Library:Liars
| Liars: Falsehoods and Free Speech in an Age of Deception | |
|---|---|
| Author | Cass R. Sunstein |
| First published | 2021 |
| ISBN | 978-0-19-754511-9 |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | Politics & Elections Technology & Media |
| Tactics | Fabrication Manipulation |
Liars: Falsehoods and Free Speech in an Age of Deception is a 2021 book by Cass R. Sunstein.
Summary
Cass R. Sunstein, a legal scholar at Harvard Law School who served in the Obama administration as head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, published this book in 2021. It asks a difficult question for any free society: when, if ever, should lies and falsehoods be regulated, and when must they be protected as free speech?
The constitutional baseline
Sunstein starts with American constitutional law, which strongly protects speech, including much false speech. He discusses the landmark 1964 case New York Times v. Sullivan, which made it difficult for public officials to win libel suits unless they could show that a falsehood was published with knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregard for the truth. He also discusses the 2012 Supreme Court decision striking down a law that made it a crime to lie about receiving military honours, which held that falsehood alone does not remove constitutional protection.
Why protect falsehoods?
Sunstein explains the reasons for protecting false statements: governments cannot be trusted to decide what is true, punishing falsehoods could deter people from saying true things they are unsure of, and open debate allows errors to be corrected. He takes these reasons seriously.
When regulation may be justified
But Sunstein argues that the case for protecting falsehoods is weaker than often assumed. Some lies cause serious harm, and the modern information environment allows them to spread farther and faster than ever. He suggests that regulation may be justified in specific areas: defamation of private individuals, false claims about health and safety, lies about elections and manipulated media such as deepfakes. The analysis should consider whether a statement is a deliberate lie or an honest mistake, and how likely, serious and imminent the harm is.
Less restrictive tools
Sunstein emphasizes that censorship is not the only option, and usually not the best one. He favours less restrictive approaches: labelling false content, providing corrections, slowing the spread of falsehoods and using design choices to encourage accuracy. He notes that private platforms, which are not bound by the First Amendment, have more freedom to act than governments.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
The book addresses the central question any anti-misinformation project must answer: how to oppose falsehood without becoming an arbiter that suppresses speech. Its preference for correction and context over removal fits the site's model of documenting and debunking rather than censoring, and it is useful for writing the site's statement of principles.