P.W. Singer, a strategist at New America and consultant discusses LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018), a book he co-wrote with Emerson T. Brooking, with Joseph Planta.

LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media by P.W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018).

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

One of the more timely and fascinating books out now is LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media. Through the ubiquity of social media in our society, there has been a weaponisation of not only the technology and the various platforms, but the people online themselves. One of the book’s authors P.W. Singer joins me now. In the book, he and Emerson T. Brooking talk about how terrorists livestream their attacks, how “Twitter wars” produce real-life casualties, and how disinformation has altered the fate of nations. The tactics used online between ISIS and Taylor Swift or Kanye West are the same. I’ll ask Mr. Singer about those, as well as Donald Trump and how his use of social media has hastened his rise to the presidency, and how it fuels him and his supporters daily. Peter Singer is a strategist at New America, and a consultant for the US military, intelligence community, and Hollywood. He’s written several bestselling books including Wired for War, and Ghost Fleet. His website is at www.pwsinger.com. LikeWar is an Eamon Dolan Book, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Peter Singer; Mr. Singer, good morning.

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