Liar in a Crowded Theater

Engaging.

[An] instructive new book.Those who would regulate false speech assume that the government is well-equipped to mediate truth. They assume that the power to silence dissent will not be abused. They assume that the public will accept the state's pronouncements of fact at face value. Beyond all, they assume that censorship works—that it doesn't tend to backfire. None of these assumptions escapes Kosseff's Crowded Theater unscathed. The book's evidence against them is abundant and well-organized.

Illuminating and persuasive....[A] convincing case against tinkering with the First Amendment.

Well written...'Liar in a Crowded Theater: Freedom of Speech in a World of Misinformation' will prove of special value to readers with an interest in free speech, political propaganda and psychology, political commentary and constitutional analysis.

Powerful....Kosseff says the solution to harmful speech lies in strengthening the free market for ideas rather than government regulation. The regulation of free speech poses its own dangers to democracy and does not propose any long-term solutions.

Kosseff's book reminds readers on the left and the right to cherish and defend the many robust protections for false speech as free speech embodied in the court's jurisprudence.

Liar in a Crowded Theater explores both the history of protected falsehoods and where to go from here.

Kosseff always has interesting, thought-provoking takes on Internet policy, particularly related to online speech. In this book, he focuses on misinformation, with the recent context of COVID-19, the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and January 6.

[Jeff Kosseff] ensures that no detail or particular circumstance is overlooked, thereby providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of intricate legal and historical contexts

Incredibly well written and imminently readable. By outlining the reasoning against overregulating misinformation and disinformation, Kosseff effectively argues that we can minimize the impact of falsehoods on society while still respecting our tradition of protecting free speech in this country.

Kosseff uses both historical and recent stories to push back on common misconceptions about misinformation, outline current efforts to ban false speech, and provide the historic background on this topic that crosses centuries of law and tradition in the United States. This book will shape the discussion around the right to lie and what should be done about it.

Liar in a Crowded Theater is required reading for any pundit, politician, or talking head who wants to opine on government regulation of Americans' speech. Jeff Kosseff provides cogent suggestions for encouraging more truthful, positive speech without resorting to heavy-handed government policies that would do little to solve the harms caused by lies and misinformation.

Creative, clear-eyed, and incisive as ever, Jeff Kosseff brings us the story of why we care about protecting free speech and why we need to get the stories right about when free speech isn't a priority. Kosseff dispels myths and clears the way to think about lies and disinformation in the twenty-first century.

The idea that free speech has been 'weaponized' against democracy has become popular in the digital age. In Liar in a Crowded Theater, Jeff Kosseff provides an engaging and compelling account of why and how the First Amendment remains indispensable for both democracy and truth in the 21st century.

A smart, wry, deeply researched, and utterly convincing defense of legal protections for 'misinformation' in an age when we are less likely to agree on basic facts than ever before.