Computational & Network Propaganda: A Practitioner’s Review of Two Books

Abstract

Two books published in November 2018 explore changing tactics of and methods for analysing propaganda in a digital space. Computational Propaganda: Political Parties, Politicians, and Political Manipulation on Social Media edited by Samuel C. Wooley and Philip N. Howard picks up on earlier research by the duo analysing the automated spread of propaganda using social media. Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics by Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, and Hal Roberts is available from Oxford University Press in Paperback (472 pages, £18.99) and Hardback (472 pages, £64.00) formats. While both books are valuable reading for the practitioner and academic alike, they highlight the emerging nature of this field, and as such scratch the surface of a complex topic. In the reading of these two books, it becomes clear that much more research is still required into how propaganda is changing in a Digital Age.