LikeWar Quotes

“In our daily lives, all of us must recognize that the intent of most online content is to subtly influence and manipulate.”
― P.W. Singer, Likewar: The Weaponization of Social Media

“When someone engages in the spread of lies, hate, and other societal poisons, they should be stigmatized accordingly. It is not just shameful but dangerous that the purveyors of the worst behaviors on social media have enjoyed increased fame and fortune, all the way up to invitations to the White House. Stopping these bad actors requires setting an example and ensuring that repeat offenders never escape the gravity of their past actions and are excluded from the institutions and platforms of power that now matter most in our society.”
― P.W. Singer, Likewar: The Weaponization of Social Media

“Does a retweet actually mean endorsement? For Dion Nissenbaum, the answer to this question landed him in a Turkish prison.”
― P.W. Singer, Likewar: The Weaponization of Social Media

“Sometimes I think that the situation in the country could improve if internet access was cut,” Lamloum wrote. “Then people would no longer have access to rumors, which represent roughly 90 percent of information that’s out there.”
― P.W. Singer, Likewar: The Weaponization of Social Media

“Imagine . . . a system of communications in which each person has unlimited power of individual design. If some people want to watch news all the time, they would be entirely free to do exactly that. If they dislike news, and want to watch football in the morning and situation comedies at night, that would be fine too . . . If people want to restrict themselves to certain points of view, by limiting themselves to conservatives, moderates, liberals, vegetarians, or Nazis, that would be entirely feasible with a simple point-and-click. If people want to isolate themselves, and speak only with like-minded others, that is feasible too . . . The implication is that groups of people, especially if they are like-minded, will end up thinking the same thing that they thought before—but in more extreme form.”
― P.W. Singer, Likewar: The Weaponization of Social Media

“As Tim Berners-Lee has written, “The web that many connected to years ago is not what new users will find today. What was once a rich selection of blogs and websites has been compressed under the powerful weight of a few dominant platforms. This concentration of power creates a new set of gatekeepers, allowing a handful of platforms to control which ideas and opinions are seen and shared . . . What’s more, the fact that power is concentrated among so few companies has made it possible to [weaponize] the web at scale.”
― P.W. Singer, Likewar: The Weaponization of Social Media