How to Stand Up to a Dictator

The Fight for Our Future

By: Maria Ressa

Narrated by: Maria Ressa, Rebecca Mozo

From the recipient of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize comes an impassioned and inspiring memoir that chronicles her career fighting fascism, filled with insights and advice for standing against authoritarian bullies and confronting disinformation and lies. It includes a foreword by Amal Clooney.

Maria Ressa is one of the most renowned international journalists of our time. For decades, she challenged corruption and malfeasance in her native country, the Philippines, on its rocky path from an authoritarian state to a democracy. As a reporter from CNN, she transformed news coverage in her region, which led her in 2012 to create a new and innovative online news organization, Rappler. Harnessing the emerging power of social media, Rappler crowdsourced breaking news, found pivotal sources and tips, harnessed collective action for climate change, and helped increase voter knowledge and participation in elections.

But by their fifth year of existence, Rappler had gone from being lauded for its ideas to being targeted by the new Philippine government, and made Ressa an enemy of her country’s most powerful man: President Duterte. Still, she did not let up, tracking government seeded disinformation networks which spread lies to its own citizens laced with anger and hate. Hounded by the state and its allies using the legal system to silence her, accused of numerous crimes, and charged with cyberlibel for which she was found guilty, Ressa faces years in prison and thousands in fines.

There is another adversary Ressa is battling. How to Stand Up to a Dictator is also the story of how the creep toward authoritarianism, in the Phillipines and around the world, has been aided and abetted by the social media companies. Ressa exposes how they have allowed their platforms to spread a virus of lies that infect each of us, pitting us against one another, igniting, even creating, our fears, anger, and hate, and how this has accelerated the rise of authoritarians and dictators around the world. She maps a network of disinformation—a heinous web of cause and effect—that has netted the globe: from Duterte’s drug wars to America's Capitol Hill; Britain’s Brexit to Russian and Chinese cyber-warfare; Facebook and Silicon Valley to our own clicks and votes.

Democracy is fragile. How to Stand Up to a Dictator is an urgent cry for Western listeners to recognize and understand the dangers to our freedoms before it is too late. It is a book for anyone who might take democracy for granted, written by someone who never would. And in telling her dramatic and turbulent and courageous story, Ressa forces listeners to ask themselves the same question she and her colleagues ask every day: What are you willing to sacrifice for the truth?

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Maria Ressa (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Inspirational, amazing, excellent

Wow! Maria Ressa is simply and truly amazing, undoubtedly worthy of Time Person of the Year, Noble Peace Prize, among all other top awards and recognition from the most prestigious global institutions, and yet in many ways she still remains underrated. This book is a wonderful reflection of surely a microcosm of her being: inspirational, amazing, excellent, fearless, relentless, authentic... This is one of those rare instances when you think you couldn't possibly respect, admire, love someone/something more but then, after this book, you are reminded it is. Bravo!

Inspirational and Powerful

All I can say is, hats off to Maria for your work, favoring us with an insight to you personal life, your courage, and pride as a Filipino. You continue to change lives with your dedication to democracy against all odds. You are an inspiration and game changer! Well done👍🏼

Hold the Line

This is one of those books that can change the way you see everything. Maria Ressa explains in minutia the mechanisms and tools at work that are undermining our democracy in a global scale, with grace and positivity. It makes it easier to spot certain narratives that are used time and time again and which I personally had never really spotted with this level of clarity. She also makes it clear the difference between quality, responsible and factual journalism and the commercial "journalism" that springs side by side, lies and facts given equal exposure in the best case scenario and lies being rewarded by the internet economy and power grabbers in the worst case. I'm from Brazil and lived in the United States for years, I have seen the devastation and corrosion of some of the strongest democratic spaces which are happening right now. I grew up when a dictatorship was coming to a close by recall the economic struggle my parents went through during those years the idea that we could back there after the recent Jan 8 insurrection in Brasilia is hard to believe. The book is not just gloom, Maria offers us solutions and a light at the end of the tunnel and restores faith in the good that is intrinsic in our humanity.

Maria Ressa's How to Stand UP to a Dictator

An excellent read and listen. Journalist Maria Ressa's journey is marked by perseverance and intelligence. I highly recommend this book and I encourage everyone to look to Maria Ressa's book for inspiration in these troubling times of conflict and misinformation.

Great book.

You need to be made the morals, integrity and honesty czar for all social media companies!

This is beyond dought a must read!!

Everyone should know this story. Thank you, Maria. Thank you for holding the line.

Tip of the iceberg.

Absolutely wonderful book! This book is perfect for anybody who values understanding the role of journalism in social media, on the global mindset of everyday people.

its inspiring.

its amazingly inspiring. for someone who has a choice of the easy path, she picked the harder one.

Worthwhile

Important to hear for all Americans and global citizens. She has an impressive journey that is admirable in this time.

Inspiring

Maria’s fortitude and moral compass shine through. She also shares surprisingly personal stories. Is humble and yet focused throughout. Hearing it in her unique and delightful voice and clear TV reporter delivery drives the message home.