democracy (Brookings, 2022).

• ContentsPreface1 Anatomy of a Smear2 Election Integrity3 Climate Change4 Public Health5 Race Relations6 Wartime Disinformation7 Impeding the Ability to Govern8 What Citizens and Policymakers Can Do

In the last decade, public discourse in America has become increasingly contaminated by aggressive disinformation campaigns to mislead the public in order to advance certain political or financial agendas. Kamarck and West examine this phenomenon in Lies That Kill, showing that in many instances the book’s title is not hyperbole—many public figures have been threatened with or been the victims of violent attacks perpetrated by people motivated by false information spread by malicious actors. The authors make the point that disinformation is spread not only by conservative Republicans and malicious foreign agents but, to a much lesser degree, left-wing Democrats. They examine how disinformation, spread with lightning-fast efficiency on the internet and many social-media platforms, poisons discourse on election integrity, public health, race relations, and other vital issues. Thankfully, they conclude with a final chapter detailing how the government, various agencies and think tanks, and the general public are detecting—and can detect in the future—false narratives and arrive at some semblance of truth. Everyone, whether they work in the public sector or are private citizens, will find this book invaluable.